On Thursday night as part of the Departments monthly training progran, more than a dozen Cutchogue volunteer firefighters piled into a smoke-filled house to practice fighting fires and rescuing trapped victims.

Normally, the Cutchogue Fire Department trains in similar evolutions at the Yaphank Fire Academy ot our Firehosue.

But Thursday night was different, our volunteer firefighters used an actual house donated by a local homeowner for training. The house located in Nassau Point is scheduled to be demolished and renovated, so the homeowner offered it to the department to practice inside.

This was a unique opportunity to work in something real life and real world. The training was a chance for firefighters to encounter an unfamiliar environment.

Several dummies or manequins were hiden inside to represent victims inside the house and had firefighters respond to the scene from the fire house just before 7 p.m. as if it were a real fire.

Firefighters had to put on Breathing apparatus (SCBA) and carry fire hoses into the house to practice what to do in a real fire.

The training focused on search and rescue techniques. During the scenarios, the teams navigated through the home which was filled with theatrical smoke to affect the rescue and removal of simulated victims from the building.

Firefighters also practiced laddering and roof ventilation by cutting several holes in the roof of the home.

The Department’s junior firefighters were also on hand to watch the training and learn about how firefighters prepare for the real emergencies and had the oppurtunity to paractice and learn different skills from senior firefighters and instructors.

The officers and members of the Cutchogue Fire Deparmtent would like to thank the home owner for allowing us this valuable training oppurtunity.

The drills lasted for over 2 hours