Elected officials from Fairfield, Stratford , and Easton were the invited guests today for the 2009 Fairfield County Fire Ops 101 program held in Fairfield at the Elias Fire Training School. The program is designed to give officials a walk in the shoes of a fire fighter by allowing them to work side by side with fire fighters in actual fire training exercises. The program was co hosted by fire fighters from Fairfield Local 1426, Easton Local 1426 and Stratford Local 998.

 Participants took part in evolutions to simulate what it would be like at a fire scene by breaking open a door, searching a smoke filled room, stretching a hose line into a basement to extinguish a fire, carry and climb a ladder to a roof, cut a vent hole in a roof using a power saw, extricate a victim from an automobile accident with the “Jaws of Life”, and performing lifesaving CPR.

“We put them through a very controlled training environment today. We wanted them to get a feel for what we do every day, but we wanted them to feel safe and be confident in what they were doing. All the participants did fantastic.” Stated Local 1426 event co-coordinator Scott Bisson.

Participants included, from Fairfield  State Representative Kim Fawcett and from Easton First Selectman Tom Herrmann. “I think Kim and Tom did great.”, said Local 1426 executive board member Justin Greenhaw “ They performed every function we gave them. It’s not an easy thing to walk in off the street and do this kind of stuff. They should be proud of what they did here today.”

“The purpose of this whole program is let our elected officials see what it’s like to do our job.” Local 1426 President Bob Smith said “If they walk in our shoes they can help make smart decisions about the things we ask for at budget time. We know financial times are tough but sometimes you just can’t do more with less and be safe while you are doing it.”

“We are glad that Kim and Tom could take the time to give up a whole day away from their families and show that they care about our safety.” Said Local 1426 Secretary Phil Higgins

Local 1426 Trustee Bill Tuttle added, “It was great to work with our Brothers from Stratford and Easton today. Each town and city have different financial wants and needs but we can’t let the victim of budget cuts be public safety. It’s important to get our message out and I think we were able to do that today.”

“This was the second time the FireOPS 101 program was held in Fairfield and we are already looking forward and planning for next year. “said Chris Tracy director of the Elias Fire Training school and Local 1426 member.