What We’re Up To

Members of the D-Shift utilizing a car previously donated to us for training purposes, trained on extrication and rescues scenarios on an overturned vehicle involved in an accident. No matter the cause, traffic accidents constitute a frequent part of emergency response for firefighters and that is certainly the case for us in the Center District.

Members of the C-Shift participated in what is known in fire service as a “live burn”. Simulating a real structure fire and the response to it, these burns center on a combination of suppression, pump operations, search operations, and effective communication aimed to ensure a seamless mission with the ultimate goals being safety and the quick extinguishment of the fire.

At the Chief Michael Grant Regional Fire Training Academy, members of our C-Shift participated in what is known as ‘company operations’. Centered on different facets of firefighting, crew members participated in bailout operations, pump drills, and hose line stretches. We like to take advantage of our opportunities to refine whenever they are available to us regardless of the shift. With this session of training, we were able to again accomplish that objective, staying sharp on old skills, and learning new ones.

Today, members of your West Haven Fire Department Center District began an intensive 4 day training on the Housatonic River in South Kent, Connecticut to become Swift Water Rescue Technicians provided by the company Water Training Resources.

Some people may ask, is there really Swift Water in West Haven?!? Quite simply put, yes. The technical definition of “swift” water is any current moving more than 1 knot or 1.15 miles an hour. Which occurs during some of our tidal changes, heavy rains with flooding on our creeks, rivers, and city streets, and especially during extreme weather circumstances such as hurricanes. This training is of course transferable to ALL of our open water rescues on Long Island Sound, keeping both our rescuers and citizens in distress as safe as possible. And while all this valuable training is priceless, an added bonus… is, well, the price, which has been covered by the Assistant to Firefighters Grant provided by our partners at FEMA which is the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency, with an application submitted by our very successful grant committee under the direction of Chief of Department James O’Brien, Deputy Chief William Johnson, and Deputy Chief Ron Pisani. Since 2016, the committee has obtained over 5.1 million dollars in federal grant funding. Training costs, equipment rental, and even staffing costs were covered in this grant, once again showing how our department has not only a commitment to training excellent, but a desire to providing the residents of the first fire taxation district the best value for money spent on YOUR West Haven Fire Department!

Now officially in service in the Center District, we give you a behind the scenes look at our new Engine 21 and the many components that make it the ideal apparatus to respond to emergencies

The scene as members of the D-Shift partook in mixed training centering on both hose line advancement and aerial operations at the North End Hose Company on Spring Street.

We thank the staff at Carrigan Intermediate School for their hospitality as our very own Danny The Fire Dog and Day Captain Jacob Urban of our Training Division were on hand to speak on the importance of being open about mental health.

As #mentalhealthawarenessmonth continues, we find it incredibly important to highlight its importance and we thank the staff for providing the platform to do so with our younger residents.

Courtesy of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), members of all four of our department’s shifts (A, B, C, and D) participated in RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) training.

Conducted with our partners at Mission CIT, these evolutions center on preparing members to rescue downed firefighters.