LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENTS FORM TRAINING GROUP
TRAINING
By pooling resources, nine Connecticut departments have been able to purchase training aids, operate a library and improve the exchange of information.
Many volunteer fire departments in Connecticut have been suffering with the dilemma of needing expanded training programs while facing the problem of stagnant or diminishing resources. At the urging of Lieutenants Ken jeffery and Kyle Zimmer of the Windsor Locks and South Windsor, Conn., Fire Departments, respectively, representatives of nine volunteer departments from five neighboring towns met in May 1981 to discuss possible solutions.
This meeting emphasized Jeffery’s and Zimmer’s belief that one of our immediate needs was ready access to audiovisual resources for both fire fighter training and public education. Other concerns expressed were the need for qualified instructors, improved and more accessible training sites and, of course, training budgets.
After several more meetings the Northern Connecticut Fire Training Association (NCFTA) was formed. Operating under a set of bylaws, the association goal is “to foster a cooperative effort in fire service training and public education” among its members. The association’s objectives are threefold: to pool membership fees to purchase training aids, to operate a lending library for its members, and to act as a vehicle for the exchange of information and ideas concerning fire service training and public education.
The NCFTA membership includes the Broad Brook, Hayden Station, Poquonock, South Windsor, Suffield, Warehouse Point, Wilson, Windsor, and Windsor Locks Fire Departments. Each department has one vote in the association and each pays yearly dues. During the first year each department was assessed $100. From this initial fund the association purchased 20 slide/ tape programs covering basic fire fighting subjects. These materials are housed in a central location and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each member is responsible for picking up the material and returning it as soon as possible after use.
A secondary benefit of the association is that each department now has inventories of the training resources of each of the other departments. While these resources don’t belong to the association, each member can make individual arrangements with any other member to use his equipment. By having these inventories, members can also avoid purchasing equipment that is already available.
Finally, in its first year of operation the association in cooperation with a local board of education and technical college will be sponsoring fire technology courses at a local high school. These courses, part of an associate degree program at the college, will now be more accessible to all fire fighters in this area.
