On Tuesday Evening the Cutchogue Volunteer Fire Department conducted a large area search drill last night utilizing our firehouse.

Over the past month our apparatus and many furnishings have been moved out of the existing building to our temporary quarters across the street and annex building as the Department continues to prepare for our new building project that is expected to begin this month.

The near vacant building presented a valuable training opportunity for our firefighters. This was a great exercise for a number of our newer members to learn the basics of large area search as well as an excellent way for some of our senior members to learn new techniques and get a refresher on the basics.

The group of 20 firefighters utilized the empty truck bays to learn different techniques and execute various search patterns using search ropes.

After a brief review of basic knots and the search equipment, Firefighters practiced their search skills by finding a several simulated victims that needed to be rescued in the smoke filled building. Teams of four crawled low to the ground while attached to a rope, traversing the buildings interior in search of “victims” while maintaining communication with command.

Drills to cover wide-area searches, become valuable in places like grocery stores, schools, movie theaters, and in situations where there is low visibility. Training teams on rope lines is vital to survival should a firefighter become disoriented during a fire or search-and-rescue mission.

Thank you to all of our firefighters who participated and the staff of Firehouse Training plus for a great night of training.

We look forward to other trainings using the building in the near future.