Joint training helps volunteers

Pine Haven Volunteer Fire Chief TJ Gideon reported to the town council at last Tuesday’s meeting another joint training, employing a mock mass casualty scenario with Moorcroft’s fire department, saying, “It was a very good training.”

This is one of many training exercises for the combined volunteer departments over recent months. According to Gideon, the Pine Haven unit voted to actually change their training schedule to better fit with the Moorcroft division in an effort to make possible the joint training.

“I had asked the Moorcroft [department heads] for some help in training because we had such a boost in the number of people joining, I thought it would be beneficial to work with them; Moorcroft has a really good training program,” he said.

These joint exercises are anticipated to expedite real time efforts when the parties assist each other in the field as per their mutual aid agreement.

“If we have a structure fire in Pine Haven,” Gideon later explained, “it will automatically trigger a response from Moorcroft and vice versa.”

“What I hope to see out of this,” he shared his goal, “is both departments working, basically, as one.”

In other words, all firefighters will be familiar with the people, practices and equipment, facilitating a better response all around, benefitting both communities.

The two departments plan on maintaining the joint training indefinitely.

“It might not be every month…Moorcroft will come to Pine Haven [for] one training and we’ll work with our equipment and the next time, we’ll go to Moorcroft and work with theirs.” Gideon said/ “Moorcroft put together that scenario [and] things like that, I’d like to see more of.”