Three state legislators, a Dover city official and two city employees got to go where some of Dover’s finest learn how to do their best, participating in some very realistic training scenarios at the Delaware State Fire School training campus, west of the city.
State Sen. Brian Bushweller, D-Dover North, Reps. Brad Bennett and Darryl Scott, both D-Dover, Dover City Council President Beverly Williams, City Assessor Cheryl Russell and administrative assistant Yvonne Lowry donned complete fire protection gear, including breathing tanks, for the Nov. 7 event.
The group practiced extracting an accident victim from a wrecked car, experienced first-hand how fast fire can spread inside an enclosed building, fought a tanker truck fire and joined together to put out a pit of burning fuel.
The six worked under the watchful eye of Fire Chief Sean Christiansen and approximately two dozen volunteer firefighters.
Dover has an active roster of approximately 105 volunteer firefighters who work out of stations on Governors Avenue and the Dover-Kenton Road. They can call on up to 14 separate vehicles, to include five fire engines and two ladder trucks, to fight anything from kitchen fires to accidents involving hazardous materials.
The department responded to almost 1,000 fire calls — an average of approximately three per day — in 2008.
As a state legislator, who has to vote on funding Dover’s and other fire departments, Bushweller said the experience had opened his eyes.
“There’s no question about it that this heightens your awareness of the complexities of maintaining a good protection system, and will help keep things in perspective when we have to make some hard decisions,” he said.
Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.
