Woodstock Fire Departments along with Community Fire Station 81

4th Annual Toy Collection

Saturday, November 14, 2009

by Karen Munroe

On Saturday, November 14, 2009, the 4^th Annual Toy Collection was held by members of the Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association Station 76, Bungay Fire Brigade Station 77 and Community Fire Co. Inc. Station 81.   Residents of Woodstock and surrounding towns defied the inclement weather to donate over 865 toys and make monetary donations, which will be used to purchase additional toys. The incredible generosity of the public was awe-inspiring and befitting of the holiday spirit.  Toys will be distributed to families in Eastford, Pomfret, Putnam, Thompson,  Woodstock and surrounding towns.  The Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association, Bungay Fire Brigade, and Community Fire Company wish to thank everyone for their contributions, making this year’s toy drive an unprecedented success, and the dreams of many children come true. Happy Holidays!

Event slideshow - click here

Toy donations given to members of the Woodstock Volunteer Fire Assn., Community Fire & Bungay Fire Brigade. These fire departments have teamed up for this year's 4th Annual Toy Collection which made it a huge success.		Some of the boot money collectors, members from Bungay Fire Brigade, Woodstock Volunteer Fire Assn. and Community Fire. Left to right: Brenda Houghton, BFB; Don Chrzan, WVFA; Chris Plasse, CFC and Jeff Arsenault, WVFA.

Bungay Station 77 provides instruction

at WVFA Extrication Drill

Monday, June 15, 2009

Bungay Fire Brigade Station 77 came to WVFA Station 76 for a night of class instruction and a hands-on extrication drill.

Participants were trained on how & when to use certain extrication equipment. Also explained was the importance on working together during an extrication emergency call, and assisting the extrication team on getting the job done as smoothly & safely as possible.

WVFA would like to thank Bungay members for the opportunity to experience this extrication training, taking the time to provide the training and for a job well done.

Osterman representatives provide training:

Woodstock Propane Drill

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

by Mike Dougherty

On Wednesday evening May 13, members of B.F.B., M.B.F.D. and W.V.F.A. participated in a propane drill. Osterman Propane representatives gave a presentation covering propane properties, the effects of temperature, combustibility, container design and construction, transportation safety features and common problems encountered. An overview of tactics and strategies for incident mitigation was provided followed by an opportunity for question and discussion. Osterman supplied a large variety of props including a bulk delivery truck (Bobtail), two service vehicles a propane powered pick-up truck, tanks of various sizes, valves and regulators. The highlight of the evening was the opportunity to take line in hand and extinguish the gas tree as part of an organized team. This live fire exercise consisted of two,  four man groups coordinated by a lead person to advance toward the burning prop (gas tree), simulate the closing of a valve and backing out. Two Osterman representatives and an officer remained in close contact with the advancing teams and a separate line simulating tank cooling was maintained for safety. Woodstock E.M.S. was on hand for support and re-hab. The Woodstock Fire Departments wish to thank Osterman Propane for the opportunity to experience this training which promotes both effectiveness and a higher degree of safety for all.  

We also want to take this opportunity to thank Crabtree & Evelyn for the use of their facilities and the W.V.F.A. Support Team for supplying refreshments for all those who participated.

Additional Drill Photos Play slideshow

Girl Scout Junior Troop #65033 with members from: BFB-Chief Josh Bottone, WVFA-Capt. Sue Calaman & MBFD-Capt. Seth Spalding.

EMS Captain Sue Calaman excepting the donation on behalf of the Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association Station 76.

Woodstock Girl Scout  Troop #65033 donate

Pet Rescue Breathing Apparatus

Saturday, May 2, 2009

On Saturday, May 2, 2009, Woodstock Girl Scout Junior Troop #65033 donated (5) sets of pet rescue-breathing apparatus to each of  the Woodstock's fire departments: Woodstock Volunteer Fire Assoc. Station 76, Bungay Fire Brigade Station 77, and Muddy Brook Fire Dept. Station 75 members.

These young ladies worked very hard to raise the necessary funds to purchase the pet rescue breathing apparatus by selling Girl Scout cookies and receiving private donations from the public at a fundraising event.

Thank you to everyone in Girl Scout Troop #65033.

The girls in the troop are:
Catherine Navan, Emily Crandall, Lindsay Young, Sydney Correia, Caroline Loftus, Katrina Leighton, Alexandra Whitehead, Madison Dean and Troop leader - Christine Navan.

Woodstock Volunteer Fire Association awarded

$22,066.00 FEMA Training Grant

January 2009

by Wendi Molnar

WVFA has been awarded a 2008 FEMA grant for $22066.00 to use for training the members of the department.

The purpose of this grant is for training funds to bring our members into full compliance with the NFPA 1001 standards and the new NIMS/ICS (National Incident Management System/Incident Command System) requirements.  (For reference, if your department is not NIMS compliant, you are pretty much eliminated from being awarded future grants).

Some of the training topics include:

• Basic Vehicle Operation and Apparatus Safety

• Advanced Emergency Vehicle Operations

• Firefighter Safety and Survival

• Incident Safety Officer / Fire Suppression

• Health and Safety Officer

• Traffic Control for Emergency Responders

• Basic Pump Operations

• Pump Operator

• Aerial Operator

• National Incident Management System

By accepting the terms of the FEMA grant award, the training must be completed by December 10, 2009.  This will mean many hours of classroom and hands on training, but we believe it will be worth it to keep each of us safe as we serve our community.