Township fire tanker drill held at High Crest Lake
West Milford. The township’s six volunteer fire departments used about 50,000 gallons of water in a shuttle drill at High Crest Lake.
| 12 Oct 2022 | 10:11
The six volunteer fire departments of the Township of West Milford practice in a drill at High Crest Lake to be sure they will have sufficient water available in time of an emergency.
It was calculated that approximately 50,000 gallons of water was moved in one hour on Oct. 9 when the six volunteer fire companies of West Milford participated in a shuttle drill at High Crest Lake. In an 80 plus square mile township as large as West Milford with only a small number of fire hydrants existing throughout the municipality it is important that water is made available when a fire emergency occurs.
Mayor Michele Dale spoke of the scheduled drill at an earlier council meeting and praised the six departments for their success in working together.
During the drill tankers 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 shuttled water from the boat launch (being filled by engine 3) to the pools where engine 6 drafted to feed engine1 that had 3 lines deployed. Engine 4 established a draft by the dam and fed ladder 6.
The fire companies need volunteers to be part of the dedicated group who provide protection and help to residents, and are always ready to act in a time of an emergency. To volunteer check the westmilford.org website under Department of Fire to find the appropriate contact based on area of the township one lives in. The six fire companies are Apshawa, Community, Greenwood Forest, Macopin, Upper Greenwood Lake and West Milford.
The six fire companies are under the administrative direction of Fire Commissioner Edward Steines. Each volunteer fire company elects their own chief who serves as officer in charge at any fire call in their district. Michael Moscatello is Fire Marshal and Joseph MacLachlan is Fire Inspector. Richard Poplaski is Deputy Fire Commissioner and Patti Gillis is fire prevention secretary.
The fire chiefs are: Tim Struble, Apshawa (1); Frank Lo Porto, Community Fire Company of Newfoundland and Oak Ridge, (2); Mike Spolstra, Greenwood Forest, (3); David LeMay, Macopin (4); Kevin Kiel Upper Greenwood Lake (5) and Joe Corcoran, West Milford (6).