Fire Chief: 'Train Like Your Life Depends On It'

While most of us are thinking about fireworks, local firefighters have been thinking about fire drills.

The Verona and Cedar Grove fire departments recently held a drill at the newly vacant Annin Flag building in Verona.

The five-story building offered an opportunity for firefighters to test their skills and their equipment, Verona Chief Harvey Goodman explained.

It was a chance to “try different things and see where your strengths are,” Goodman said.

More than 50 volunteers from each fire company took park in the evening drill. They climbed the 100-foot Cedar Grove ladder and the 102-foot Verona ladder to the top of the Bloomfield Avenue building.

To passersby it may have looked like an emergency on June 26, but Goodman — a strong believer in training — assured there was no fire.

“You have to train like your life depends on it,” he said.