Local

Fire Department Trains – Week of Aug. 27 to Sept. 2


park forest fire department, fire truck, gear
A truck and gear of the Park Forest Fire Department. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- Reporting no major incidences last week, the Park Forest Fire Department continued to train for those days when, perhaps, the Village is not so lucky. Members of the department must always be ready.

Last week, there were 75 total responses. Of these, 10 were for fire/service, and 65 were EMS calls.

Training Activities

Monday, August 28 thru Wednesday, August 30, shift members completed TEAM training. In these sessions, each shift was given a rescue scenario. Working as a team, each shift was asked to develop a plan and complete tasks needed to control the situation. The purpose of this type of training is to develop leadership skills as well as team building concepts.

On Thursday, August 31 and Friday, September 1, shift members completed Tri-pod training. In this training, members were asked to identify and review tripods used by the department. Each shift then set-up and rigged a tripod in preparation to make entry into a confined space.

The POC division did not train this week due to the holiday.

Other Activities

On Monday, the Fire Chief and Fire Prevention Captain met with members of the Village staff to wrap up changes for submission on the editing of the new Universal Development Ordinance. Of particular focus for the fire department in this meeting were the size of water mains and fire hydrant spacing in proposed subdivisions within this document. In the end, the staff came to a conclusion on all editing areas and it is ready for return to CMAP for final preparation.

On Tuesday, Administrative Staff, along with the Village’s HR staff, participated in the orientation session for potential candidates on the department’s firefighter/paramedic eligibility list. While turnout was low, there appeared to be a reasonable group of qualified candidates to consider. The next step will be the written examination on Saturday, September 9.
On Wednesday, the Fire Chief attended a Dealing with the Media class hosted by the Will County Emergency Management Agency at the New Lenox PD. Topics included press releases, press conferences, social media and other methods of communicating with the media and the public.

On Saturday, members of the POC divisions provided coverage for the second Rich East High School home football game; standing by in the event of injuries to a player or any spectators. They fire department has been providing this service to the high school for more than 30-years.


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