It’s all about the angle.
That was the lesson learned from Navarre Beach Fire Department’s “C shift” when they utilized their ladder truck (Ladder 49) during a training exercise at Beach Colony Resort’s west tower on Navarre Beach.
Danny Fureigh, who recently took over as a Captain at the department following the retirement of Capt. Gary Diamond on August 6, led the exercise over his new shift crew.
He trained two of the firefighters on his shift, Chris Jines and Ed King. Jines was new to the department and had only been a Navarre Beach firefighter for 6 months.
The training exercise was put on by Fureigh to see if his new shift could utilize the fire truck’s ladder to the best of their ability.
“I’m a new captain to the shift. I want to make sure they understand how to work that truck in every aspect,” Fureigh said. “So it’s actually training for all of us. There are certain things I’m looking for, like placement of that truck.”
Placement and angle were key to ensure Jines and King could reach the highest floor of the condominium as possible.
On their first attempt, their angle only got them to the seventh floor. So adjustments were made to allow them access to floors above that.
“Every floor is 12 feet up, the ladder is 75 feet and our truck is 8 feet off the ground. I can easily get to the eighth floor, maybe the ninth,” Fureigh said. “That’s why we do these exercises, so we know what we’re doing wrong. We’re a new shift, so we’re learning what we can do better. This exercise helps us be more fluid and better trains us for situations like this.”
