Yaphank Fire Academy: 'Taxpayer'
 
By EMT Jim Fredriksson Photos by Ed Boyd and Jim Fredriksson
May 17, 2023
 

Yaphank provided another great training opportunity on Wednesday as a contingent of firefighters, both new and experienced, brought their skills and expertise to a "taxpayer" scenario, a simulated scene of a row of stores with front and rear entrances. Typically, firefighters need to push-through a fire scene and search for victims while putting large amounts of water on the fire and make their way out the back door, extinguishing as they proceed. These scenarios instill confidence and provide realistic experience as firefighters pull down suspended ceilings to check for fire above their heads without pushing past it, apply water to the fire and conduct searches as part and parcel of entering a burning building. A combination of extinguishing and searching leads to hopefully successful rescues as store owners have been known to spend late nights working at their stores.