The fire department now has a new tool for training. The prop, a modified version of a set of firefighter props originally designed by Dale Pekel, a retired captain from Wisconsin.  It was built over a  a couple of weeks in July 2025 by members interested in upping our training possibilities. As shown below, this prop can be disassembled and reassembled to create a prop for: Firefighter rope or ladder bailout, Window VEIS, Denver Drill, Roof Operations, Wall-breach and Entanglement. Key modifications include: adding 2' to the height of the window wall and base, base extended to a full 8',  modified Denver walls that are also part of the roof assembly and using the base and floor as the supports for the roof prop. These modifications eliminated the need to further construct another base, a roof support and 2 separate roof panels thus saving money in the budget. While the bulk of the major construction is done, additional work is needed to make it ready for all of the skills mentioned. More information and pictures will be posted on our training page.

A group from Adams participated in a RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) taught by Joe Nedder's Cross St. Associates fire training group this weekend. The 2-day, 16 hour class was hosted by the Cheshire Fire Department and focused on the skills needed to respond to a firefighter mayday situation. Although there was some classroom, the majority of the time was spent on intense, physically demanding drills and scenarios.  The class had 36 attendees from 7 Berkshire town and cities.

Tuesday night's drill was an air pack refresher. Topics include (re)familiarization with our Scott X3 Air-Paks, the Pak-Tracker and the RIT-Pak Fast Attack kit. Prior to a hands-on period, members viewed a page (shown below) created to bring all of this information together in one place. 

As we all are dealing with the ramifications of our present reality of COVID-19 based restrictions, the Adams Fire Department is directing its members to courses offered at the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. The UL FSRI Fire Safety Academy is a special software application developed for the delivery, administration, documentation, tracking and reporting of educational materials developed to disseminate the research findings of the UL FSRI and ultimately increase the knowledge of the fire service. Topics include tactics, fire suppression, fire dynamics and firefighter safety.

The Fire Safety Academy is designed for the fire service, but registration is open to everyone, at no cost. To register, visit the Sign Up page, provide your name, a valid email address and password. A verification email will be automatically sent to the address provided. Once verified, this will become the USER NAME for accessing the Fire Safety Academy via the Sign In page.

The new courses are:

• Cardiovascular and Chemical Exposure Risks During Training
  
• Residential Attic and Exterior Fires
  
• Positive Pressure Attack
  
• Understanding and Fighting Basement Fires
  
• Firefighter Safety and Photovoltaic Systems
  
• Impact of Ventilation on Fire Patterns
  
• Impact of Horizontal Ventilation on Fire Behavior

​**IMPORTANT- The Fire Safety Academy allows department Training Officers to access and to track your training. During the sign up process you simply identify your department by Fire Department Identification Number or FDID# (Adams Fire Department 3004).