On Friday March 27^th and Saturday, March 28^th, the New Jersey FOOLS conducted a Hands-On weekend, which attracted 80 students for the Friday evening lecture and 62 students for the Saturday Hands-On.

The “One Ambition Tour” Hands-On weekend was opened on Friday evening with Founding FOOL – John “Bart” Simpson and NJ FOOL Aaron Heller leading the gathering in the Pledge of Allegiance. NJ FOOLS Chapter President Bill Hopson then welcomed everyone and thanked Chief Mark Antozzeski and the members of the Groveville Fire Department for their hospitality and assistance with making the weekend possible.

The opening address for the Friday evening, was presented by Elizabeth Fire Department Battalion Chief Dom Spano, who spoke about his experiences with a recent Line of Duty Death. Chief Spano used the opportunity to speak about “Everyone Going Home” and the need to protect against complacency . “ I wasn't counting on being directly involved with a Line of Duty Death…… no one does. We had a two alarm fire burning and within the first 10 minutes of that fire, my world changed”

Battalion Chief Dom Spano addresses the audience of his life changing event.

Chief Spano's emotional address was followed by a terrific presentation by Captain Mike Clark of the Hanover (NH) Fire Department. “Olde Clark”, as he is called by many of his friends, provided the assembled with a stirring tribute to Duty, Tradition and the Pride in one's Badge. The Captain, recalling is own days in serving as an Officer for St. Florian, urged the gathering to understand the work “trust”. “Trust is earned. Trust is sacred. Trust is a term lost on too many firefighters. The more we Trust, the more educated we are because Trust implies you will Trust someone with your life.”

The “One Ambition Tour” weekend opened with key note speaker, Battalion Chief Dom Spano and Captain Mike Clark

Following the evening presentations, 62 Hand-On attendees gathered the following morning and experienced a full day of Hands- On training. Student were organized into three groups, with each group rotating to three individual stations over the course of the day.

Opening the Hands-On portion of the training weekend by saluting our GREAT NATION!

The morning began with the raising and posting of the American Flag. A salute to the Flag was then led my Mike Kiernan, who was recognized a day earlier, by the Mayor and Council of Hamilton Township for his efforts in a recent rescue in a coal bin. A moment of silence was then observed for all departed Brothers.

Using four acquired structures in mint condition, students were able to receive excellent instruction on several different aspects of three skills. In the Large Area Search rotation, for example, the building used was large enough where multiple teams could deploy movable anchors. This became a necessity for the off the line search's (using commercially available products). Several methods were demonstrated and tested.

The Large Area Search rotation physically challenged each student and forced students to work on Air Management techniques in addition to realizing the length of their search rope can make a difference.

Captain P.J. Johnson instructs a group of students on Large Area Search.

The First Due Engine Company Operations used a two story acquired structure. In this rotation, students were broken into several sub-groups with each group concentrating on a specific task related to First Due Engine arrival. Flowing water from a pre-connected line, students faced a challenging Basement fire scenario in addition to flowing water and working with a 2 ½” line. Students also worked on interior hose line deployment / nozzle discipline and water management. Following an aggressive agenda, the four Engine Company instructors spent a majority of the time flowing water, moving lines, getting a read on simulated fire conditions and crew integrity.

The First Due Engine class stretching a "Big" line.

The third evolution was Vent / Enter / Search, also in a two story, single family dwelling, where smoke was showing from the second floor. Students learned and practiced emergency Rope bail / escape techniques using a brand new device from Sterling Rope. This particular group of students were the very first in the Country to use the escape rope device in Training conditions. The Vent/Enter/ Search focused on exterior recognition of fire conditions, proper laddering for life considerations and understanding the value of hand tools and their ability to properly aid in a search. Using simulated smoke, the VES rotation also stressed physical fitness and air management. Because the acquired structure used was in such good condition, little mock-up was needed. The VES proved to be one of the more popular evolutions of the entire day.

One of the first training events to use the new escape device built by Sterling Rope,

The day came to a fitting conclusion when the assembled gathered, after helping pick-up, and watched Andy "Sippy" Biron volunteer for the position of “Human Pinyata”, when he tested out the Sterling Rope Bail device. After having a little fun, at Sippy's expense during his decent from the second story, all students gathered one final time to watch the flag being lowered and properly folded.

The Hands-On weekend would not have been possible without the extensive cooperation between the New England FOOLS and the JERSEY FOOLS. Chapter President Hopson thanked New England FOOLS President Rusty Ricker, along with P.J. Johnson, Greg Bulduc, Mike Clark, Dana Potter, Adam Bean and Sippy, all of whom made the trek down to New Jersey for the weekend.

The weekend was a huge success and the Bond of Brotherhood was strengthened though a FOOLS event, approved by the International.

Among several highlights of the weekend was the unveiling of a new Mike Clark lunch sandwich, the announcement of a new book title by P.J. Johnson and the undeniable proof that the Brotherhood is indeed, alive and well.