Pump Operations Class held at Station 4-9

On the evenings of Tuesday, March 25, and Thursday, March 27, and all day Saturday, March 29, a Pump Operations 1 class was hosted by Station 4-9. Members from White Horse, as well as Kinzer (4-5), Lancaster Township (6-6), Intercourse (4-4), Blue Ball (3-2) and Goodville (3-6) were in attendance.\
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The lead instructor was John Fogg; assisting was Stan Davis. Both men are instructors with the Bucks County Public Safety Training Center.\
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Tuesday’s and Thursday’s evening classes were classroom based, covering such topics as operating a pump, pump maintenance, pump anatomy, and layout of a pump panel.\
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On Saturday, the day began with the class traveling to Westbrook Drive in Honey Brook Township to utilize the two fire hydrants in the business park. There are no conventional fire hydrants in White Horse’s response area, so we had to travel to utilize some for class. The class was broken into two groups. Half went with Instructor Davis and learned how to utilize a two-stage fire pump. Engine 6-6-1 has a two-stage pump and was used for the evolution. The other half of the class went with Instructor Fogg and learned how to utilize a single-stage fire pump. Engines 4-9-1 & 4-5-2 are both single-stage, and both were used for the evolution. Water pumped from the hydrants was disposed of in a nearby field.\
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After both groups were ran through both types of pumps, the class was moved to the pond on Koser Road in Salisbury Township. There the needed equipment was laid out for the afternoon’s exercises. After laying out the equipment, the class went back to Station 4-9 for lunch.\
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After lunch, crews headed back out to Koser Road, where drafting from the pond was covered, as well as relay pumping. Water pumper from the pond was returned to the pond.\
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After the afternoons evolutions were completed, the class went back to Station 4-9 were all equipment was cleaned and returned to service, and a discussion of the class was held.\
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Thanks to Instructors Fogg and Davis for instructing the class, to Honey Brook Fire Chief Tom Witman for allowing us to use the hydrants, and to Gidget, Tammy, and Zach for lunch on Saturday.\
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