By Cassandra Day
The Middletown Press
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Beman Middle School students, working with South Fire District firefighters, are learning the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics behind firefighting.
This year’s last STEAM unit focuses on the Pythagorean theorem, said Yvonne Daniels, Middletown Public Schools supervisor of grades six through 12 mathematics.
For three days this week, students are putting their classroom theories to the test at the 445 Randolph Road firehouse.
Chief James Trazaski and Deputy Fire Marshal Ryan Parmelee gave a PowerPoint presentation April 30 to more than 300 eighth-graders to introduce them to firefighting as a career path.
On Monday morning, about 50 students learned about arson investigations, rescue scenarios with ropes, using geometry for ladder operations, and how to use algebra to determine a safe and adequate flow of water during operations.
“The main reason is, when they go into high school, they can pick their own electives,” Parmelee said. The idea is to inspire the students who realize by the end of eighth grade, “college is not for me, I want to work with my hands. I know if I want to be a firefighter, I know I’ve got to learn math and science.”
The project arose from last fall’s annual public education conference at the Connecticut Fire Academy, Parmelee said Friday.
Many may not realize how much STEAM is used in the fire service.
“That 100% is the whole point of (the program),” Parmelee said.
Even the arts are represented by the pipes and drum corps.
“We can’t do our job without (STEAM skills),” Parmelee said Friday. “If you don’t know how to get the appropriate angles for the ladder, either you’re going to damage the equipment or you’re going to injure somebody.”
Similar stations are set up at Beman for students who will visit the firehouse later in the week. One involves virtual reality simulations, Daniels explained.
“They’re seeing how to climb the ladder (at South Fire), and the Pythagorean theorem in use, and they’re seeing the actual fire in the VR,” Daniels said.
One station was set up with an Arizona vortex anchor tripod system. It uses ropes and pulleys to distribute an individual’s weight, for example, when lifting victims from holes or other confined spaces, firefighter Paulius Zabulis said.
It can also be used as a bipod with ropes tied to an anchor point, such as a tree or ladder truck, he added.
“It keeps the ropes up high off the ground so you can rappel down a ravine,” he said.
Rescues require the use of mechanical advantage; an engineering skill.
“We are asked to do a lot of lifts we are not physically capable of doing,” Parmelee said.
The tripod employs a four-to-one system, which, firefighter Jesse Monaghan said, requires only 100 pounds of force to lift 400 pounds of resistance.
“Every four feet we pull, you’re only raising them one foot,” Monaghan said.
Larger objects, such as the 1,200-pound cow South Fire personnel rescued from a culvert near Route 9 in November 2023, require use of the Z-Rig system, which is anchored to an engine truck.
Geometry is used extensively in ladder operations, Parmelee explained.
“You have to be able to use geometry to get the correct angle of the ladder,” he said. “If a ladder is only so long, you have to make sure you get the vehicle ... closer to the building.”
Algebra is very useful in fighting fires, Parmelee added.
“When you’re flowing your hose, there are a lot of variables that go into it,” he said. “You have to use algebra to calculate it out to make sure you’re giving enough water to the firefighter at the end of the line. Because you’re not going to see the firefighter inside of the building using the hose, you have to know how much pressure at the engine to give that firefighter.”
Typically, students are from three camps: those who aren’t interested in STEAM, those who are “super engaged,” and those in the middle, Parmelee said.
The aim is to reach the “ones who are on the fence about whether or not they think this is cool or whether or not they don’t think it’s cool,” he noted.
© 2025 The Middletown Press, Conn.
Visit www.middletownpress.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.