pThis past Monday night the members headed over to the pond on Jefferson Drive in the Greenfield Industrial Park for a training class on the proper set up and operation of a tanker fill site.nbspDeputy Chief Matt Bono led the class which consisted of the proper methods to accomplish the followingpdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptnbspdivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptSet up an engine to draft from a static water sourcedivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptHydrant connections for maximum water flowdivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptLayout and operation of the tanker fill linesdivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptnbspdivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptIn Lancaster County the standard for tanker fill-sites is to utilize two 2.50rdquo or 3.00rdquo hoses with 3.00rdquo Stortz couplings to fill a tanker.nbspnbsp Witmerrsquos standard operating procedures for tanker operations require that a fill site engine fill tankers at a rate of at least 1000 gpm.nbspnbspnbsp The members practiced hooking up the 6.00rdquo hard suction hoses and float dock strainers and also took turns operating the tanker fill manifold and handling the 3.00rdquo tanker fill lines.nbspIn our opinion a successful fill site requires approximately 7 firefighters to operate efficientlynbspa fill site officer pump operator manifold operator and four firefighters to man the tanker fill lines.nbspIt is also extremely important that only one tanker is filled at a time.nbspIt will not benefit the fire scene to have two half-full tankers at a fill site versus having one tanker filled and heading back to the fire scene before filling the second.divdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptnbspdivdiv stylemargin 0in 0in 10ptWitmer constantly trains on various water supply operation and procedures and are always glad to share our knowledge with other companies.nbspWe are also interested in hearing about what procedures and operations work well for other companies with the hope of continuing to improve our water delivery skills.div
