During 1997 the Plan celebrates 60 years of providing education and fellowship among all of the County's fire departments. County wide involvement was evident from the very _first meeting held in December of 1937. Chief John Griffen of Norfolk was elected as the first President of the Plan and officers from New Milford, Thomaston, Sharon, Canaan, Torrington, Watertown, Terryville, Falls Village, Winsted, Bantam and Kent filled the various offices and positions on the Board of Directors. Initially membership in the Plan was opened to any County firefighter. The by-laws of the Plan were adopted in 1939 and with a few changes remain enforce today.
Education of the County's firefighters has been a main focus of the Plan from the start. The "Question Box" was first introduced in 1938 and provided an opportunity for members to ask questions about the latest in firefighting equipment and techniques. Members traveled to the New Haven Fire Training School or to Bradley Field to attend formal firefighting classes. In September of 1959 the Plan voted to build a training school of its own and a site in Burville was chosen. In January of 1960, President Horace Squires, appointed a Building Committee of William Canty, Chairman, John Noble, John Mullen, John Gibb, Leslie Kilmer, Allen Bowkett, and August Mahieu. Through the efforts of this committee along with many others, the training school was dedicated on September 3, 1961. William Canty was named the Director of the school and the first course was conducted in May of 1962. Chief Frank Yanok of Torrington conducted classes for many years and also began the task of training more instructors so that the school's curriculum could be expanded.
The original classroom building has been added on to several times. It now has two classrooms, and an auxiliary classroom, instructors prep room, office, equipment room, kitchen, furnace room, generator room and a couple of storage rooms.
The original smoke house was converted to an oil pump house and then eventually torn down when the school stopped using oil for burning. The present smoke house has a basement, first floor, second floor and attic. The attic contains a maze for SCBA training. Burning is now limited to the basement and first floor areas.
The original tower is still used today, although another floor has been added. Many older firefighters can remember jumping from the tower into a life net. This has not been done for over a decade because of safety concerns.
The school also has two storage buildings, the oldest is used to store straw for burning and tools. The newer and bigger building is large enough to store two pieces of fire apparatus. It is long enough for an aerial apparatus if the school ever acquires one. It is presently used to house a pumper, fire hose, ladders, and other miscellaneous equipment.
Today the Fire School is managed by the plan through the School Committee and Richard Winn serves as director. The instructors at the school are all members of the Plan, The Litchfield County Fire Instructors Association and are certified by the State of Connecticut. A host of State Certified courses are offered, and the school facilities are used by area departments to conduct their own training programs. Each year the demands placed on the
County's departments become greater and the school strives to keep up with the changes The school is now offering field courses to provide the latest in training at fire stations through Litchfield County.
Communication in the fire service has become as much a part of fire suppression as hose and water. The plan recognized the need for a county wide communications system and in 1951 appointed the first Radio Committee. A County base station was first located at the Litchfield Jail in 1957 and moved to Torrington Fire headquarters in 1964. Known as "Station R" the county base provided around the clock monitoring of the system and disseminated important information to all county departments. This function is handled today by Litchfield County Dispatch, which dispatches many of the county's departments and works closely with the dispatch centers of the larger towns and cities.
After sixty years of service, the plan remains a vibrant, active organization, still carrying out its mission of supporting the work of Litchfield County 's fire departments. In addition to the School and Radio Committees, a Legislative Committee provides a vital link to the state Capital on issues affection the fire service. Committees for Nominating, Bylaws, Education, and Publicity help our plan run smoothly and get our message out to all concerned. A Sick committee sees that our own are not forgotten in time of illness. From time to time special committees are appointed to study special topics affecting the fire service. In addition, our County Vice President reports the activities of the Connecticut State Fireman's Association to the plan meetings.
The Plans sixty-year history tells a story of genuine concern, hard work, and great progress in supporting the fire departments of the county. Whatever the future brings, the Plan provides County Firefighters the forum to help answer the challenges.