Busy Weekend for the Water Delivery TAC

The OFCA Water Delivery Technical Advisory Committee (WDTAC) supported two water movement training events on the weekend of March 15-16, training firefighters from across central and northwestern Ohio in rural water supply techniques.

On Saturday, March 15^th, five WDTAC members supported a day-long water delivery training session in Delaware, hosted by the Delaware Area Career Center. The core group of attendees hailed from Delaware County fire departments, although five counties were represented among the 70 total participants. The day’s training included sessions on drafting, fill site and dump site operations. The capstone event involved a full-scale water shuttle operation in support of a simulated structure fire. A wide variety of pumpers and water tenders on hand provided participants with an opportunity to see and work with a range of equipment. Hats off to WDTAC member Cody Beacom for his excellent work in putting this training event together.

On Sunday, March 16^th, seven members of the WDTAC headed up to Bowling Green State University to support rural water supply training given as part of the Northwest Ohio Volunteer Firefighter’s Association (NOVFA) annual fire school. Unfortunately, the planned field exercises had to be cancelled due to safety concerns relating to the extremely cold and windy conditions. The instructors, however, were able to provide an expanded classroom session to the participants, providing a full day of water supply training to the attendees in spite of the weather difficulties.

On both days, the WDTAC was pleased to welcome Doug and Jason Estep of the Morrisvale VFD (Boone County, WV) who assisted in teaching and sharing their extensive knowledge of innovative rural water supply techniques. Larry Reber of Firovac and Chad Christensen of Fol-da-Tank also attended both days’ events, and brought along examples of their companies’ latest products to help demonstrate water handling technology advances.

Next month, the WDTAC will be supporting two rural water supply events, one in Williams County (April 26^th) and another in Belmont County (April 27^th).