Garden City Firefighters Drill With FDNY

Garden City volunteer firefighters were deployed to New York City Sunday to participate in the Fire Department of the City of New York’s (FDNY) Mutual Aid Drill with Nassau County fire departments. 

The purpose of the drill was to provide hands-on familiarization with FDNY and Nassau County fire apparatus, evaluate communication capabilities between FDNY and Nassau resources and to provide Nassau units with FDNY operational procedures. 

The Garden City Fire Department sent an engine company with a crew of volunteer firefighters under the direction of Captain Tom Strysko and Second Lieutenant Matt Pearn. 

The Nassau units initially staged at their local Emergency Operation Centers and then were deployed to various firehouses in Queens. The drill set up eight task forces comprising of one engine company and one ladder company from Nassau with one engine company and one ladder company from the FDNY. 

The units then staged at the FDNY fire stations and were then deployed to multi-unit drill sites, where the firefighters trained together with their respective equipment.

“It was a great drill," said Garden City Fire Captain Tom Styrsko. "We learned how each department operates, interchanged equipment and practiced unit compatibility. We were able to successfully work with the FDNY units and made notes of improvements we can make too.”

After the training concluded, the FDNY firefighters invited the Garden City volunteer firefighters to join them for a lunch at their station.