West Grove Fire Company firefighters helped the Longwood Fire Company conduct a rural water supply class earlier this week.

Many areas of southern Chester County remain rural and that adds additional challenges for the work of fire fighters and their need for a reliable water supply for emergencies. In rural areas where fire hydrants are often not available, fire companies must bring their own water to a fire scene. Establishing and maintaining a large volume of water supply for a major fire takes dedicated equipment and specialized techniques.

Like most area fire companies, the WGFC has a tank truck that brings water to the scene -- 3500 gallons of water. Tanker 22 serves that role for West Grove, with area fire companies like Longwood, Kennett Square, Po-Mar-Lin (Unionville), Hockessin, Oxford, Avondale and Cochranville all with tankers in their fleets.

Longwood's training brought together various companies to practice the skills to establish rural water supply using tankers. WGFC participated with Engine 22-1 and Tanker 22. These water supply skills are practiced often to assure that crews can integrate tanker operations into emergencies whenever there isn't access to fire hydrants. Our thanks to Longwood for including the WGFC in tonight's training.