What's News?

By Second Assistant Chief Jordan Roblee

Friday May 2, 2025

Earlier this week, we invited the East Concord Fire Department to join us for interior firefighter training!  The training consisted of a Task Oriented Air Consumption (TOAC) course and firefighter escape skills.

TOAC is a physical ability test that ensures firefighters are physically fit for interior firefighting.  The course consists of simple tasks that simulate energy exertion on the fireground.  Firefighters are carefully monitored before, during and after the course by EMS personnel to ensure they are not overexerting themselves.  TOAC also gives firefighters an idea of how much time they can work on their SCBA air supply.  Most firefighters are able to work for 20-30 minutes on one air cylinder.

Firefighter escape skills are important for every interior firefighter to know.  With very little notice, fire conditions in a structure can change and put firefighters at risk.  Each interior firefighter carries a pre-loaded rope escape system, which allows them to "bail out" of an elevated story window.  This is a high risk maneuver, and must be practiced at least once per year.  Firefighters also practiced escaping a window onto a ladder.

Thank you to the East Concord Fire Department for joining us for a great night of training!  Also, a HUGE thank you to Assistant Chief Siminski for building and administering the TOAC course!