Officials at Hancock College’s Public Safety Training Complex welcomed a new piece of equipment Monday that they expect will enhance the training in the school’s fire academy while also saving millions of gallons of water.
A new Pump Pod Direct Recirculating Apparatus Firefighter Training and Sustainability (or DRAFTS) Unit, designed and manufactured by the Simi Valley-based Pump-Pod USA, arrived at the Lompoc Valley campus Monday morning. A team of fire academy instructors and other Hancock leaders were trained on how to use the new unit, which has a 1,500-gallon storage tank and is able to collect and recycle water used for certain training activities.
Andy Densmore, the coordinator of Hancock’s Fire Academy, said he anticipated the new equipment’s benefits would extend well beyond Hancock College, which became the first community college in the state to acquire a Pump Pod DRAFTS Unit.