NEPA fire chiefs discuss training, emergency preparedness

Madonna Mantione
·2 min read

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Local fire chiefs are reacting to the shooting and house fire that happened Wednesday in a suburban Philadelphia neighborhood.

The horrific scene unfolded in East Lansdowne, Delaware County. It can happen anywhere, and that’s why emergency personnel are trained to be prepared.

The Hanover Township Fire Department is equipped with ballistic vests, helmets, and trauma packs. These tools help keep firefighters safe, combined with knowledge from active shooter training they recently completed.

“Training is huge. The more you train, the better you’re gonna be and you’re going to be that much more efficient, saving lives and property,” said Hanover Township Fire Department Chief Joe Temarantz.

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From the initial dispatch to arriving on the scene, first responders work together to help the community.

“You don’t know what you’re up against. Until you get there, until the police department gets there, and I’m thankful to our police department and I’m sure many communities are the same way, the police department is there before us, so you have that little comfort zone,” Chief Temarantz explained.

The Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department Chief Jay Delaney says the glue that holds them all together is having an organized, effective, professional response, and for that, they use what’s called the incident command system.

“All of our firefighters and paramedics have the incident command, and we use it every single day of the week so when a large-scale event happens, we’re prepared to go to work,” said Chief Delaney.

Preparedness is made possible by an extensive city-wide emergency operations plan, a system of information that’s readily available, and mutual aid partners.

“For many of our largest emergencies, our mutual aid partners are here with us, and we are there with them when they have them in their communities and we think it makes every single community involved that much stronger,” Chief Delaney added.

The two police officers who were shot in East Lansdowne are expected to be okay. The investigation is extensive and it’s still a developing story, stay with 28/22 news for the latest.

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