'Full Speed' Drill Keeps Firefighters Ready

Warren firefighters rushed to the office building at 3 Mountain View Road at about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, with crews from three township companies responding.

But there weren't any flames or smoke coming from the building—the firefighters were there to conduct a drill to practice an all-too-real scenario: linking hoses and trucks together in the event of a fire far from a hydrant.

Mt. Horeb Volunteer Fire Co. 2 Chief Mike Montross co-ordinated the drill, telling the firefighters it's a situation they could face in neighborhoods such as Ferguson Road, where houses can be 1,000 feet from the nearest hydrant.

If that were to happen, the firefighters need to link up a series of trucks and hoses to "push" the water to the firefighters at the scene of the fire, where hoses spouting water at 400 gallons per minute can quickly drain a truck carrying 750 to 1,000 gallons.

To do that requires careful calculations on the water pressure: Mt. Bethel Volunteer Fire Co.'s James Mitchell said the trucks have valves to limit the water pressure coming into, and too much pressure causes an automatic discharge of excess water—and a drop in the flow down the line, not good when a house is on fire.

Three trucks were involved in Wednesday' drill, with crews from Community Volunteer Fire Co., and the Mt. Bethel and Mt. Horeb companies in a bit of "friendly competition" to see who can perform their jobs best.

And the drill also helps pinpoint potential problems with equipment—Chris Young, of Mt. Bethel, said if not checked periodically, valves can stick or break down.

"That's why we test everything at full speed—you don't want that to happen on a call," he said.

While the firefighters train regularly and have many drills, Montross said this was the first drill of this particular situation he's seen in 12 years—assembling a volunteer crew of the size required certainly isn't easy.

But they joined in Wednesday to help make Warren's fire response better—regardless of what situation may arise.