| On Tuesday, October 25th, several members of the Watch Hill Fire Department joined with Misquamicut and Dunn's Corner's Firefighters in a joint training drill on advancing hose lines. Instructors from the Dunns Corners Fire Department served as leaders for the class. The class started in a class room setting for a brief overview on hand lines and how to advance them properly. They also touched upon high rise packs of hose that are used in buildings with connections for the fire department to have water on upper floors of a large structure. After the class room section, we proceeded to look at different techniques of packing the hoses onto our apparatus and how the departments do it differently to best suit the needs and requirements of our own districts buildings and operating guidelines. Once, that part of the discussion concluded, the training was continued with practical evloutions at the Andrea Hotel on Atlantic Avenue to put our skills to the test. A team of four Watch Hill members including: Asst. Chief Scott Harold, Deputy Chief Bob Peacock and Firefighters Ken Bloom and Chris Koretski rapidly advanced a hose line into the the building towards the ballroom area and were able to quickly locate and extinguish the "fire". The Watch Hill Members received kudos from the instructors on our team work and quick response to attack the fire. The Watch Hill Fire Department would like to thank both Misquamicut and Dunn's Corner's for allowing us to participate in the drill and for providing our members with some valuable practical training. We traini regularly with our neighboring departments and we look forward to the additional joint drills that are planned in the coming months. We also extremely appreciate the donation of the Andrea Hotel, coordinated by Misquamicut Deputy Chief Todd Findisen. Special thanks to Captain Jane Perkins, Lieutenant Lance Murphy, and Fire Police Sergeant Bob Perkins for providing fireground support services during the drill. |