Crime & Safety

NYC, Baltimore Experts Train Local Firefighters

Firefighters from four area departments had a training session Saturday in Swissvale.

Three New York City firefighters and one from Baltimore were in Swissvale on Saturday to share their expertise with local firefighters about various tactics to employ during fires and rescue missions.

Lt. Mark Gregory from New York Ladder Company 111, Jimmy Sandis from NYC Rescue 2, Glen Bullock from NYC Rescue 1 and Jimmy Payne, a Baltimore city firefighter, joined forces to provide training for more than 20 firefighters from Swissvale, Pleasant Hills, Homestead and North Strabane fire departments.

The goal of the session was to improve each company's engine, truck, extrication and rescue work. Although there were no smoke drills, various simulated scenarios gave firefighters a chance to learn more efficient tactics for breaching walls and floors, and making forcible entry to buildings on fire, Swissvale fire Chief Clyde Wilhelm said.

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The end result was "to teach us to work smarter rather than harder," Wilhelm said.

"A lot of it is geared toward rescuing firefighters in distress," according to Todd Pritchard, Pleasant Hills fire chief.

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The training took place at a vacant house on Columbia Avenue in Swissvale. Fire trucks lined the street nearby and some residents sat on their porches to take in the action.

This is about the eighth year for the joint training sessions, NYC's Gregory said. Although the local departments are well trained, the shared expertise of the out-of-state city firefighters will help the local crews improve their skills, said Bill Purifoy, Homestead fire chief.

"They see more fires in a week than we see in a year," Purifoy said.

The local firefighters took good-natured jabs at the New York crews' accents, including when they discussed "wautah" (water). But that didn't impede the learning, even if the New York and Baltimore team had to endure some Pittsburghese in return.

Though from different major East Coast cities, Gregory and Payne agreed that they teach and train as a team. While that's true, there's also a benefit in the training session for the teachers.

"It gives me a chance to train and work with a great bunch of guys," Payne said. "Not only do we train, we learn from these guys also."


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