Truck Company Ops in Lititz, PA
This 16-hour class focused on the essential duties of a “combat-ready” truck company:
- Forcible Entry
- Search & VES
- Ladders
- Ventilation
One of our main concepts was that of the “two-team truck” – using an inside & outside teams to simultaneously accomplish the multiple tasks required of a truck company during the “attack phase” of a fire.
This weekend TT Instructors Nick Martin, Chris Birch, and Scott Kraut travelled to Lititz, PA in the heart of Lancaster County. This was our 3rd class with the Lititz Fire Company and the topic was to be truck company operations. Class started off with some classroom discussion at the firehouse. Due to some awesome acquired structures and a beautiful spring day, we were eager to get outside.
To keep everyone busy and hands-on, we split the class into smaller groups that then rotated through skill stations with different instructors. Some of the topics we covered in the hands-on portion were:
- Conventional Forcible Entry for Inward/Outward doors.
- Through-the-Lock forcible entry.
- “Street Smart” Ground Ladders & Ventilation
- The “Vent, Enter, Search” Tactic
- Aggressive Primary Searches
- Vertical Ventilation with both saws & axes
- Tower Ladder Operations for ventilation & rescue
Class also included some RIT skills such as:
- Locating the downed FF via TIC or PASS methods
- Use of a search-rope
- Overcoming SCBA emergencies (facemask, air, mechanical)
By Sunday afternoon we were coming together to practice full “box alarm drills”. Crews were assigned to the engine company, tower company, and rescue company and alerted to a simulated house on fire. Using skills they had gained in this and our two previous classes (engine company & RIT operations) students were subjected to a variety of challenges and expected to respond the same way they would at an actual fire.
By the end, their performance and capabilities were evident. In the final scenario, using only 18 firefighters total on the 3 companies, they responded to a “house fire” and accomplished the following in under 20 minutes.
- Forced entry through two challenging doors.
- Advanced attack line through debris to seat of fire & extinguished.
- Primary search of 3 floors.
- Rescue & removal of 2 civilian victims.
- Laddered and ventilated entire structure appropriately.
- Overcame a MAYDAY including locating & removing downed FF.
Thanks again to the officers and members of the Lititz Fire Company for having us out again, we look forward to working with you guys in the future.
To learn more about our truck company class & how to host us at your department, click here.