Training overcomes inactivity
Dennis Vander Wel
Assistant Chief
Orange City (IA) Fire Department
The problems Kelly L. Leydig relates (Letters to the Editor, May 1999) are not new, but the sad truth is that more and more departments face them. The answer is very simple: training. Fire departments that train together will stay together, but it is hard to put this into action.
The chief of a smaller volunteer department has to be knowledgeable about firefighting and willing to accept change. He has to be willing to give 110 percent and become one of the firefighters when the department is training, putting on SCBA or crawling through a confined-space exercise. By being one of the firefighters, he may find ideas easier to accept. If other members see the chief participating in the same training as they are, he will gain their confidence and respect.
A department that is inactive is in great danger of letting training and equipment maintenance slide to dangerous levels. To be active, your department doesn`t have to go on fire and rescue calls every day. By being creative, a department can generate a lot of activity. I know of a department that has live training sessions more than 20 times a year, and the problems that plague a lot of volunteer departments are not even a thought there. Think of all the different kinds of training and working together you could do at just one live burn. Maybe in your area they do not let you burn structures completely, but what about room-and-contents fires? Let your imagination go, and good luck!
