Regular visitors to this website know that the West Grove Fire Company has a very strong record of training its members. Weekly Monday night drills "in house" are combined with access to county, state and national level training to build skills and learn technique. A great method to train is to run scenarios with live fire conditions to give crews realistic conditions to hone firefighting and hose management techniques.

Such was the case recently when the WGFC took its firefighters to the Chester County Public Safety Training Campus in Coatesville for an evening training event. The PSTC has set up a modern fire school with structures that help fire companies train under live fire and smoke conditions. For this training event, the WGFC planned to practice hose management skills that simulate multi-story buildings in the Campus' training drill tower. The WGFC's local district includes multi-story buildings across the district, and learning hose deployment and techniques can speed fire response.

The Campus' Drill Tower/Scenario Building is five stories tall, and includes both residential and commercial mock-ups. Rappelling training can be done from each of the floors, as well as the roof for high angle rope rescue training, or in the simulated elevator shaft. Live-fire training is available in this building via four propane fired props, which are located on the 3rd and 4th floors. These props include a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and industrial gas storage. This building is also equipped with a smoke generator and sound system for law enforcement, fire and search and rescue training.

The WGFC prepared scenarios that helped engine crews stretch lines to the 3rd and 4th floors. The crews utilized Engine 22-1 and Engine 22-3 making multiple attack entries into the building. Crews pulling lines from Engine 3 also tested a number of techniques for deploying attack lines around the building simulating 400+ foot attack line deployments as if the engine was down an alley or positioned around the building's side or rear.

Approximately 40 firefighters from West Grove participated in the exercise, including ambulance personnel who monitored the firefighters for safety. For over three hours, the crews ran through drill scenarios, learning, modifying, and honing skills. It is this kind of regular training that helps the WGFC and its volunteers and staff be ready for whatever emergency the company might face when the next fire call comes in.

Our thanks to the staff at the CCPSTC for assisting with the training, and for our friends at the Union Fire Company of Oxford for covering the district while the WGFC was training. For more information on the Campus, see: https://www.chesco.org/3109/Public-Safety-Training-Campus . Thanks to Ryan his crew from DFP (Instagram: @delaware_fire_police) for great photographs.