By Nacogdoches Miller

Sun Intern

Winchester Fire-EMS Station One spent downtime Monday practicing a technique Lt. August Fisher picked up while watching a group of firemen from Florida.

“Every department deals with manpower and staffing,” Fisher said as crew members refolded a hose into the Gustin Pack formation. “You got to be as efficient as you can.”

Inspired by watching another group using the Gustin pack train on social media, Fisher wanted to see if it could benefit his crew as well.

“I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, and a group in Florida was out in Colorado doing some training, teaching a class, and they set this up at their Airbnb in the backyard,” Fisher said.

This particular fold can save the crew up to a minute and a half when running 250-feet of the hose, and saving seconds in practice can save lives in the field.

“Sometimes you had to make two trips, or the officer had to put his regular duties aside and help the firefighter do his duties, so it’s definitely saved some manpower,” Battalion Chief Scotty Bell said.

The use of the Gustin Pack makes the most of an all-hands-on-deck situation.

“If we are quicker, especially with the way fires grow now, if we are quicker getting set up and quicker getting to the door we can better save property and lives,” Fisher said.