Hardin County Fire Department hosts River Training
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SAVANNAH, Tenn. — Hundreds of West Tennessee firefighters spent their weekend as students for the sixth annual Tennessee River Training put on by the Hardin County Fire Department. Hardin County Fire Chief Melvin Martin said this training weekend has tripled in size from when it started five years ago. “It’s a big event for us and it takes a lot of work, but it’s well worth it,” Martin said. Martin said not only does the weekend serve as a learning experience it helps build a brotherhood with surrounding fire departments. “We started it and we didn’t have anything in this region. We used to travel to some East Tennessee regions to do weekend trainings,” Martin said. 17 classes are offered throughout the weekend accommodating students from the 60 departments from Tennessee and Mississippi. Chief Martin said one of the most popular classes during the training session seems to be the vehicle extrication class where students are challenged to real life situations. The vehicle extrication instructor said he tries to challenge his students, “We try to make this a little more advanced the students that are here have been through a basic class and we try to, try to challenge them a little bit more,” TFACA instructor Daryl Newport said. A captain from the Mount Pleasant Fire Department said this was first year in attendance and he’s glad he signed up. “The instructors are awesome they hold your hand help you if you need any help they’re right there with you so nobody gets hurt,” Captain Todd Stewart said. Martin said while it’s fun to learn in the classroom i’s beneficial having departments learn together. “We also learn from our other fire departments on how things can be done better and quicker and safer. Safety’s our primary goal for training,” Martin said. Chief Martin said this is the department’s biggest event and they’re already planning for next year. He said additional money that was brought in and not used will go towards more training for the Hardin County Fire Department.
