Firefighting team to be trained for ‘high risk’ accidents

John Howell
Posted 9/15/15

Warwick has two wind turbines. There could be more in its future, but even if there weren’t, would Warwick firefighters have the equipment and the training to respond if a workman was trapped …

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Firefighting team to be trained for ‘high risk’ accidents

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Warwick has two wind turbines. There could be more in its future, but even if there weren’t, would Warwick firefighters have the equipment and the training to respond if a workman was trapped inside the narrow structure? And would firefighters be able to respond should a passenger train derail and car flip over along Amtrak rails?

Such accidents are “low instance but high risk,” in the words of Assistant Fire Chief James McLaughlin. Under a $949,549 federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) announced last month, the department will have the equipment – and 36 firefighters will have the training – to respond to such situations.

Yesterday, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, along with U.S. Rep. James Langevin and Mayor Scott Avedisian, gathered at Station 8 next to Ann & Hope to talk about the grant and what it will mean for Warwick.

An observance of all four speakers is that Warwick came out on top in a highly competitive process for AFG grants. Lt. Jason Erban and firefighters Scott Jensen and Chris Albro prepared the grant application.

“A million bucks is real money,” Whitehouse said.

He said the training and equipment provided by the grant “will make the lives of Warwick citizens safer” apart from making the community “proud.”

According to Erban and McLaughlin, the department has already advertised for an estimated $230,000 of equipment – ranging from ropes to struts and jacks and heavy-duty cutting tools – that would be acquired before FEMA-certified trainers visit Warwick to train 36 firefighters that will form the Warwick Fire Department Technical Rescue Team. Members of the team will receive 320 hours of training.

In addition to wind turbine and vehicle rescue, as could be required by a rail accident, the team will be trained in rope, confined space, trench, machinery and structural collapse rescue scenarios. The training is expected to start in January and be completed by next June.

According to McLaughlin, East Providence is the only other Rhode Island municipality to have a technical rescue team.

“With all of the large-scale construction projects going on throughout the city, this training comes at a perfect time – as another way to safeguard our residents, those who work in the city and the millions of visitors who travel through T.F. Green each year,” Avedisian said.

“By having appropriate training, modern equipment and effective transportation systems, our firefighters will have all the necessary tools to respond in a swift and safe manner should the need arise,” he added.

Avedisian also observed this is the second AFG won by the department in the last year. The other grant for $475,000 is being used to erect a 33-foot high training tower behind Station 8. The concrete base for the tower has been completed and the tower should be erected early next month. “Live fires” will be conducted in the tower, McLaughlin said.

Reed commended the team that drafted the grant application.

“I thank you all for protecting our community,” he said.

He also spoke of the competitive aspect of the grant application process and how since 2010, the Warwick Fire Department has received $3.4 million in federal grants.

Langevin also touched on the competitiveness and complexity of federal grants, observing that the city’s ability to win such awards “speaks volumes on the caliber of Warwick firefighters.”

GRANT ANNOUNCEMENT: U.S. Rep. James Langevin speaks at a press conference Monday at Station 8, where details on a $949,549 federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant were outlined. (Warwick Beacon photo)

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