Burning Down the House: Tinton Falls Firefighters Train to Battle Live Fires

While many people took it easy last Sunday, adjusting to the lost hour of sleep, firefighters from Tinton Falls' Wayside and Pinebrook fire companies were outside in full gear and preparing to respond to an emergency, albeit staged.

The fire companies were joined by members of the Oakhurst and Neptune fire squads at the Middletown Fire Academy on March 13 for a live fire training that presented a number of emergency scenarios for the firefighters to contend with.

"If you do not feel comfortable doing something, tell your partner," emphasized Wayside Fire Company No. 2 Captain Thomas Wieczerzak as he walked the firefighters through the overview portion of the morning's training. Firefighters generally participate in a couple of trainings each month.

Ladder and pumper trucks flanked a two-and-a-half story structure as the group gathered outside for instructions before taking an interior walk-through before the drill began.

"Calm down and take a nice, deep breath," said Wieczerzak, who is also an instructor at the academy. "Let's practice everything that we do, here."

The group was quickly reminded of the dangers of a live fire when one of the firefighters was injured not long into the first evolution of the morning's training. The victim removed his gloves to adjust his gear in the burn room of the structure after the fire had been set and received burns to his hands, according to Wieczerzak.

Wieczerzak, who is a career firefighter for the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, said that when an injury occurs during training, "common sense and the law says to stop the training."

The drill was quickly ended and members of all participating companies gathered outside to dissect what had gone wrong and what could have been done to prevent it.

While it's unusual for an injury to occur during training, Wieczerzak said, "We'd rather have it happen in the training world so that everyone understands the seriousness (of the situation)."