Granville firefighters attended a Rural Water Supply Class in Southampton this past weekend. (Photo from Granville Fire Department’s Facebook Page)
GRANVILLE – Members of the Granville Fire Department attended a two-day Rural Water Supply class this past weekend hosted by the Massachusetts Fire Academy at the Southampton Fire Department. On Saturday the course was spent in the classroom and on Sunday the participants were able to do hands-on activities.
The Rural Water Supply class helped improve the Granville Fire Department’s efficiency for setting up a tanker shuttle when a fire occurs in town.
The town of Granville doesn’t have any fire hydrants which means firefighters rely on the tanker shuttles. According to Granville firefighter Josh Rutola, they have five draft sites, which consist of a 6-inch tube that runs into a pond.
When a fire occurs in Granville and the tankers arrive, a drop tank is put off the truck to dump water onto the site.
Rutola said that the demonstration over the weekend was beneficial for them moving forward.
“They taught us how to set up to have three or four tankers there,” said Rutola.
About 22,000 gallons of water was flowed during the class. That amount is something that can always be a potential reality for fire departments.
“That’s something that we very well could encounter,” said Rutola.
Rutola also noted that when a fire happens in Granville, engines and tankers from Southwick, Tolland, and East Hartland, Conn. are called in.
