Guilford Professional Firefighters Trained At Groton Sub Base

GUILFORD, CT — Guilford's professional firefighters were asked by the U.S. Nay Submarine Base in Groton to be added to an automatic response list of fire agencies in the event of a fire on one of its subs.

Guilford answered that call. "In order to stand ready," in early November, Guilford was among the dozen regional fire and rescue departments to participate in a "large-scale fire response exercise."

The exercise offered more than a dozen regional firefighter and first responder organizations the opportunity to experience shipboard firefighting and Navy best practices.

The training was hosted by the Naval Submarine Support Facility. During the exercise, Navy firefighters and sailors worked together with civilian firefighters and first responders to combat a notional major fire aboard the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Cheyenne (SSN 773), pierside at the base.

At the large-scale fire response exercise, firefighters were taught the "ins and outs of an actual military submarine." They learned about onboard fire suppression systems, how to access and connect to firefighting supplied air stations, how to access the ship, fighting engine room fires and how to deal with extricating victims, according to Guilford professional firefighters.

"This has been an incredible opportunity to train with our fellow regional partners in the event of a major incident at this facility," said Guilford Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Shove, who also took part in the training.

The exercise provided these civilian firefighters and first responders not only with an orientation of the base and submarine but also with experience working alongside Navy counterparts.

“Our focus throughout has been to change the mindset of submarine crews when it comes to responding to emergencies on the waterfront,” Capt. Daniel Rossler, commanding officer of NSSF said.

“Although they’re resilient, the submariners do not have to do everything themselves. These regional firefighters and emergency responders have the training, equipment and expertise to help our base fire department and submarine crews, and it’s important for us to practice and get to know each other.”

Community fire departments were instrumental in supporting Navy firefighters and the crew during a 2012 fire aboard the Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine USS Miami (SSN 755) at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

"It was an excellent training day and gives us a great understanding of the complexity of a fire onboard a submarine," Shove told Patch.