Pennsylvania Locals Host Successful Fire Ops 101

May 12, 2009 – For the second consecutive year, IAFF Pennsylvania affiliates from Bethlehem Local 735, Allentown local 392, Easton Local 713, Lehigh Valley International Airport Local 2227 and Wilson Local 1914 organized and hosted Fire Ops 101 on May 8 in Lehigh Valley.

Local politicians, community leaders and journalists – 14 participated and 20 observed – suited up in turnout gear for seven fire and EMS evolutions. The day-long experience gave the decision-makers and members of the media a taste of what it is like to be a fire fighter.

Using some of the resources on the IAFF Fire Ops web site, the five locals spent more than a year planning this event.

“Members representing each of the five locals worked together on a committee to organize sponsors, event participants and evolutions,” says David Saltzer, president of Local 735. “Our goal was to show how challenging our job is without anybody getting hurt. I believe we accomplished our objective.”

Participants experienced a variety of tasks, from working on a live fire to performing CPR. “We made sure we touched on all we do for the community, not just fire fighting,” says Saltzer. And thanks to the generosity of event sponsors, each got to take home a helmet and a T-shirt.