Full Text:

Drill Marks A Milestone In Firefighting Cooperation

(with photos)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

MONROE -- Walking along a line of tanker trucks pumping water from Lake Zoar,

Lieutenant James Eastwood suddenly thrust his hands up in a two-thumbs up sign

and grinned.

"They said we couldn't do it -- but we did," he shouted.

Lt Eastwood was logging the amount of water firefighters from 12 area

companies were able to pump on a mock fire at the Stevenson Lumber Company on

Route 111 in a water supply drill on Sunday morning.

The three-hour drill was held by the Stevenson Volunteer Fire Company, in

cooperation with the Fairfield County Fire Chiefs' Emergency Plan, and was

under the direction of Stevenson Chief Dave York. A dozen volunteer fire

companies, including three from Newtown, sent trucks and firefighters to

participate.

Lt Eastwood, a career firefighter in Fairfield, is an instructor at the

Connecticut Fire Academy and a longtime consultant to many volunteer fire

companies. He was at the pumping station at the Monroe public beach recording

data on a clipboard and keeping in contact by radio with the firefighters at

the lumberyard and the command post at the Stevenson Fire Department.

"We're moving 1,200 gallons per minute," he said. "Since it is being

documented, it could improve our ISO (Insurance Service Organization) rating

by as much as 50 percent."

ISO ratings are used by insurance companies to calculate homeowner insurance

costs, he explained.

Chief York said the drill helped the companies train for large-scale

emergencies such as a lumberyard fire. Natural disasters also could lead to

major fires so drills are important for emergency preparedness, he said.

Two phases of the drill took place simultaneously. The firefighters deployed

nearly a mile of five-inch hose from the nearest hydrant near the Marion

Heights Convalescent Center on the Monroe Turnpike to an aerial truck from

Trumbull Center at one end of the lumberyard.

"There is a 300-foot drop in elevation from the hydrant to the lumber yard and

that is a real problem -- water can do some strange things," Chief York said.

"For example, we have to be really careful that a water hammer doesn't develop

that could cause the (water) main to rupture."

The other part of the drill involved 12 tankers that shuttled water from the

municipal boat ramp on Lake Zoar to the lumber yard. The tankers -- from

Hawleyville, Sandy Hook, and Botsford joined with others from Stevenson,

Monroe, White Hills, Great Hill, Oxford, Stepney, Trumbull, Shelton, and

Redding -- made the loop from the lumber yard to the lake and back to supply

an aerial platform truck from Stepney with a continuous supply of water.

"This is the first time we've ever done anything like this involving this much

mutual aid," said Robert Stone, assistant fire chief of the United Fire

Company of Botsford. "The object is not to strip all the tankers from any

town. Since Sandy Hook has two tankers, and Dodgingtown has one, there are

still two in Newtown to respond if anything happens while we are here."

Botsford Fire Chief Steve Belair, Hawleyville Chief Joe Farrell, and Second

Engineer Antony Capozziello of Sandy Hook brought their trucks to Monroe with

volunteer firefighters from each company.

To prepare for the drill, Chief York held many meetings and conversations with

the Monroe Police Department, the Connecticut Department of Transportation,

and the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company, to make sure that it would not disrupt

traffic and other services in the area.

Chief York said that because most of the fire companies involved are entirely

staffed by volunteers, the drill was scheduled for a Sunday morning when most

personnel would be available.