U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer joined city officials Friday for the unveiling of a new mobile training trailer for the Albany Fire Department.
During a July 2017 visit to Engine 10 on Brevator Street in Albany, the Democratic Senate Minority Leader announced the city’s application for a federal grant that would allow the fire department to purchase a mobile fire simulator trailer had been approved.
Schumer says until now, there were just two training facilities in Albany County that the Albany Fire Department could use, both outside the city. “When they train a class of new recruits or when veteran firefighters needed to hone their skills, they had to spend dollars to send the firefighters away from the firehouse and they went to a training tower in Colonie or Bethlehem.”
The new simulator can be driven to a firehouse or field location for training purposes. Mayor Kathy Sheehan heralded the trailer as "a game-changer." "It will continue to ensure that our fire department and other firefighters in the region have the most state of the art equipment. They put their lives on the line every day. We've had massive fires in the city of Albany, unfortunately. And the training of our firefighters is so important for their safety and for the safety of our residents, and this would not have been possible without a $426,000 federal grant."
The simulator allows Albany firefighters to train on six unique and critical firefighting skills, including: fire suppression, forcible entry, roof operations, search and rescue, thermal imaging, and Personal Safety System. “So they get real heat and fire behavior experience. They can practice forcible entry, needed to get into burning structures. Roof ventilation, needed to relieve the heat and gasses that occur when there’s a fire. They can fill a room with safe, synthetic smoke, so the firefighters can practice when they can hardly see in front of them and their eyes are burning.”
The simulator can travel throughout the Capital Region to assist with firefighters’ hands-on training.
Albany Fire Chief Joseph Gregory says the unit will allow his firefighters to develop and enhance their situational awareness in multiple skill areas while better preparing them in a more realistic environment. "This mobile training trailer is the first major piece of fire training equipment that our department has built in over 40 years and we're extremely anxious to begin utilizing all of the tactical and strategic capabilities that will be provided by this particular piece of equipment for many years to come."
Schumer noted the trailer was built locally by LION Fire Training Equipment.
