Bostwick Volunteer Fire Department Donates Hay to GPSTC
October 15, 2012
Contact: Kathy Kemp (kkemp@gpstc.org)
FORSYTH, GA - The Georgia Public Safety Training Center (GPSTC) was proud to accept the Bostwick Volunteer Fire Department’s donation of a round bale of hay on October 12, 2012. GPSTC, the agency charged with providing mandated training to Georgia’s public safety personnel, will use the hay in their live fire training exercises.
“Our instructors use wet hay to generate the thick smoke that firefighters will encounter during an actual structural fire,” said Fire Academy Chief Dave Wall. “We strive to make our training as realistic as possible so that when a firefighter responds to a fire at a home with victims trapped inside, it is not the first time they’ve fought through smoke to make a rescue,” Wall continued. “Practicing under these real world conditions helps fire and rescue trainees develop the skills and confidence they need to effectively respond to emergencies and save lives.”
The bale of hay that the Bostwick Fire Department donated will be used for the skills portion of GPSTC classes ranging from the Basic Firefighter course to more advanced classes such as Interior Search and Rescue and the intensive week-long Smoke Diver course, which trains firefighters to an elite level of performance and safety. GPSTC instructors will also use the hay to generate smoke for trainees to practice ventilation techniques, which help to quickly remove smoke from burning buildings.
“Anytime we can help out or provide tools to better our fire protection services, we are proud to do it,” said Bostwick Volunteer Firefighter Bucky Malcom, who grew the hay that was donated. “There is no substitute for good training, and practicing control and rescue operations with live fire and smoke under the watchful eye of GPSTC’s instructors produces the best firefighter possible,” Malcom explained.
GPSTC instructors emphasize safe teaching methods and do not use any combustible liquids inside the burn buildings used for training. “That’s what makes the use of hay so critical,” explained Chief Wall. “In addition to training firefighters, GPSTC also trains local fire instructors. We make sure those instructors learn the proper methods-such as using hay to produce smoke-for conducting live fire exercises when they return to their home bases,” Wall explained.
“We are grateful for the Bostwick Fire Department’s donation,” said GPSTC Director Tim Bearden. “Our goal at GPSTC is to provide training that saves lives, and this donation helps to ensure that we’ve prepared Georgia’s firefighters to face the most challenging of rescue operations.”