No Hydrants? What's a Firefighter to Do?

Close to two dozen volunteer firefighters gathered Sunday morning on the grounds of Chalk Hill school for a training session on supplying water from tanker trucks. Many areas of Monroe do not have fire hydrants and in those cases firefighters must set up portable tanks in the road. In that scenario, a fire engine drafts water from the tanks while tanker trucks from Monroe and surrounding towns dump their water  (ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 gallons) in the tanks and then refill at the closest water source.

"Establishing a water supply as quickly as possible is key to any successful fire scene and this drill helped freshen our skills", said Deputy Chief Josh Krize.

In addition to Monroe and Stevenson firefighters, crews from the White Hills (Shelton) and Sandy Hook (Newtown) volunteer fire departments participated in the drill. Chief Bill Davin stressed the importance of training with surrounding mutual aid departments, noting that at the peak of the 2010 Skate Time fire on Main Street there were 15 tanker trucks from outside of Monroe involved in the massive water supply operation.

Monroe, Stepney, and Stevenson volunteer firefighters train nearly every Tuesday night and on some weekends.