Departments receive training on school bus fire and rollover evacuation in Howland
HOWLAND The Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities (TCBDD) Transportation Department was in Howland on Tuesday for a training drill to educate staff on how to handle a school bus fire and evacuation.
The training took place at the Howland Public Works and Road Department, located at 3600 North River Road in Howland. It featured post-collision, fire and evacuation training.
Several groups were placed into small teams in order to get the full effect of the training.
Teams were able to simulate how students in safety seating could be evacuated safely, and how to conduct an evacuation where a fire is present during a school bus rollover.
"We have a few different students in different safety seating so our drivers and aides can see how a rollover crash would affect those students in safety seating and how we would evacuate them, if needed," said Jennifer Durno, Director of Transportation for TCBDD.
The TCBDD Transportation Department partnered with the Howland Fire Department to conduct the training and ensure all teams were safe.
In addition to safely flipping the bus, the bus was also filled with fog to simulate smoke while teams went through the hands-on training.
This kind of training is required every year for at least four hours for all transportation department employees.
Durno told 21 News that an involved approach like this training is best.
"A practical approach is always the best approach if we can do it," said Durno.
