MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — From firefighters with tenure to those new to the job, one requirement is to pass a series of yearly fire truck driving skill checks. This week, firefighters with the Madison County Fire Department tested their skills at the Blue Grass Army Depot.
“Making sure you can handle one of these in good conditions is important,” said Jake Fuller, a firefighter and EMT with the Blue Grass Army Depot. “Going through some of the obstacles, make sure you can back them up appropriately, know your clearances, know your turning radius, all that, so you don't drop a wheel off the side of a little county road in the middle of a thunderstorm and you're trying to go help somebody that really needs it.”
Fuller helped Madison County firefighters navigate the course, which included practicing lane changes, three-point turns, and had cones set up for drivers to navigate a slow serpentine in drive – and reverse.
“It's a driving course we have to do every year,” Madison County Fire Department Chief Tim Gray said. “The drivers all have to maintain to be on the fire department.”
“The practical portion of it... gives them familiarization of the truck, gets you used to just even driving how the truck operates,” said Assistant Chief Wayne Adams with the Blue Grass Army Depot Fire Department.
Adams is a driver’s trainer and EVOC-certified instructor as well.
To fulfill their requirements, each firefighter has to drive the course in one of the fire engines as well as one of the tanker trucks – which Gray said are new to the department.
“It's first tandem axle the county's ever had, so everybody's driving it to get familiar with it,” he said. “It handles a little different than what the other trucks do. Each truck handles different, and that's the reason we have them driving, so everybody learns how that truck handles.”
Events like this also build up the mutual aid connection the two fire departments have. They work together for these trainings, and they will assist each other in fire responses on the base and in the county.
“We only have one engine crew right here right now, and for most structure fires, that's not even going to start to cut it,” Fuller said.
“My guys get to respond off base and catch a few fires and help out with the rescues,” Adams said. “It just makes a lot more knowledge for my guys.”
“This is just another way that we get to train with one another,” added Gray.
