On Wednesday evening May 30th East Brandywine Fire Company volunteers trained on the "5-minute drill".

The drill proves to be an invaluable part of our success on the fire ground as it helps to define expectations for arriving personnel.

Essentially it compartmentalizes the first five minutes of a fire.

We routinely focus on the following:

Mindset
Dispatch and Pre-arrival assessment (likely type of construction, hydrants, time of day, winds, resource availability, etc)
Driving safely
Proper apparatus placement
Size-up and 360 degree evaluation
Communication
Accountability
Deploying an attack line and a back-up line
Securing a water supply
Ventilation coordinated with attack (Horizontal and / or Vertical)
Throwing ladders 360 degrees
Securing utilities
Exposure vulnerability
Checking for extension and overhaul

According to Fire Chief Vince D'Amico "we used this evening as a precursor to our formal RIT training which will start next week and be provided by Buck County Community College".