St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Red Bank, offered volunteer firefighters a valuable opportunity to hone their skills April 2, providing a derelict property as a practice site for cadets and the newly graduated. The small house, already destined for demolition, was staged with various perils and rescue opportunities: a car accident, injured baby and home fire. The volunteers were able to practice using a ladder to get into a house or onto a roof, cutting holes through the material. Following the drill, Father Alberto Tamayo, St. Anthony of Padua Parish pastor, and Brother Nicholas Dolan, seminarian for the Diocese of Trenton and member of the Oratory in Formation at St. Anthony, were given a bird’s-eye view of the site in the new Tower Truck 90, a state-of-the-art ladder/cherry picker unit with a 93-foot aerial platform, also equipped with ground ladders and numerous pieces of rescue equipment. Photos courtesy of Maria Hidalgo Dolan
