FIREBLAST training

Been a few months since I last found myself at this keyboard and working on this blog. Fire training, firefighting, working here at my riverhome, and a myriad of other things taking time. John Lennon once said, "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans".

This posting is about structural fire training. Washington State Firefighter Association has a mobile live fire training facility called the FIREBLAST trailer. After two years of attempting to schedule it into northwestern Ferry County things finally came together. The following are photos of what it's like to train in the FIREBLAST trailer.

Ferry/Okanogan FPD #14 (Curlew Fire Department) hosted the training trailer and we did so in cooperation with FY/OK FPD #13 (Republic Fire Department). Logistics were made easier for the volunteer instructor crew by staging the training adjacent to Republic Fire Station, as seen in this photograph below.

In the image above; Ron, the burn boss is giving the initial briefing to the Curlew Fire group. We had one of the Republic fire staff join us on Saturday, their primary group went through the exercise on Sunday.

As part of the continuing orientation to the training one of the volunteer instructors (above) is demonstrating the type of spray pattern to be used during the engagement.

We had identified an 'A' Squad, the firefighters & officers likely to be the lead team at an actual interior structural combat incident and a 'B' Squad those firefighters and officers who would be back-up and support of the 'A' Squad. Ron decided to mix things up by sending the 'B' Squad in first. There were a few wide eyes and nervous glances on the faces of some firefighters who had never entered a burning building in SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus).

In the photo above the 'A' Squad readies for entry.

Firefighters are in heavy bunker gear, full head shield and hardhat with visor over their SCBA mask. On their back is a cylinder of compressed air for breathing. They are in heavy metal shanked boots and wearing heavy gloves. Other firefighters assist with 'checking their buddy out' to assure all gear is donned properly and all systems are working. Of course on an 85* day the firefighters heat up rapidly while awaiting entry into the fireground.

The process for entry goes like this; a two person entry team is ready at the rear door of the trailer. This simulates their approach to a house on fire. The hose tender feels the door for heat and visually indicates to the nozzleman where the heat level is. The door is opened a crack to check for reaction to the fire and if safe the team continues into the building with the nozzleman leading. Of course heat rises so the firefighters drop to their knees and crawl into the building. Rounding the corner of in the training simulator this is what they see.

A fire burning out of control deep in the structure. Communication is difficult inside all that gear with the sounds of the fire and other noises drowning out anything other than direct in-your-face shouts. But the firefighters proceed onward. This is what they came for. To engage the fire.

The FIREBLAST is serious training. The heat at standing head level is staggering (up to 200*), near the ceiling it is deadly (one session reached 800* Fahrenheit) and most firefighters break into a heavy sweat crawling into a constricted area to engage a fire which is developing into a dangerous blaze. To top off the challenges visibility is very limited. And if you make the mistake of fogging the fire with a wide stream of water instead of pushing it back with a focused spray pattern, your mask and face shield steam up and all visibility can be lost.

Time to cool this 'roll-over', push the fire back and knock it down. The great thing about the FIREBLAST training trailer is that the firefighters get to practice their tactics over and over. Work through their mistakes and go at it again.

One squad out, one squad in and another on deck. The training proceeds long into the day. These firefighters will sleep well tonight.

This is the last photo in this set. Republic Fire Station forms the backdrop for the firefighters atop the FIREBLAST trailer. This was a great training and all firefighters and officers learned a lot. Our thanks to Washington State Firefighter Association.

Foster

Link to Wahington State Firefighter Association: http://www.wsffa.org/

Link to Republic WA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic,_Washington

Link to Ferry County WA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferry_County,_Washington

How did my day go yesterday?

Great! Glad you asked...
First unit on scene did a quick size up & was ready to report
when I arrived moments later. Pumps were running, recycling water through the live-hose systems & back into the tanks to keep them from freezing.

By the time the second engine company was briefed we had made contact with the owner/builder & developed an understanding the type of construction we were dealing with.

The blaze appeared to have started from a chimney fire in the stove pipe of the wood burning shop stove. The fire was between the inner ceiling & sheet steel roof. The RV would not start and we had nothing big enough to pull it through the snow. That created a 'save it all or lose it all' situation.


Our plan made quick use of the ladder and scaffolding the owner had nearby. After assuring the electrical power was off, firefighters rapidly engaged the fire, taking care to keep the essential fire hoses & nozzles from freezing. It was about 10* above zero.

Heat was building and fire began to show all along the roof line, in some cases burning through the soffits. We were getting close to a critical point and had to catch this as quickly as possible if we were to catch it at all.

The firefighters were on task. Using portable screw guns we managed to gain interior access to the fire & start suppression activities while firefighters on the outside of the structure used chainsaws and fire axes to gain access through the upper walls.
Within an hour of arriving on scene we had control of the fire and saved the greater portion of the building. Mop-up took a few hours more.
All in all 16 firefighters, including two as mutual aid from nearby Republic Fire Department, four additional EMTs, five suppression apparatus and one standby ambulance engaged this emergency call.

Unique situations surrounding this fire:

1. Winter conditions; which challenged access, operations, and equipment.


2. Remote location (common in our fire district). We use tenders as portable hydrants carrying our water in bulk to support pumpers & engines.


3. Excellent construction techniques held fire in place and increased our chances of success.


4. Owner/builder present and had speciality tools we don't normally carry on apparatus (scaffolding, portable screw guns, etc).
   

How did we meet the challenges:

1. Immediately established command under ICS (Incident Management System).


2. Command assigned Safety Officer(s) to establish safety control of scene.


3. Closely monitored firefighters and command staff for fatigue, stress and exposure and mitigated accordingly.


4. Keep the water moving; either onto the fire/structure or recycling into the tank. We did have one pump go down to the cold when someone mistakenly shut down a nozzle, but managed to fix it back at the station.

Okay, signing off here now - remember as the cold weather continues stay safe with the use of fire, heaters, stoves, heat tape, extension cords and the like. If it seems unsafe, its probably better not to take the risk.

Foster

PS photos by members of Curlew Fire Department (none by me)

If you're interested in winter firefighting here are a couple links to research.
Firehouse.com http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Firefighting-Strategy-and-Tactics/Winter-Firefighting/14$6955

From FIRE RESCUE http://www.firerescue1.com/fire-attack/tips/328348-Cold-weather-firefighting-tips/

Fire...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Fire is the heat and light energy released during a chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity might vary. Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, and has the potential to cause physical damage through burning.

I started firefighting in 1971 as a firefighter on the USFS Packwood Ranger District in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest as a crewman on a brush disposal (BD) crew. I've since been an engine leader, held a forest warden commission, received training as a fire investigator, become a volunteer firefighter, an ambulance driver, a crew boss, a fire boss, taskforce leader, training specialist, division supervisor, incident commander type 3, elected as a fire commissioner and now serve as a fire chief. (The above photo was a little before my time but these fellas' with their burlap bags and buckets of water were pretty effective for their time).

The archaeological record indicates humans have been using fire for over a million years. It is still a main component in our lives today. Needless to say as a 30+year veteran of firefighting I am fascinated by this element and hope to explore it with you in blogs to come. But for now we've reached the end of this session so I'll bid you all a good day and remember, DON'T PLAY WITH MATCHES...