Some 45 volunteer firefighters turned out for last week's "pump and dump" training designed to improve fire fighting capabilities in rural areas of Wilkes County.
In an effort to improve the fire fighting capabilities all over Wilkes County, the Washington Fire Department held a training exercise last Tuesday night attended by some 45 volunteer firefighters.
"We were very pleased with the turnout," said training officer Lt. Greg Scott. "That was almost every county firefighter from Station 2 in Danburg, Station 7 in Rayle, Station 8 in Metasville, and Station 9 in Tignall.
The controlled burn of an old house on Hill Street donated by Diane Andrews gave firefighters, led by Capt. C.J. Gilland and Capt. Kevin Tucker the opportunity to practice their "pump and dump" abilities, Scott said.
"Outside the city limits where there aren't any hydrants, firefighters have to haul water to fires. We wanted to be able to pump 250 gallons a minute for one hour using our tankers and portable water bunkers, and we were successful."
Firefighters under the direction of Capt. Gilland were stationed at Campbell Street to pump water from a simulated pond into tankers, and transport it three miles to the fire scene, where it was transferred into portable bunkers and then pumped into hoses for firefighters under the command of Capt. Tucker to apply to the fire.
The overall aim of the training is to eventually improve the ISO insurance rating for the whole county, Lt. Scott said. In 2006, Washington's in-town fire protection rating was raised from a Class 4 to a Class 3, putting it in a class equal with most Atlanta suburbs, better than Thomson and far better than most other small cities.
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