MBTS Firefighters training in 2021 in home in Manchester.
In the last two weeks the Manchester Fire Department has been busy with a series of intense hands-on professional mock emergency drills that offer local firefighters valuable technical training at a local single-family home. The home was offered to the fire department for its use, as the building is slated to be torn down very soon.
Firefighter Jon Happel coordinated the acquisition, and each of the four duty shifts were able to utilize the structure multiple times, and practiced many important firefighting skills and techniques like incident command, forcible entry, wall breeching, firefighter self-rescue, ladder raises, roof ventilation (read: strategic cutting out), hose line advancement, “Rapid Intervention Team” rescue, room searches, and “Vent/Enter/Search” (also called “VES Evolutions.’) Fire Chief Jason Cleary said
it’s a big opportunity for the department to have access to a real home for these mock drills, and he said the department really appreciated the generosity of the family donating the building and space. “This type of training is invaluable, and these opportunities don’t come along very often,” said Cleary.
