The most valuable resource a fire department has is its firefighters. Without the commitment of these members, nothing else is accomplished, regardless of how many millions are spent on equipment. Our fire department is fortunate to have the members we do. This week we developed training as a team building / fun night with a little healthy competition. Crews staffing 28-12 and 28-13 met at Neason Hill Elementary School to be briefed on what they thought was going to be a typical training focusing on a tactic. What they got was a time frame and several objectives to complete before returning to the station at 9:00 PM to review results. Activities such as establishing water supply, laddering buildings, Hazardous Materials (HazMat) identification and building construction were integrated with using a handline to roll a pumpkin, filling a bucket with the deckgun, making a scarecrow with turnout gear and rope, helping a senior citizen across the street, and posing with livestock. The crews worked as separate companies to complete the tasks and provided photographic evidence as proof of the completed task.

When the dust settled and all footage was judged… the two crews scored exactly the same. Nice job, West Mead #1.