Fire departments hold training exercise on Tusculum College campus

Several fire department training sessions were held at Tusculum College in late March and early April, prior to the removal of two former residences on the campus. The buildings are being removed to make room for the planned construction of the Ronald H. and Verna June Meen Center for Science and Math.

The training will be offered through a partnership between Tusculum College and the Tusculum and Greeneville fire departments and will be offered to other municipal and county fire departments, volunteer fire departments in the region and to the Northeast Tennessee Fire Training recruit class.

The buildings slated for removal are the Dean Reed and McClain homes formerly used for student housing, said David Martin, director of facilities at Tusculum College. A smaller outbuilding located near the McClain home will be removed and relocated, he added.

According to Marty Shelton, fire chief of the Tusculum Fire Department, several training sessions were held at the buildings between March 17 and the first week of April.

“The two structures offer numerous fire departments and regional fire recruits to experience very realistic training related to residential structures,” said Shelton. “The training involved victim search and rescue, and the firefighter safety training included how to properly bail-out of a structure, thermal imaging camera training and numerous other drills.

Greeneville Fire Chief Mark Foulks said that training will conclude by the first week of April to allow for removal of the buildings.

“Training related to new structural firefighting tactics and techniques was emphasized on two of the days and utilized flow path control, fast water and thermal imaging to enhance firefighter safety and improved fire control.”

He added that the training was very similar to training that was conducted last September in a structure owned by the Town of Greeneville, and these types of training are important to the implementation of the new tactics.

He also expressed appreciation to the Oak Ridge Fire Department for providing temperature monitoring and other support for this training.

“The partnership with the Tusculum and Greeneville fire departments allows us to provide valuable training opportunities for firefighters and provides a way for the loss of these two buildings to serve an important purpose,” said Dr. Nancy B. Moody, president of Tusculum College. “This is another step forward toward the construction of our new science and math facility that will be a signature building along the Erwin Highway.”