Sullivan County Fire Coordinator John Hauschild, left, and keynote speaker Jerry Knapp
Loch Sheldrake, NY – Sixty fire department line officers from 20 Sullivan County fire departments attended this past weekend’s Sullivan County Fire Chiefs Conference in the Seelig Theater at SUNY Sullivan.
Sponsored by the Sullivan County Bureau of Fire in conjunction with the Sullivan County Volunteer Firefighters’ Association, the event featured keynote speaker Jerry Knapp, who talked about structure firefighting tactics, using science gathered from test burns that measured the progression of a fire in a single-family home. The information was presented in an accessible manner designed to easily allow chiefs to share it with their crews.
Another speaker, Jale Oreshan III, talked about how traumatic stress affects the first responder and his/her family. Oreshan spoke about a real-life incident and how it impacted him, his brother and sister firefighters, and his family.
“It was a riveting presentation, and you could hear a pin drop as he spoke from his heart,” said Fire Coordinator John Hauschild.
The third speaker was Chief Jeff Holmes, who spoke about generational differences in the fire service, noting that leaders today need to adapt and change communication styles. Gaining understanding makes for better communication, which in turn makes a better leader.
Those in attendance provided positive feedback to Hauschild and offered some topics they would like to see at next year’s conference.