On June 4th and 5th, 2022, firefighters from Crary Hose, Eynon Sturges (Scranton), Millerton, Morris, and Wellsboro took part in an Aerial Apparatus Practices course offered by Bucks County Community College, sponsored by Tioga County Department of Emergency Services, and hosted by Crary Hose Company. Aerial units from Wellsboro, Elkland, and Crary Hose, along with an engine and hose truck from Knoxville/Deerfield, were used to apply skills, techniques and best-practices for safe and effective aerial apparatus operations. The class was taught by Bucks County Community College Fire Instructor J.J. Lyons, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from his work as a firefighter for the City of Williamsport.
Day 1 was mostly classroom instruction, with Instructor Lyons detailing information about safety, apparatus placement, operations, maintenance and upkeep, sprinkling in some valuable pointers and best-practices along the way. The day ended with the class being split into two groups, with each group performing vehicle checks and getting familiar with the apparatus.
Day 2 was all hands-on practice. The day started off with vehicle checks and familiarization. After that, we moved to the Cowanesque Valley High School and performed some drills. One drill tasked each aerial operator with placing a cone hanging from the end of the ladder onto each of a number of cones at varying distances and positions. We then moved to a elevated master stream drill, with Knoxville/Deerfield units providing water supply and Elkland, Wellsboro and Crary Hose units flowing water simultaneously. The afternoon was spent pre-planning aerial setup locations and tactics for multiple buildings in Westfield Borough, including Electricord Manufacutring and multiple buildings on main street. Overhead wires play a major role in determining where and how to approach setting up an aerial for rescue or ventilation operations, so pre-planning of this nature is a great way to save the valuable minutes that may be lost due to improper apparatus placement.
The firefighters were impressed with the knowledge of the instructor, with many comments about the real-world knowledge that was added in. Thank you to Fire Instructor J.J. Lyons for your time and efforts. We look forward to hosting you again for our Firefighter I Module I class coming up in August.
Thank you to the following people for your support during this training:
- Instructor J.J. Lyons
- Bucks County Community College
- Tioga County Department of Emergency Services and Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Wicks
- Cassy Adams, Karen Goltz and Dave Earle for providing lunch
- Cowanesque Valley High School
- Electricord Manufacturing
- Knoxville/Deerfield Volunteer Fire Dept for providing Engine 6-2, Hose 6-9 and personnel for water supply
- Elkland Volunteer Fire Department for providing Ladder 3-9 and personnel.
- Wellsboro Fire for providing Ladder 1-9 and personnel.
- Crary Hose Training Committee for setup and planning.
