Firefighters came from as far away as Solon, Perry, Brewer and Andover to attend the event that was set up to discuss methods for improving firefighting operations. About 80 emergency fire personnel took the weekend day to hear techniques disseminated by Chief Mike Healy, Director of the Rockland County, NY Fire Training Center and Robert T. LaGrow, a Captain of the West Haverstraw, NY Volunteer Fire Dept.
The conference, “The Fire Goes as the First Line Goes” was a “Shorthanded Firefighting Workshop” focused on safety, fire scene management, strategies for the operation of equipment and evaluation of structures on scene.
A brochure for the conference stated, “Whether your department is staffed by career, paid-on-call or all volunteer firefighters, you face the challenges of doing more with less. We are arriving on scene with less firefighters and less apparatus facing fires that grow faster and produce more heat and smoke than fires of yesteryear.”
The common challenge voiced by many firefighters is the problem of departments being shorthanded. Maine Fire Training and Education Manager Walter Morris and the two instructors also agreed that during desperate financial times, more fires occur.
Morris recalled the energy crisis of the 1970s, when the number of car fires increased and when landlords who wanted to collect insurance money burned down apartment buildings in the South Bronx.
“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” Morris said.
The conference started off with the two instructors paying tribute to Lt. Andrew Fredericks, a firefighter on the New York City Fire Dept. who lost his life during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001. His image was the first of many in a PowerPoint presentation.
Throughout the discussion, Healy and LaGrow used examples from real fire scenes, including video and audio clips to illustrate various points. They discussed sizing up a fire scene, building construction styles and the approach to fires using different kinds of equipment.
Healy and LaGrow emphasized that regardless of the size or location of a fire department, certain rules remain constant.
“I am a volunteer firefighter and career fireman,” LaGrow said. “The problem of shorthanded fire departments is nationwide.”
He said that despite this shortage, certain measures must be taken, such as establishing an Incident Command system and “sizing up” a fire scene. LaGrow said he recognized the fact that many of Maine’s fire departments have experience in transporting and managing water supplies, whereas city fire departments can rely on hydrants.
“It doesn’t matter the size of the department,” he said. “You can always learn something new.”
The instructors said that the firefighting profession must be taken seriously, that there is no room for someone who brags or claims to know everything about firefighting. LaGrow implied during the presentation that firefighters should be engaged, humble and interested learners and that safety is the key.
“Do you think there’s any difference between a fire in Maine and a fire in the Bronx?” he said. “A fire is a fire.”
Training and knowledge lead to safety, LaGrow said. Titles are hard earned in the firefighting realm, but they must not be taken at face value. Regardless of experience, a firefighter should always strive to learn more, LaGrow said. Lives depend upon the receptive, studious firefighter, his/her own and others.
The instructors showed a video where a firefighter’s actions saved the life of his comrade during a structure fire. The video caught the image of flames rapidly spreading through an apartment with a firefighter inside. A firefighter on the outside of the building moved the ladder over to another window, anticipating the exit of his fellow firefighter who came out headfirst. The firefighter on the outside rushed up the ladder to catch the one coming out of the window so he wouldn’t fall. The lesson here was firefighters must always keep safety in mind.
According to Morris, new technologies in building construction and automobile manufacturing threaten firefighter safety. Cheaper, synthetic materials used in house construction such as particle board on roofs and in walls not only burn hotter, but also emit toxic gasses, he said.
Advanced technologies in cars pose additional dangers, Morris said. Pistons and air bags can explode. The large battery power in hybrid vehicles can electrocute a person. Fire departments are forced to update equipment in reaction to the development of these new technologies.
As the standards set by the Dept. of Labor and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) increase, more training is required and volunteer firefighters in Maine are getting older. As employment levels drop, younger would-be volunteers move somewhere else.
One volunteer firefighter said that the problem of obtaining new volunteers isn’t recruitment, but retention.
“A lot of the younger kids are (here) for now,” said Healy. “To retain volunteers, it takes creative training.”
LaGrow added that Rockland County has a small incentive program. Based on length of service and level of training participation, a point system rewards volunteer firefighters with a small pension after so much time has passed. In both Maine and New York, monetary compensation for volunteer firefighters is minimal.
“A person has to want to do this service,” LaGrow said.
Firefighters sitting around a table in the school cafeteria during the conference lunch break agreed that there were intangible reasons why they volunteer. There is a sense of community and that the life-threatening service helps other people.
“You can’t deny the adrenaline, to go into a place everyone else is running away from,” LaGrow said.
Mike Avril, 24, has been on the Alna Fire Dept. for the past three years. He said he became interested in firefighting because he wanted to follow his father’s example.
“My dad was involved in the fire department for a long time,” he said. “I grew up at the station pretty much.”
Avril, who works in Wiscasset, said he is close at hand much of the time. He is one of roughly 15 volunteer firefighters on the Alna Fire Dept., all varying in age.
The oldest volunteer firefighter with the Alna Fire Dept., Herman Lovejoy, 70, agreed that times have changed. Lovejoy said that the reason fire department volunteer numbers were higher in the past is because people used to live and work in town. Fire departments in rural areas such as Alna consisted of farmers helping each other out, Lovejoy said. As industry and employment changes, so moves the population.
“We lost a lot of people when the power plant (Maine Yankee) closed,” he said, adding that recruitment numbers are never static.
He said that today recruitment ebbs and flows, following this population tide. Despite shortages, fire departments are working together effectively, according to Lovejoy.
“Mutual aid has filled in tremendously,” he said. “The training they do together really enhanced the capabilities of departments.”
Mike Trask is the President on the Board of Directors at the Lincoln County Fire Academy, which started in 2006. The Saturday conference was a first for the Academy, but one of many measures planned to train firefighters in Lincoln County.
“When you go through a class like this it brings back what you’ve learned and refreshes your memory,” Trask said. “I think we will be able to get a lot out of it. No one person sees a fire the same way.”
