“Never Stop Learning!”

   One of my greatest joys of being in the fire service is teaching the Essentials of Firefighting class at the regional fire school held in Sioux City at Western Iowa Technical Community College. It is such an honor to work with firefighters that have just entered the service. They are full of excitement!

   In the two days of classroom and hands on activities they get a chance to experience a very wide variety of the fire service. We begin the first day with the introduction of the fire service, incident management, PPE, and SCBA. 

   The next day begins early and is broken into 5 different categories of hands on activities. The first is hose and fire streams. This includes an opportunity for them to pump a fire truck as others advance hose lines. The second is an SCBA confidence trailer operated by the LeMars Fire Dept. The third station is on hose rolls and salvage operations. The fourth is on forcible entry and ladders with the use of a portable fire facility trailer from Northwest Iowa Community College. The final station is another SCBA confidence trailer from the 185th Air National Guard. 

   At the end of the day they are exhausted. The most important lesson is given just before they leave. We share how important it is to never stop learning! Take as many classes as you can! Find an area of the service you have a passion for and be the best you can. 

Training Objectives

   Upon completion, the department should be able to…

   • Identify opportunities for training.

   • Set a schedule for training.

   • Share your passion of training with others.

   Scott Meinecke is a member of the Sheldon and Granger Volunteer Fire Departments, Director of Safety for the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives, and field staff for the Fire Service Training Bureau. He can be contacted by email at smeinecke@iowarec.org