CVFD hosts multiple fire departments for tanker drill (2024)

Other fire departments which took part in the training were Calcutta, Negley, Glenmoor, New Manchester, Hanover Township, New Alexandria, Middleton Township and Highlandtown volunteer fire departments and East Liverpool Fire Department.

The training, which according to CFVD Fire Chief Dave McCoy, has been two years in the making, was held for firefighters to gain experience in porting water quickly into an area where access to hydrants may be limited or non-existent.

“In rural areas it’s common to not have a water source nearby and drop sites and tanker shuttles become necessary, relying on neighboring departments for mutual aid and tankers,” McCoy said.

The drill which took place in the front of Busy Beaver in the Springview Plaza involved firefighters using tankers and hoses to vacuum water from the lake behind the plaza and transport that water and get it into the dump tanks so firefighters would have a continuous supply of water if needed.

Firefighter Bobby Brooks, Calcutta Volunteer Fire Department, drains water from a tanker during a water shuttle training Saturday. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

The goal, which was met, was to be able to have a fire truck be able to pump 1,000 gallons of water from the tanks in one minute.

The truck pumped over 56,000 gallons of water in just a little over an hour.

The water was pumped back into the lake.

Other goals for the training were to improve coordination and communications skills, improve the drafting operations for dump tanks and static sources filling, developing an understanding of larger scale multi dump tank operations and being able to coordinate tanker operations utilizing multiple fill sites

The five-hour training, which ran from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., began with a review on how the drill was going to work and a question-and-answer session and ended with a debriefing session which included how the drill went, tips and suggestions based on what the trainers observed during the drill and question-and-answer session.

Firefighter Kevin Cibula, East Liverpool Fire Department, pulls water into the firetruck’s hose from dump tanks during a practice drill Saturday. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

During the debriefing, Jim Delman of the Belmont County Tanker Task Force told all the firefighters that for them to be efficient they had to train and practice and for them to move the water they had to train and practice.

CFVD Assistant Fire Chief Shane Hamilton said the purpose of the training was to get familiar with the process of flowing water at a fast pace for commercial structures or something large scale with no hydrants. Hamiliton described it as a failsafe.

Capt. and Water Support Officer Tim Roush, Hanover Township VFD, said one of the biggest benefits to a multi-jurisdictional training is the firefighters from all departments involved have the opportunity to learn from each other, which would be beneficial in case something was to happen on a large-scale level, then they would know the other departments work. He also said he would welcome the opportunity for additional multi-department trainings.

Hamilton also saw the benefit of bringing many departments together who are not used to working together and getting familiar with their equipment and their personnel.

McCoy noted that he would talk to the Columbiana County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and other local fire chiefs to see if there is interest in forming a tanker task force.

Firefighters return water to a lake following a training drill Saturday which involved drawing water from the lake to fill the tanker trucks and transporting that water to dump tanks at another location. (Photo by Kristi R. Garabrandt)

“We would like to thank the Tanker Task Force leadership for being our instructors today and all the participants along with the general public for your patience today as our fire trucks were going through town,” McCoy said.