From the Reading Eagle
by Anthony Orozco | Reporter

Prop door aids firefighter training
Gifts help Reading Fire Department

READING, PA — Reading firefighters Rik Kuhn and Andrew Getka pried and smashed their way through a steel door on a recent afternoon at a city factory.

There wasn’t a raging fire at The Rose Corp., 401 N. Eighth St. This was just for practice.

The fire department demonstrated how trainees learn forcible entry with a prop door, which was given at almost no cost to the department.

“We have some other training props provided by the (Berks) county, but they have wear and tear,” First Deputy Chief Ronald Banks said. “We want to make sure that our firefighters to keep learning, and this helps with that; we always try to find newer and better training props to help us perform our duties.”

The steel door prop was a combination of two gifts to the Reading Fire Department.

One component is a forcible entry apparatus, which simulates as the locking mechanism for doors, provided by TroxFire Training Solutions in Washington.

The apparatus was purchased by the department at an extremely reduced price, according to Banks.

The Rose Corp., an industrial fabrication company, donated labor and materials to construct a steel door frame and base to accompany the apparatus.

Fabrication of the frame and base took about four weeks, according to Bob Skorupsky, senior project manager at The Rose Corp.

Combined, the apparatus, frame and base would have cost thousands of dollars.

Banks did not reveal how much the finished prop cost but expressed plenty of gratitude to TroxFire Training Solutions for a sizable discount and to The Rose Corp. for the hard work that went into the prop.

Firefighters picked up the prop Thursday and housed it at the 950 McKnight St. fire station. Firefighter trainees will train with it during “forcible entry” classes, Banks said.

“We are very thankful for this,” the deputy chief said.