Teamwork Without Hydrants: Dryden and Virgil Volunteers Strengthen Mutual Aid Water Shuttle Skills

Dryden, NY - Volunteer firefighters gathered for an intensive joint training session Wednesday evening, focusing on specialized rural water supply operations essential for managing fire emergencies in non-hydranted districts.

On August 19, Neptune Hose Co. 1 of Dryden teamed up with neighboring crews from the Virgil Fire Department to run practical, hands-on evolutions designed to maximize water delivery where municipal hydrants are unavailable.

Firefighters concentrated on vital rural tactics, including static source drafting, portable drop pond deployment, rural hitch connections, and turbo drafting operations. The drills emphasized the coordination, apparatus positioning, and continuous water shuttle logistics required to secure an uninterrupted water flow to attack engines during structure fires in outlying areas.

Department leadership underscored that mastering rural water movement under controlled training conditions ensures seamless teamwork and rapid water deployment when mutual aid is dispatched to rural structural fires across Tompkins and Cortland counties.