DC Battalion Chief  Jim Dugan covers  command aspects with chiefs Captain Tony Tricarico, Squad 252 in Brooklyn returned for another weekend of training as Task Force 1, Inc.,  this  weekend.  Captain "Trix" was joined by Battalion Chief Jim Dugan from the District of Columbia Fire and EMS Department and Chief Ron Richards from Task Force 1, Inc.. Over 25 firefighters participated in the training.The training was intense as would be expected with Captain "Trix".

He just kept pushing
Everyone knows someone that just keeps pushing you, sometimes getting you mad or even sometimes making you so frustrated that just want to give up.  Well this past weekend Capt. Tony Tricarico of FDNY Squad 252 and Battalion Chief Jim Dugan of Washington D. C. Fire Dept. did just that.

They made the trip to Old Forge through the help of Task Force 1's continuing education programs. This was Tony’s second time and the firefighters were up to the challenge.  The class was on Operations in Large/Complex Structures and the two day class was as we expected extremely intense.

The first day helped everyone learn more about large area searches.  He taught us some small tricks of the trade that you can use in real life situations.  He should us different techniques for searching large areas, as well as teamwork which is paramount in this type of operations.  Each group went through evolutions doing this and working on how to make it better.
 

On the outside Chief Bob Aulisio and Chief Chuck Molinaro got to pick the brain of a Battalion Chief who works in a Department that handles this type of situations day in and day out.  They were able to listen and find out a few tips that can make there job better in the Command Structure that they run so well.  Once lunch ended we started to see  “ the pushing” take place.  I don't want to mislead you in thinking this was bad, it wasn't.  Tony has a way to make you find out what you are made of inside, and he was able to push you to go harder and farther than I think most of the class thought they had in them.

The scenario started out with two Firefighters trapped in the massive structure, caught in a collapse.  The chiefs quickly put to work the RIT Teams as they are called.  With some conversations continuing with the down firefighters the Command Team was able to get more information on a possible location.  With time running out for this two firefighters you could here the crews working harder and harder, pushing there capabilities to the test.

When one team finally found the down firefighters they were unconscious.   This team tried every which they knew how to get them out.  But finally there air was running out and without exiting the building we had  two more firefighters down. 

Even though this was a drill you could here in the radio transmissions everyone's desperate attempt to keep working at very stressful conditions. The actions of everyone in this building working so hard were taking a toll on there minds. 

But Tony kept pushing and pushing, and that's when two more crews were able to get the down firefighters pulled out to a safe area.

When the operation ended everyone gathered around and gave their opinion on what just happened.  From the Chiefs talking about the radio communications which needed work to the Team Leaders explaining what they did and why.  The round table discussions were very candid in the good and the bad of the operation that just occurred  I watch Tony's actions on all this and he didn't say much, I knew he was holding back. 

We ended up the first day doing some firefighter survival techniques that we would need for day two.  The Chiefs along with Tony, Ron, and Jim watched over each team practicing how different drag techniques can be done in getting out a downed firefighter.  As day one ended you could tell everyone was a little tired, mentally and psychically. 

Chief Dugan gave a little talk again on the Command part and then Tony told everyone how hard he felt the class was working.  He also told them go home, get some rest because tomorrow will be even harder.   Go to Day 2

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