CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — On Sunday, a Cumberland County emergency response team conducted a special training exercise to help train the next generation of firefighters.
Because of its unexpectedness, responding to house or structure fires requires emergency response teams to be prepared for anything. Some fire safety officials believe there’s no better way to learn than to be thrown into action.
“You just can’t fight this unless it’s a real fire and we’d rather do it in this case and let people be exposed to it,” said Ronald Hamilton, a Middleton Township Supervisor.
A house at 17 Robin Drive was expected to be demolished, but was purchased by the South Middleton Township, Cumberland County Emergency Management Administration.
After securing permits from the department of environmental protection, the administration was allowed to conduct a controlled burn.
“Training in a building like this gives us live fire, gives us real-world conditions, and a layer of unexpectedness if you want to call it that,” said Barry Shughart, Assistant Fire Chief at Citizen’s Fire Company in Mount Holly Springs.
During Sunday’s exercise, hay bales and wood pallets were used to simulate flammable furniture that could be found in someone’s home. The purpose of which was to show how fast fire could spread in a home if in contact with flammable material.
Junior and Senior firefighters worked cooperatively in teams, each completing a different assignment given by their mentor. An estimated 45 firefighters participated.
Officials like Shughart describe Sunday’s training as invaluable.
“Our junior firefighters are getting a lot of the background, support, those essential skills that everybody needs that sometimes you just don’t have the manpower to do, and then our senior firefighters are the ones fighting the fire inside the building,” Shughart said.
And Hamilton agrees.
“That’s what’s it’s all about, getting people involved, because there aren’t a whole lot of us anymore, the volunteers anyway, it’s getting fewer and fewer,” Hamilton said.
Lack of volunteerism continues to impact fire departments across South Central Pennsylvania. Those who do volunteer often already have family involved in the department.
“Family is a big part of that and just as they get older, sometimes they think about other things and it’s normal, but we try to keep them involved here as long as we can,” Hamilton added.
Officials hope Sunday’s training exercise encourages more people to volunteer in the future.
Whatever was left of the structure after the controlled burn was demolished.