Tuesday October, 29 2013

Nature: Fire Police Training Course

Address: Oak Orchard Station

On Tuesday evening, October 29th, the Indian River Volunteer Fire Company hosted a Fire Police Training Course for any interested fire company member that may desire to be appointed as a Delaware State Fire Police Officer.

Approximately 19 persons attended the inter-company training initiative which included some of the following topics:  traffic control at fires, vehicle accidents, mass casualty incidents (MCI) emergencies, drills and other fire department operations which may include:

• protecting firefighters and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel;

• protecting bystanders and crowd control at emergencies;

• protecting each other's safety while on post;

• protecting fire department equipment;

• assisting with police traffic control;

• routing responding emergency vehicles to their assigned locations; and

• re-routing non-emergency traffic away/around emergency operations.

Often fire police are first on an emergency scene and are able to provide status updates, suspicious cause & origin information, and identify the location of the structure, driveway, apartment entrance, etc. for first due emergency response companies. Included in these actvities are:

• To locate and mark downed energized electric service or other hazards to first responders.

• To utilize their department/county team apparatus as command posts to relay radio communications to/from IC.

• To utilize their department/county team apparatus to distribute equipment, gear, portable radios, etc. to posts.

• To deploy their department/county team apparatus utilizing lights and equipment at road blocks.

• To conduct, those authorized by the IC, through fire lines.

• To turn, back-in & stage ambulances, tankers, etc.when required by space limitations. In addition they may also establish and maintain:

• To clear blocked entrance and egress to & from an incident scene for use by apparatus, fire lines & outer haz-mat zones.

• To maintain an unbroken chain of commance until it can be surrendered to police department or Fire Marshall.

An often overlooked facet of fire police operation is that it provides an interface between the fire department and the public. The public seldom have occasion to talk with firefighters while they are working at an emergency.

Fire police at times have the opportunity to speak with bystanders and answer questions about the operation, their volunteer fire department, or simply give directions or suggest possible detours.

During these times their professionalism, appearance, and demeanor, or lack thereof, reflects directly on their department and the entire volunteer fire service.