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John Badman|The Telegraph Alton firefighters direct multiple hose lines on the ramp at the Don Twichell Memorial Fire Station Monday during the first of four days of pump operating tactics being taught to firefighters by instructors from the Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois. 

John Badman|The Telegraph Alton fire trucks supply multiple hose lines Monday during pump tactics training at the Don Twitchell Memorial Fire Station.

John Badman|The Telegraph Two instructors from the Fire Service Institute, left, discuss pump operations with an Alton firefighter Monday.

ALTON — There's more to firefighting than pointing water at something hot.

On Monday, instructors from the Fire Service Institute at the University of Illinois began four four days of pump operating tactics being taught to area firefighters at the Don Twichell Memorial Fire Station.

Some of the training is refresher in nature, but it can help firefighter engineers develop skills for when they are put in a demanding role at a complex fire scene.

Engineers receive separate training on the Alton Fire Department equipment and are trained with managing multiple tasks, most of which involve at least some mathematics.

An average fire truck can pump hundreds of gallons of water per minute, depending on the size and condition of infrastructure, water mains and hydrants. Rural fire department pump operators often face other challenges in supplying water that are encountered less often in a city like Alton.

Each shift on Alton Fire Department will undergo the pump tactics class this week.

John Badman is a 1982 graduate of SIU-Carbondale, with a major in cinema and photography and a minor in law enforcement administration of justice. He has worked at The Telegraph in Alton full-time for 39 years and has been named the National Press Photographers Association's Region-5 Photographer of the Year six times.