NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEw ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CI-IIEFS
Now, I should, like to take the Panel, very quickly, and I want to see if
we have anybody, first, on the Panel, who is making any particular improvements
to cover this. particular subject.
CHIrF MVRRAY: ..We are not doing anything ,unusual, as far as. training
goes. But, the small, voluntary departments, are always availabl.e, and the men
from the larger departments come in and instruct the small departments, in all
divisions of fire fighting, and I might say that they are usually very glad to go
to the small towns and give their services for this training.
We have done that in the past, and expect to do it in the future, and we
have found it very successful.
MODrRATO~ WOOV.T.~¥: Let us come right down the line, now.
CmrF I-Io~.lvi~s: We belong to a Twin-State Fire Association up there,
composed of eight towns, and two years ago, we started a fire training idea,.
using all the towns, . getting together and working on it that way. This. year,
we have set up a program where we go to get an instructor ;rom one of the
manufacturers, to come up and show us some pumps; we are having a liquid
foam and dry po~rder company sho@ us that phase of it. Next week, we are
having a school on first aid, and we are lucky enough to have a doctor who
belongs to the Hanover, New Hampshire Fire Department to come in and
instruct us on that phase of it.
So that we believe we are getting some Very good instructors., and we think
that we can improve the Fire Service a good deal.
CHmF KrF.Fr: I like to look at it in our particular State on a State level.
Chief Koltonski and I have instructed seyeral fire schools throughout Vermont,
and we have several more coming up..
In talking with him this. morning, we dis-cussed the point of standardizing
on training for instructors. Maybe Chief Koltonski has a point on that, and
that is our particular problem in Vermont at the minute, standardizing the
instructions on training.
Moor~ATo~ WOOLL~.¥: A1 Koltonski, do you wish to add something, at
this time?
CHIEF KOLTONSKI: We are quite a way off from the big towns, and I
remember that somebody wrote in a book that I read one time, that’ the volunteer
firemen should send a man to the big city ~or fire fighting. Well, we found
that some of the big city guys, in their wise ways, were astounded by the things
that we had to do with. ~
We are trying to standardize on our firemen’s training program. The men
coming in talk one way, and they may go in to the next county and find they
are taught a different way.
Right now, we are writing a book, so that we will have a standard method
of training.
Our training has all been financed by the State Firemen’s Association;
the Association pays the expenses of the men coming in. We have been fortunate
as to the type Of men we have had, and the reasonable amount of money
they have charged; in fact, .some of them didn’t even collect their expenses.. However,
we are quite a way away from everybody else, and,.~ t9 get mutual aid, it
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