This summer flew by as the department was busy training and working on station projects. Here is a summary of our efforts over the summer months.

Emergency Preparedness Training:
The department had several exercises during the middle of August, involving the State/FNSB Terrorism drill that occurred at 1:30 am on the August 16 th and lasted until 6:00 am, our department Terrorism Training was the evening of August 16 th and then the Campus Disaster Drill the August 18 th. We also had our first Resident Advisor (RA) Academy training in August. It gave our department a chance to show UAF RA’s some valuable skills in case of an emergency and give them hands-on experience with some of the equipment they would be using. The academy included smoke drills, extinguishers and a BBQ, so that the RA’s could get to know the firefighters better.

FFI State Testing:
The department has also been working hard to get 18 of our student firefighters ready for the State FF1 test. The department focused every Saturday and the last Sunday in August to review skills, techniques and materials required to pass both the written and practical tests. The state exam was held on the 2 nd and 3 rd of September, resulting in a thorough completion of the program for this year and all of our student firefighters with a State of Alaska Firefighter 1.

Training Prop Improvement Projects:
UFD has stayed busy with building projects as well. We have built a RIT Prop, “Truckmun” prop, and a Ladder Tower. Each prop provides a particular feature of firefighting operations that is hard to duplicate in a training environment. These props provide that environment, as well as the safety required to sufficiently practice the skills while minimizing the chance of injury.

• The Rapid Intervention Team (Rit) Prop was designed to teach student firefighters different methods on how to retrieve a person who is trapped in an area and the RIT prop also teaches the student firefighters personal survival skills in case they are faced with a similar situation at a scene.
• “Truckmun” has the ability to teach firefighters 11 different skills that deal with truck company operations. Some of the skills include: chain and rotary saws, axe handling, utilities, locks, etc.
• The Ladder Tower was designed to allow firefighters to practice ladder placement at different heights. The Ladder Tower uses both ground and aerial ladders to help firefighters become more proficient in the vertical environment.

Training Pad:
The training pad at Station 2 has begun. The Asphalt Training Pad’s main purpose is to be able to facilitate drivers training and hose evolutions throughout the year. Training areas are hard to come by and the department is fortunate to have the area behind the University Ave station to use. The paved area will keep equipment and engines free of mud and sand and reduce a lot of clean up time.

Chandalar Houses:
Three houses on Chandalar St., on the UAF Campus, are going to be demolished for the University. The department has been approved to use the structures for live-fire training burns. The burns will take place sometime in late fall this year. In the meantime, the department has been using the structures for fine tuning skills used in firefighting. Some of the training involves working on Initial Fire Attack Tactics, Blind Scott Drills, sizing up emergency scenes and many of the FF 1 skills used in the September testing process. The department has been able to focus training on vertical ventilation, which is beneficial to the students, giving them hands-on experience with working on and cutting roofs, and preparing them for actual fire situations. While the department is preparing for the live burns, the Chandalar facilities have really made a difference in providing realistic training environments to help maintain the proficiency of our departments’ personnel on actual emergency calls.

Annual Hose, Hydrant and Pump Testing:
The department devoted several weeks to keeping all of the firefighting equipment in the inventory current and up to standards. Several thousand feet of hose were tested, hydrants have been flowed for pressure testing and flow rates, and the pumps on all of the fire apparatus have been tested and worked on to maintain their firefighting capability. In addition, since all of these skills are part of the Firefighter 1 and 2 training curriculum, we were able to use these procedures to assist in training our firefighters in preparing them for their skill check offs.

Preparing for Winter:

Winterization projects have included: preparing all apparatus for winter, reviewing procedures for maintaining hydrants and pumps in winter conditions, and ice rescue training, just to name a few.