Sterling Volunteer Fire Company

On Sunday morning members from Sterling Fire joined firefighters from Dulles Airport and surrounding areas for a mass casualty drill. Airport personnel are constantly training for events like this, but often on their own. In the event of an actual disaster organizations from throughout the area will respond. The drill on Sunday gave everybody the opportunity to work together and practice the skills that may be required.

You can learn more in this report from WUSA9: Training for disaster at Dulles Airport. Watch the video to catch a glimpse of SVFC in action, along with others from Dulles Airport, Loudoun, and Fairfax county.

Volkswagen, via Lindsay Volkswagen of Dulles, donated three brand new Passats to the SVFC. These were new cars that could not be sold to the public and are typically recycled or donated to schools and training facilities. The SVFC is excited and grateful for the opportunity to partner with Volkswagen. These Volkswagens will provide a rare and valuable opportunity for our first responders to gain first-hand knowledge training with modern cars, their modern construction, and safety equipment.

See other photos from the donation ceremony here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sterlingfire/sets/72157633176716654/

Read about the ceremony via the Washington Post by clicking HERE.

Members of the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company spend many hours each year in training learning new skills, reviewing old skills, and teaching others. Over the last two weeks many senior members spent time taking a class that most newer members took at the academy. Liquid Petroleum Gas Emergencies is a class that is required for new members, but was not required when many of our members completed their initial training. In order to meet current standards many Captains, Lieutenants, Technicians, and even an Assistant Chief, joined some senior firefighters to complete this class. One day of class was spent in the classroom, and the second day was spent at the Loudoun County Fire Rescue Training Center in Leesburg at the LPG prop.

Teams cool the LPG tank while approaching it to activate the shutoff
Photo By: Todd Clist

On Thursday evening the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue family gathered in Sterling for their semi-annual graduation ceremony, where recent graduates of the Firefighter I-II and EMT programs are recognized, along with various individuals for outstanding efforts. The “Fall 2012″ graduation was held in Sterling so many SVFC members were out to support our own. Crew 4, staffing Engines 611 and 618, as well as Tower 611 as part of their normal duty shift, were there. Other volunteers staffed Quint 624, and many others attended on their own. The SVFC Color Guard opened the ceremony with the presentation of the colors. During the national anthem, performed by a member of the Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad, Engine 611 was dispatched for an EMS call. A few minutes later Engine 618, and Tower 611 and Captain 611, were dispatched, along with units from Ashburn and Fairfax, for a reported chimney fire. After another few minutes Quint 624 was responding to an oven fire, along with Engine 611 and units from Fairfax. 17 minutes after the first call Rescue 615, partially staffed by SVFC, was en route to a medical emergency. As the ceremony continued the following members of SVFC were recognized:

Firefighter I-II students:

• Taylor Dunbar
• Daniel Fielden
• Damien Iasimone
• Asad Khan
• Alexander Krosse
• Flavius Lucaci
• Max Muchmore
• Valerie Perez

Emergency Medical Technician

• William Ermini
• Jonathan Wallace

Also, Chief Bill Graham was awarded the Outstanding Fire Instructor Award, recognizing his service and dedication to instructing students and improving the fire rescue system.

Congratulations to all the graduates, and thanks to all the members of SVFC who taught classes, participated in drills, asked questions, and helped those recognized above on their journey.

Photos by: David Payne

The color guard presents the colors

Chief Graham, President Short, and the Firefighter I-II students

The Chief, The President, and the EMT students

Chief Bill Graham with the EMS instructors of the year, Edward McDonald and Elise Wallo

Leesburg Volunteer Fire Company is staffing Sterling Fire apparatus during the day today to allow many of our members to attend specialized training at the Fire Alarm & Sprinkler Systems Training (FASST) Lab in Fairfax County. We appreciate their support and thank them for allowing us to improve our service to our community.

On Sunday, April 29th members of the SVFC traveled to Pipetown, state-of-the-art training facility at Washington Gas’s Operations Center in Springfield, VA. Pipetown is used by Washington Gas to train field operators, line supervisors and emergency responders in a live, controlled, environment. Crews from Sterling learned how to safely respond and mitigate a variety of emergencies they may face in Sterling when dealing with natural gas.

On Saturday, April 30th the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company took the opportunity to spend the day at the LCFR training center burn building. While crews are constantly training on duty nights opportunities to train with live fire as a company are rare. Crews spent the day running multiple scenarios covering many basic firefighting skills: hose line advancement, searching for victims, ladders, ventilation, etc. It’s also an opportunity for members to train for promotions, allowing them to act in the role of a higher rank while under the supervision of a mentor or instructor.

The SVFC would like to specifically thank Leesburg VFC and Purcellville VFC for covering our stations in Sterling for the morning allowing the duty crews to participate in the training, and for training with us in the afternoon. Thanks also to Arcola Pleasant Valley VFD for participating in the training and for assisting our canteen unit with rehab at the training center.

Photos of the day, taken by David Payne, are available by clicking HERE.

Crews prepare to enter the burn building during a scenario

Crew 3 spend Easter Sunday providing fire protection to the Sterling community. After a home (station) cooked breakfast crews spent the morning training, including a special search drill. The afternoon was spent doing work around the station and more training. Just after 9:30pm Sterling units were alerted for a dryer fire in a local townhouse community, and at 1:20 on Monday morning units from Sterling and Fairfax County were alerted for a townhouse fire in Cascades.

Photos by: David Short

On Sunday recruit firefighters from Loudoun County began the fire portion of their recruit school. After completing the EMS training (either First Responder or EMT-B), they will now move on to “fire school” where they’ll earn both Firefighter I and II, and other related certifications. The first day is usually the Consumption Test. Recruits are taught how to properly wear and operate in their gear and are required to preform a variety of physically demanding tasks, consuming all the air in their Self Contained Breathing Apparatus. Recruits are also sent through a maze to help them learn how to operate in unfamiliar environments with limited visibility. Portions of the maze are intentionally confining and have features designed to make passage difficult. Recruits must become proficient in operating in difficult, uncomfortable, and stressful circumstances. SVFC Associate David Payne has posted his photos from the day here.

On Thursday, July 16th, the Loudoun County Fire and Rescue Training Center held a graduation ceremony to recognize those who completed Firefighter I, Firefigter II, or EMT during the spring 2009 session. As usual the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company was well represented. All of these classes take many hours (around 20 hours a week, for 3-6 months) of classroom lectures, training evolutions, and study and practice time away from class. Congratulations and thanks to all the students, instructors, and their friends and families for their support. SVFC members recognized were:

Firefighter 1-2 Certification School
Taylor Bagnall
Andrew Engelken
Matthew Gallegos
Louis Glazer
Dennis Haeberle
Bobby Halouska
Jackson Haskell
Jeffrey Murray
Tanner Purnhagen
Mark Rabideau
Andrew Sullivan

Firefighter 2
Kenneth Krohn
Laureano Avila Mora

EMT Basic
Jeff Lindstrom
Peter Slattery
Matthew Solomon

Special congratulation to Matt Webb, who serves the Leesburg community at Loudoun Rescue and serves Sterling at Sterling Fire. He was recognized as Top Student in the EMT-P program.

Photos by: Jon Hickman

SVFC Graduates

SVFC Graduates with Deputy Chiefs Rick Opett and Jon Starling, President David Short, and Fire Chief Mickey Buchanan