House Fire Training

 
By Fire Chief John Sly
January 22, 2006
 

On Sunday, January 22nd, 2006 our members spent the afternoon practicing live fire evolutions with an acquired home that a resident of Valley Township wished to have burned down to make room for a new home.

Our new Rescue truck has the capability of pumping Compressed Air Foam (CAF) through our handlines. This is new technology for us at the Westwood Fire Company. CAF is designed to assist with the suppression of fire and act to quickly cool a fire environment. Currently, there are no fire companies in Western Chester County that have the capability to pump compressed air foam. We contacted the Honey Brook Fire Company, who does have a CAF system, to come to our training session so that our members could become familiarized with operating CAF.

Many members had the opportunity to flow hoselines with compressed air foam and just water. We spent approximately 6 hours throughout the day with various teams of firefighters getting experience with live fire attack in different rooms of the home.

In the end, we allowed the home and two sheds on the property to burn to the ground so that the homeowner could remove the remains to build a new home.

A special thank you to the Honey Brook Fire Company for spending their day with us. Also, thanks goes to the City of Coatesville Fire Department for assisting at the scene with Rescue 43 to fill our airpacks after training.

 
Units: Engine 44-5, Tac 44, Ambulance 44, Traffic 44
 
Mutual Aid: Honey Brook Engine 33-1 & Coatesville Rescue 43