Munjoy Hill Station Firemen Practice With Bucket at Ocean Gateway
Members of the Munjoy Hill Fire Station spent about an hour practicing different techniques this afternoon at Ocean Gateway. Among other skills practiced were pump training and aerial work with the bucket.
Some of the newer members of the Depatment have not had a lot of experience with pumps and buckets because the nature of fires have changed over the past few years. There have been fewer massive fires because they are caught earlier due to early warning systems – including sprinkler systems and fire alarms. People are alerted much sooner than previously and fires are caught well before they become major fires.
According to Shawn Neat fire prevention “in Portland is as good as it gets in any community.” Nowadays the Fire Department can put fifteen people in a fire within seven minutes, he added. “We are fully staffed,” he said.