On Wednesday evening, Tanker 22 visited the Avondale Fire Company to assist that fire company on their training night, for a class to review tanker water supply.

As Avondale (like West Grove) is located in a rural area, there are still many locations without fire hydrant service. As such, fire companies must bring their water to the scene in Tanker trucks which usually carry 3,000 gallons or more. The purpose of the class was to review how Tanker operations are established, and to give Avondale's firefighters hands on experience in water supply operations.

For this training, three Tankers (Avondale, West Grove, and Kennett Square) were utilized. Crews laid a supply line to a fire location. As is the practice, the first Tanker supplies the fire scene, while crews set up portable tanks that can hold 3000+ gallons of water. A dedicated pump is used to draft water from these portable tanks to then supply water to the fire scene.

Crews practiced how to establish the draft, how to move water from tank to tank, and how to keep a flow of Tankers going at a large fire scene. A crew also practiced hydrant operations to learn how to rapidly fill Tankers.

At nearly all fires, fire companies work together to fight fire and handle water supply operations. As such, these training evolutions involving multiple companies and units are important rehearsals for the real thing. In fact, just over 24 hours after this drill in Avondale, multiple Tankers were involved in water supply operations at a barn fire in Cochranville.