Last night, the Chief and Line Officers led training on fire attack and hose management at the Chester County Public Safety Training Center. Firefighters worked with 300' hose lines in the training tower in live fire conditions.

This is a critical task in fire suppression. Estimating the hose length needed for the fire attack and then deploying it efficiently, effectively and fast will often save lives and property.

Maneuvering a charged hose line into and around the obstacles presented in homes and buildings takes practice and is a perishable skill. It is also one that requires that the firefighter(s) while wearing and carrying up to 80 lbs of gear, and "breathing air", to accomplish this task and then still have enough strength and stamina to fight the fire and make any rescues.

The Junior Members focused on throwing ladders and the exterior fire evolutions. Juniors then practiced with assisting crews with hose line operations to the exterior of the building by becoming a door person and were able to experience the exhaustion that firefighters obtain from working hard with a perimeter of time at an incident.

Upon clean-up personnel learned the 300' hose line pack and packed the hose back on Engine 8-2 several times.

Staff photos by FF/EMT Stutzman and Chief Gathercole