Community Corner
Local Firefighters Participate In UPFFA Fire Ops Day In Hartford
The intention of the program is to introduce local elected officials to the everyday operations of the fire service.
Press release from Somers Career Firefighters IAFF LOCAL 4284:
April 20, 2022
On Monday April 4, Somers first selectman Timothy Keeney participated in the UPFFA Fire Ops day at the Hartford Fire Department’s training facility. The intention of this program is to introduce local elected officials to the everyday operations of the fire service and give them a hands-on feel for how emergencies are mitigated day to day in towns across Connecticut.
Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Selectman Keeney participated in multiple evolutions including:
Fire attack: Where participants don full firefighter protective gear including SCBA (self contained breathing apparatus) and enter a burn building under controlled fire conditions to perform fire suppression.
Find out what's happening in Ellington-Somersfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Extrication: Where participants utilized hydraulic tools in a mock car crash scenario to access a trapped victim by cutting and prying the vehicle apart to access and remove the victim.
EMS: Where participants removed a victim from the mock crash scenario and also participated in a cardiac arrest scenario in the back of an ambulance.
Ventilation: Where participants utilized saws to perform vertical ventilation. Vertical ventilation is used to remove trapped superheated gasses and fire from a structure in a controlled manner in coordination with fire attack.
Search and rescue: Where participants searched for a trapped unconscious victim under smoke and heat conditions.
RIT (rapid intervention team): Participants were shown the roles and responsibility of the rapid intervention team including, tools, methods of firefighter rescue, and difficulties of removing a downed firefighter from a structure.
The Somers Fire Department would like to thank Selectman Keeney for participating in this important event and the chance to showcase the skills, knowledge, and abilities that must be maintained to respond to any emergency at any time.
This press release was produced by Somers Career Firefighters IAFF LOCAL 4284. The views expressed here are the author's own.
