By Michelle Firestone
The Chronicle
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. — Willimantic firefighters recently completed training on the hazards of solar panels.
“Solar panels are energized,” Willimantic Fire Department Chief Marc Scrivener said during the May 24 Willimantic Taxing District meeting.
He noted that if there is a fire and Eversource Energy cuts power to the house, there is still power running for the solar panels.
Scrivener said all four platoons have been trained within the last month.
“It probably won’t be done again for sometime,” he said. “It’s an awareness thing. Solar panels are relatively new to the Willimantic area and we just needed to make sure our firefighters are aware of the hazards of them.”
Scrivener said the training was done over two days, with two platoons trained each day.
Each training session lasted for approximately four hours and was provided through Solar City, a solar panel installation company that has offices in Rocky Hill and Milford.
This is the first time Willimantic firefighters went through this type of training, which was free for the department.
“Solar panels are an energyproducing device that can’t really be turned off as long as there’s light,” said Scrivener. “We need to be aware of that and know how to operate safely around that environment.”
He was not sure if other area fire departments were undergoing similar training.
“Fire service, in general, has been paying more attention to solar panel installation and operating safely around them,” said Scrivener.
He said firefighters need to be aware that solar panels energize circuits when responding to fires.
“We just really need to be aware of where the circuits are and how to stay away from them,” said Scrivener.
Copyright 2016 The Chronicle