Tonight, during the monthly Fire District Drill, consisting of Orchard Park, Hillcrest, and Windom Fire Comapanies, crews trained on using an alternative water supply. Crews worked on drafting water from a pond and performing a water relay from hydrants. It's important for crews to train using alternative water supply's in case of water main failure or an incident in an area where hydrants are not available. Drafting consist of pumping water from a body of water, and using it to supply the firefighting efforts. Normally, fire apparatus utilizes fire hydrants, but occasionally, using a hydrant it's an option. A Water Relay is when fire engines or tankers take water from one source, and transport and off-load it at another. Crews were using the Hillcrest Fire Company portable pond as the off-load site. This is just another example of how the Orchard Park Fire Company is always training to serve the community.
