On Thursday night as part of the Departments monthly training program, over 20 Cutchogue & Mattituck 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 at our Firehouse.

But Thursday night was different, our volunteer firefighters used another house donated by a local homeowner for training.

The house located on Oregon Rd, is scheduled to be demolished and renovated, so the homeowner offered it to the department to practice inside.

Firefighters from our neighboring Mattituck FD also participated in the training.

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 mannequins were hidden 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.

The drill also incorporated firefighter rescue (RIT), and hands-on overhaul & forcible entry evolutions.

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 opportunity to practice 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.

We are grateful for the two recent opportunities we have had to utilize vacant homes within in our district for training.

Thank you to the staff of Firehouse Training Plus for providing a great night of training..

The drills lasted for over 2 hours