Plainfield FAST Team

Plainfield, CT -- When members of the Moosup Fire Department reached the scene of a house fire on Main Street on July 1, they quickly donned their firefighting gear, put on breathing apparatus, and grabbed hose lines to battle the smoky fire.

One crew of firefighters hauled its hose line into the smoke-filled house and began to battle its way to the source of the fire at the rear of the building. Another pulled up to the scene and immediately got into full gear, including Scott Air Paks.

These firefighters did not roll out a hose or take out an ax. They did nothing to help extinguish the fire, in fact.

They had a more important responsibility: To save the life of any firefighter who was injured or trapped inside the burning building.

They were members of the town's Firefighter Assistance and Search Team, a 20 member unit composed of volunteers from each of the town's four fire departments. The team, known in some sections of the country as a Rapid Intervention Team, is one of the latest innovations in fire fighting.

"For years, we have been trained to go into burning buildings and save other people," Moosup Fire Lt. Paul Yellen said, "I think we just assumed the firefighters would take care of themselves. Now, we're taking steps to make sure there's someone available to help firefighters if they get into trouble."

Yellen, along with Atwood Hose Co. Assistant Chief Robert Duval, serves as instructor for the FAST Team. It began its initial training last October. Members of the Moosup, Central Village, Plainfield and Atwood Hose departments make up the team.

Although the tragic death of six firefighters in Worcester, Mass., last December magnified public awareness of the dangers firefighters face, departments nationwide already had begun to train teams to save their own people.

"The concept started in the larger city departments, such as Phoenix and New York City," Duval said, "Now, it’s begun to trickle down to the smaller departments." The Plainfield departments are the first in northeastern Connecticut to have a FAST team.

Yellen said there are four or five members of each Plainfield fire department who have completed the initial training for FAST Team membership. They likely will respond any time firefighters are called upon to enter a burning building or at the discretion of the incident commander at the scene. The team Yellen said, could be made up of members from one of the departments not fighting the fire, or from any combination of departments.

Duval, who commanded the Atwood Hose Co. FAST team at the Moosup fire, said one of the first things he did upon reaching the scene was to walk around the building.

"You want to see where the fire is situated, where the firefighters are working, and get a mental checklist of ways in and out of the building," Duval said. "That way, if we have to go in to get a trapped firefighter, we already have a plan."

As Duval did his survey of the fire, other department members laid out ropes, a Stokes basket in which a person can be carried down a ladder or lowered from a roof to the ground, cutting equipment and other gear they might need if called upon to make a rescue.

"We want to be ready to move in an instant," he said. "A firefighter has only enough oxygen for about 15 minutes, so we need to be able to get him out within that amount of time."

The Plainfield firefighters began training nine months ago and continue to drill to refine their skills and implement new ones. They have worked at making rescues from the upper levels or roofs of buildings, lowering victims down ladders, using mechanical equipment that allows two men to move a person larger then they are, and quick exit techniques to help get themselves to safety after accomplishing a rescue.

The FAST Team program is popular with many local firefighters.

Plainfield firefighter Tom Burek already had experience with the concept before joining the local program.

"I teach this at work," said Burek, who helped develop the curriculum in his position as a safety specialist for Northeast Utilities at its Millstone [nuclear] plant in Waterford.

Jim Machemer, a captain in the Atwood Hose Co., said some of the training he received could be used on other fire calls. "I always like to be involved with new stuff and, as an officer, I like to be better trained," he said.

Moosup firefighter Jeff Bellavance expressed the feelings of many of his fellow firefighters. "It's an extra comfort for a volunteer to know that others are ready if anything happens to you."

 

Plainfield FAST Team member Andrew Duval ties the rope that will be used to lower the Stokes basket through a metal coupler [ladder belt] that is fastened to his gear. Tom Burek straps Jim Machamer into the Stokes basket using red nylon strapping. These steps allow the basket to be lowered from the roof while remaining level.