The Presidio of Monterey fire department conducted joint training sessions with multiple Monterey area fire departments at PoM’s Seaside training facility, Mar 18.

“Cross-training with our local partners is essential for fostering teamwork and preparedness,” said David Wilcox, fire chief of the U.S. Army Garrison Presidio of Monterey. “This training strengthens our commitment to building a resilient community, where seamless coordination and strong partnerships can make a life-saving difference during emergencies.”

Firefighters breached a door, suppressed multiple fires inside a two-story training building and rescued two simulated victims, as fast as possible, to meet training objectives. Part of the scenario involved overcoming the challenges of limited personnel, requiring units to cooperate and prioritize teamwork to quickly and safely accomplish their missions.

“We have to coordinate with the people around us,” said Sean Haggarty, assistant fire chief at USAG PoM. “We need 12 people on scene for an incident in the first 12 minutes and only have five firefighters per crew. That means if we have a structure fire on PoM or OMC, other fire departments will respond with us. If we don’t train with them, how will we fight a fire with them?”

The training represented a piece of the total training conducted by PoM firefighters and regional partners over two training days. Crews drilled radio standard operating procedures, refreshed academic principles and held simulated medical evaluations to ensure maximum effectiveness during the limited exercise time.

The PoM fire department will continue to conduct similar training sessions with Monterey area partners to enhance inter-agency cooperation, to protect the community and support Army readiness.