By Peter Vankevich
Personnel training for a volunteer fire department is vital to ensure the safety of the community as well as for the volunteers to avoid accidents or endangering themselves.
It is the backbone of a successful volunteer fire department because volunteers are often the first and only line of defense for their communities. Firefighters must know how to read smoke, operate equipment, perform rescues, and work as a coordinated team.
Volunteer departments face unique challenges: members have other jobs, different experience levels and limited time together.
Enhancing the company’s skills, one of Ocracoke’s members, Brandon Jones, graduated from the Inner Banks Fire Academy at Beaufort County Community College (BCCC) in December.
He is the second island firefighter to graduate from the academy.
Christian Trejo, who joined the OVFD as a junior volunteer, graduated last year and is now working at a fire department in Washington, Beaufort County. When he is on the island, he continues to serve the OVFD.
Jones was one of 22 students who successfully completed the program, and he received the class leadership award.
“I’ve learned how to help people prevent fires, maintain equipment and protecting structures and dwellings that people may live in,” he said. “I want to bring this knowledge to help the OVFD and teach people.”
In February, Jones was elected be the OVFD captain responsible for training.
The OVFD recently held a class in personal protective equipment, conducted by Adam Glassman, a fire and emergency management instructor at BCCC.
The class included equipment maintenance and a using a self-contained breathing apparatus.
On a roll, Jones is working some shifts at the Banyan Volunteer Fire Department in Washington and has enrolled in the EMT certification class. These days, many firefighters are opting to also be certified as EMTs or paramedics.
While Jones works in commercial fishing, firefighting is his passion.
“I knew I wanted to be a firefighter when I was 10 years old,” he said. He joined his local fire department when he was 15 and has been an OVFD firefighter off and on for the past 10 years.
Micah Bassell and Derek McEntee also completed a 98-hour hazmat training course provided online by the academy.
Instructor Glassman, a retired firefighter from Baltimore, emphasized the importance of having specialized trained personnel like Jones, Bassell and McEntee’s on an island with limited resources.
“When you can get people willing to get certified and have formal training, it’s going to be a huge asset for you,” he said. “They’re able to bring that knowledge, skill and ability back here to provide service to the community and allows them to share that knowledge with their fellow firefighters.”
Beaufort County Community College provides several different training programs for individuals and for regional fire departments.
