County Waste hosts workshop for area firefighters

Personnel from four local fire departments and a community business gathered Monday evening for a special training session.

Eight County Waste employees hosted 46 firefighters from Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder, Kunkletown, Polk Township, and West End fire companies.

“We are hoping to exchange ideas and make sure fire departments have hands-on experience with the garbage trucks so it is safe for all,” said Sergio Castillo, County Waste’s environmental, health, and safety director.

There was no control burn for the firefighters to extinguish at County Waste’s facility on Silver Spring Blvd. in Kunkletown.

Instead, it was an opportunity for firefighters to see two of the garbage trucks up close and have the County Waste employees show them pertinent parts of the truck, including the hydraulic system.

“It is very important for firefighters to be familiar with our equipment and types of trucks before there is an emergency you have to respond to,” Castillo told the group.

Frank Flaherty, County Waste shop manager, and Barry Borger, emergency coordinator and member of Polk Township Volunteer Fire Company, coordinated the evening’s training session.

Flaherty has worked here for almost three years and in that time, has seen three truck fires. He pointed to a severely burned kerosene heater setting on the garage floor near the table of refreshments County Waste provided for the firefighters. The heater was put into a garbage truck with its batteries still inside. It caught on fire and spread to the truck.

A brake fire, tire fire, load fire, and other types can compromise a truck’s hydraulics, Flaherty explained. Such fires can start out small and rapidly become unsafe for the first responders and destroy a truck. With knowledge and practice, these extremes can be prevented.

The goal for such a training is to be proactive, rather than reactive. Even for the most experienced and prepared firefighter, there can be surprises.

“Each garbage truck fire is different,” said Leon Clapper, chief of Blue Ridge Hook and Ladder, speaking from experience battling load and truck blazes on Routes 33 and 80.

This was the first time a County Waste shop has hosted this type of training with surrounding fire departments. Castillo plans to hold similar training session at County Waste’s other facilities in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York.

“It was great to work with a county business to be more efficient in our duties,” said Polk Township Fire Chief Billy Tippett.

County Waste provides communities trash, recycling, and construction and demolition removal services.