The Old Forge Fire Department Welcomes you to the 55th Old Forge Firefighters Drill School.
Last year in our welcoming letter to you, we stated that the fire school was the best ever! Just when we thought that the 2021 Fire School Couldn’t be beat, guess what? Yup, this years fire school is better. We packed more training into our two days and we searched nationwide for the best instructors to insure that you are better trained, better prepared both mentally and physically to perform our dangerous work. When we say “we” that is a small word for all of the people involved to bring you an awesome experience in Old Forge. The fire school committee started planning back in December, along with the guidance and financial support of FASNY. The FASNY staff assigned to assist us, Brian McQueen, April Rounds and Jon Barrett are nothing short of phenomenal. The work they put into our fire school is tremendous and we thank them very much. FASNY’s President, Ed Tase Jr. has insured our department that we will always have a “great working relationship”.
This year’s theme will be honoring all of the brave firefighters in Ukraine, especially the 35 Ukrainian firefighters that have fallen since the start of the war. We ask you to stop and think of how dangerous our job as a firefighter is in our country, of how many here had made their final call, now add a war on top of that. Fighting fires or rescuing people at the same time rockets are landing all around you and not one Ukrainian firefighter has walked away saying “I can’t take this anymore”. This bravery deserves recognition and we will!
Our Keynote speaker, Friday afternoon will be Steve Hirsch, the Chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council, Traveling from Kansas to remind us why we are so crucial to our neighbors and community. New this year will be Golf Tournament on Thursday to help FASNY offset promotional costs; and FASNY is sponsoring the Old Forge Youth Training Day on Saturday.
The Old Forge Fire Department and FASNY welcome all of you to this year’s Fire School. We give our heart felt thank you for being here for so many years. You’ll see many old friends and hopefully make new friends that will last a lifetime.
Learn many new things during your training, but take time to have a great time and make new memories.
During your stay in Old Forge, if there is anything we can do to make your weekend better, please ask us.
Old Forge Fire School Co-Chairs,
Jack Graham
Dawn Schweinsberg
Tony Tormey