Juniors Practice Wildland Firefighting

Members of the Haddam Volunteer Fire Company Junior Division, their advisors and other firefighters “brushed up” on their wildland firefighting skills May 5 at The University of Connecticut’s Middlesex County Extension Center on Saybrook Road. An approximately one-half acre field was burned during the annual land management controlled burn event.

“The Juniors learned first-hand about stretching lines, performing perimeter stops, and the flow path of wild land fires,” said Haddam Junior Advisor Jed Morrissey. “It’s very hard to teach when we’re chasing a real brush fire.”

This has been a very high-risk season for brush fires, so when the Fire Company trains, the proposed event is well-planned and extra manpower and apparatus is made available.

“The Fire Company is always interested in training opportunities that might involve real life situations, and welcome potential use of property and structures that the towns people might have that we could use,” said Junior Advisor Bob Norton.

Tuesday’s training went smoothly. The field was burned in less than an hour. The Junior Division, along with their advisors and other Haddam Fire members, were successful in assisting the UConn Extension Center clear off the field, and learned important firefighting skills needed at brush fire incidents.

Drone image is courtesy of Joel Stocker from the UConn Middlesex County Extension Center.