Once a quarter, Westminster Fire Department staff participate in a live-burn training where firefighters practice their operations under controlled fire conditions. The most recent training took place on Thursday, Aug. 29, at the Adams County Fire Protection District Training Center and included three guests from the city’s executive leadership team: Community Development Director Dave Downing, Deputy City Manager Barbara Opie and City Manager Don Tripp.

Firefighters from fire stations two, three, and four participated in the training session alongside the other city personnel. Apparatus at the training were truck two, engines three and four, and medics three and four. Fire Lieutenant and Field Training Officer Nolan Bailey was in charge of the training.

The training was designed to practice the coordination from the time when the first fire company that arrives on the scene of a fire to when the second company arrives. When the second company reaches the scene, they receive information from the first company and are assigned fire ground tasks from the incident commander such as roof evaluation, search and rescue in a building, and fire attack with hose lines.

Downing, Opie and Tripp were assisted by Training Chief Dave Maikranz and not only observed the training, but also participated. They suited up in all of the protective gear including the self-contained breathing apparatus, jacket, helmet and boots, and went into a building filled with smoke and a controlled fire.

“It was an amazing experience and eye-opening seeing how hard our firefighters work,” said Tripp. “Both city staff and our community appreciate the incredible coordination it takes to do what they do and save lives.”

The city’s Fire Department also recently received accreditation status through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) and the highest Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating that a fire and emergency service organization can achieve, ISO Class 1.