Fire Training Center

Press release:

The Genesee County Office of Emergency Management Services was the host of the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs (NYSAFC) FLASHOVER training. 

The FLASHOVER training was held at the Genesee County Fire Training Center on State Street Road, Batavia, on Sept. 10-11, where forty-three firefighters from around the region attended.

Seasoned instructors with years of experience teaching with a simulator, taught this program. The program included a one-hour classroom lecture, followed by two hours of intense live fire hands-on training evolutions in NYSAFC's mobile flashover simulator.

The FLASHOVER training allowed participants to experience fire development from the incipient stage all the way to flashover.  Participants completing the training are now able to identify the signs of the event before being part of the flashover. It is said that if you are more than five feet from the doorway, your chance of survival in a flashover is minimal.

Participants of the FLASHOVER training Included:

AKRON

• Hillery Dennies
• Michael Dennies

ALABAMA

• Gary Patnode
• Michelle Patnode
• Ryan Thompson

CITY OF BATAVIA

• Ryan Darch
• Nathan Flint
• Allison Hubert
• Jennifer Kirkum
• Dalton Major
• Benjamin Pickard

BOWMANSVILLE

• Mike  Andrzewski
• Evan MacPeek

CALEDONIA

• Andrew Carpino
• Samuel D'Agostino
• RJ Kantowski
• John Kellen
• Michael Lubitow
• Aaron Rychlicki
• Nathan Sherlock

EAST BLOOMFIELD

• Alex Brown
• Bill Gasser
• Abigail Miller

EAST PEMBROKE

• Stephen Smelski

PERRY CENTER

• David  Parfitt
• Chuck Wright

PITTSFORD

• Ron DeCamelia
• Brian Garber
• Matt Garber
• Marc Krieger
• Chris Otero

RANSOMVILLE

• Jim Harbison
• Chris Lederhouse
• Justin Stoelting
• Matt Wedge

SOUTH BYRON

• Nicole Boldt
• Vito Muoio
• Jeremie Rassel
• Jeffrey Starowitz

SPRINGWATER

• Brian Nadeau
• Zackery Ryan

WENDELVILLE

• Thomas Braunscheidel
• Benjamin Kalbfliesch

Press release:

The Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus / Interior Firefighter Officer (SCBA/IFO) course began with an orientation for students and fire department officers on August 24, 2021. 

The SCBA-IFO course is the second segment to becoming a Level I Firefighter. Students of this course acquired knowledge and skills in SCBA use, fire control initial fire attack, search and rescue, survival, tactical ventilation, vehicle fire, and structure fire skills along with company operations.

The course concluded on October 7^th with fourteen (14) firefighters successfully completing the 50-hour course.  Genesee County Deputy Coordinator/SFI Gary Patnode and SFI Dan Coffey were lead instructors of the course.

(See photo.  Participants listed below.) 

(Back Row)

Jimmy King –LeRoy Fire District

Matthew Delre—Indian Falls Fire Department

Jennifer Kirkum—East Pembroke Fire District

Jeremie Rassel— South Byron Fire Department

Steven Kinney  - Newstead Fire Department

Jenn Demark - Brockport Fire Department

(Second Row) Christie Offen - Scottsville Fire Department

Matthew Allen— East Pembroke Fire Department

Preston Lampo - Murray Joint Fire District

John McCarthy - Corfu Fire District

(Front Row)

Anthony Ray— Town of Batavia Fire Department

Brie Rogers - Leroy Fire District

Cody Place—Brockport Fire Department

Dwayne Fonda— Town of Batavia Fire Department

 

Visit your local fire department to find out more about volunteer opportunities.

Nearly 100 firefighters and other emergency responders were at the Fire Training Center today to participate in four different classes to help them be better prepared for accident and fire responses.

Gary Hearn, regional emergency manager for Amtrak (bottom photo), taught a class on train passenger emergency response procedures.

There was advanced instruction for emergency medical technicians taking place in another classroom.

In still another classroom, the first day of two days of training sponsored by Tompkins Insurance on emergency vehicle operations.

And out in the back of the training center, the Firefighter II class spent eight hours learning about and practicing accident victim extrication.

"There can be severe damage, so they need to learn as many tricks as possible to get these folks out as quickly as possible," said Jim Bouton, deputy emergency coordinator.

The training center is often a busy place, Bouton said, but today was a little extra busy.

"Quite often the building is full but we’re out here on a back road and nobody sees us," Bouton said. "Sometimes, though we have a tremendous number of programs going on. Today we just happened to have every single classroom and training area filled."

This Saturday, a new group of volunteer firefighters graduates from a tri-county fire training program conducted at the Genesee County Fire Training Center.  

This morning, they completed their second morning of live fire training under the teaching of Chuck Dodson.

Here's the graduating class:

• Leah Thompson, Alabama
• Zachariah Conlin, Attica
• Gunner Schedel, Brockport
• Jay Pallister, Elba
• A.J. Wright, Holley
• Chris DeFelice, Le Roy
• Mason Hinsken, Perry
• Zach Petry, Shelby
• Caleb Bailey, Silver Springs
• Nathan Wesche, Silver Springs
• Chris Penkszyk, South Byron
• David Moore, Town of Batavia

Twenty-four volunteer firefighters from Genesee County are participating in a three-day class to improve their knowledge and skill in dealing with spill-related fires.

The class, conducted by state fire trainers, is designed to give them a better understanding of fighting fires involving flammable liquids using Class B foam.

"These fires are pretty tricky to deal with," said trainer David Baker. "These are fires that can move, so it's a different kind of fire than most people are used to dealing with and can present some pretty significant problems."

The course, which includes classroom instruction, covers types of foam from different manufacturers, how to apply it in different situations and how much foam to use depending on the fire.

Terrain, as well as the nature and amount of the liquid, dictate best practices for fighting specific fires, Baker said.

"This program is designed to teach firefighters how to make the appropriate type and amount of Class B foam and how to apply it correctly to put out a spill fire," Baker said.

Genesee County was picked as one training location, in part, Baker said, because of all the transportation routes that pass through the county.

The basics of fighting spill fires are covered in all early firefighter training, but the course is designed to provide both a refresher for experienced firefighters as well as a hands-on opportunity to work with foam on spill fires. Because such fires are so rare, fighters don't get to practice dealing with them very often.

A couple dozen firefighting trainees spent much of the day at the Fire Training Center on State Street Road, Batavia, learning a few things about fire fighting, including the techniques for putting out car fires.

If you are ready to do cool things like this, become a volunteer firefighter in your community. Visit Ready Genesee for more information.