Firefighter Training Boosted by $50,000 State Grant

When the call goes out, Suffolk’s volunteer fire fighters and emergency workers answer with experience and know-how gained from the training they received at the county’s Fire Academy in Yaphank, a 30-acre facility that recently added a vital piece of training apparatus thanks to a $50,000 grant made possible by Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano.

Avolunteer himself for more than 40 years with the Medford Fire Department, DeStefano has been a chief advocate for the fire services, noting their immeasurable value to the communities they serve. “Long Island would be an altogether different place without the dedicated men and women of the fire and ambulance departments who devote enormous amounts of time and energy in serving their neighbors,” DeStefano said.

The state grant funded the installation of a special training module that simulates a burning building. In addition to dwelling and business fires, the academy simulates train rescues in repurposed Long Island Rail Road cars, as well as car crashes and multi-story blazes where temperatures can range up to a thousand degrees. Trainees crawl through dark mazes and take to the rooftops in aerial ladders. The facility provides life-like mannequins for rescue and hydrants where firefighters can learn and practice the capabilities of their pumps, hoses and other apparatus.

According to Academy Field Supervisor David Didio, the facility provides both real-life training and classroom instruction to prepare the firefighters for the multitude of situations they may face. “We do collapse simulations where structures have caved in on people, high angle response, trench and cesspool rescues. Any challenge a firefighters may face back in their own communities,” Didio noted that the academy can also simulate a car crash under a tanker truck full of fuel with victims trapped in the wreckage, as well as liquified natural gas and electrical emergencies. A5,000-square-foot burn building with a front porch, attached two-car garage, basement, and attic reflects the type of homes commonly constructed in Suffolk County.

Academy courses include technical and heavy rescue, forceable entry, emergency vehicle operation, brush truck safety, rope rescue, hazardous material response, and marine and ice situations, in addition to officer and leadership training.

Attending a ceremony to announce the state grant was county Legislator Dominick Thorne, the chairman of the Fire, Rescue and Emergency Medical Services and Preparedness Committee who has trained at the facility. “The academy provides a wide array of critical training that makes sure the men and women who respond to emergencies are properly prepared for anything they may encounter,” Thorne said.

DeStefano, who also trained there, noted that personnel from the New York City Fire Department have been to the academy, as well as the FBI, Secret Service, and Suffolk County Police. “Right here in Suffolk is a world-class emergency training facility that has prepared thousands of first responders in saving countless lives and an untold amount of property damage,” the Assemblyman said.

Formal instruction for the county’s fire fighters began in 1943 with the creation of the Vocational Education and Extension Board of Suffolk County; the fire training center came online in 1959. “The staff and instructors are the faculty, we function as the school board,” extension board member Dennis Whittam explained. He noted that the fire academy remained operational during the COVID pandemic through online classes featuring a vast video library. “We train for practically every real-world scenario,” Whittam said.