Live-Fire Training The New Reality Part 2

In order to conduct a safe firefighting evolution in an acquired structure, you must insure that sufficient water for firefighting is available. You will need water for attacking the fire, water for backup lines and water for safety considerations. The minimal water supply recommendations can be found in NFPA 1142, Standard for Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Firefighting. You will need to maintain a reserve of water equal to 50% of the figure determined in your review of NFPA 1142. Each hoseline will be capable of delivering a minimum of 95 gpm of water. Never forget that you will need two separate sources for water. You would be foolhardy to use a single pumping apparatus, a single fire hydrant or a single water tanker for your supply.

Space Considerations

In planning your operation, you will need to insure that sufficient space exists for the following considerations:

• Sufficient space for staging, operating, or parking your apparatus, as well as ancillary vehicles.
• A separate area for parking those vehicles not actually being used in the operation.
• Areas for the press and police
• Ambulance parking and staging area
• Designated routes for moving people quickly into and out of the area. These topics must receive conscious consideration and be written into your operational plan. Do not wing it, when it comes to placing your apparatus and keeping your streets sealed. Never forget to set up a way to get out quickly, should the need arise.

Instructors

In New Jersey, you are required to possess the appropriate level of state certification. You will also need to be live-fire, smokehouse and SCBA-qualified. You are strongly advised to avoid conducting live fires or any type of training in acquired structures if you have not been properly trained. Be sure to review all appropriate regulations that govern operations in your area:

• The ratio of students to instructors is a maximum 5 to 1.
• One instructor will be designated as instructor-in-charge. This person will be responsible to insure that the operation is conducted according to the requirements of NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions.

Safety Issues

There are a number of important considerations that every individual involved with training in acquired structures must follow:

• A safety officer is to be appointed for all training evolutions.
• This officer will have the authority, regardless of rank, to halt operations deemed by them to be unsafe.
• This officer will prevent unsafe acts.
• This officer will eliminate unsafe acts when they are detected.
• The safety officer is to be assigned no other tasks.
• The safety officer will insure that sufficient backup hose lines are available to support the operation.
• The attack lines will be capable of flowing a minimum of 95 gpm. The same is true for each backup line.
• You should select the proper nozzle for the type and size of hose you are using.
• One instructor will be assigned to each line. No more than five students will be assigned per instructor.
• Sufficient personnel will be needed to move and maneuver backup and safety hoselines.
• Assign one instructor per each functional area.
• Added safety personnel will be placed as conditions dictate.
• A system of fireground communications shall be established so that all operations, teams and instructors can coordinate their operations.
• You must develop a building evacuation plan and drill personnel in its use prior to the operation.
• An evacuation signal will be established and its use demonstrated to all personnel involved in the operation prior to the actual burn evolution.
• EMS units will be placed on location and available for use if needed.
• A thorough search of the acquired structure will be made to assure that it is totally unoccupied.
• No one will be assigned the role of "victim" in the structure.
• Only one fire at a time will be used and these are not to be set in the path of building evacuation, as designated by the evacuation plan.
• The session will be canceled if weather conditions deteriorate.

Personal Protective Equipment

All personnel who participate in training evolutions in an acquired structure will utilize a full personal protective equipment package. This will include:

• Full set of turnout gear, as issued by the fire department. Every set should be checked for rips and tears on the outer shell and vapor barrier.
• Self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA).
• All protective equipment will meet the appropriate NFPA standard at the time it was purchased. Be sure to check the tags and labels to insure that this is the case.
• Where stationwear is provided, it too shall meet the appropriate standard.
• Personal alarm safety devices.

It is mandatory for all personnel and their protective equipment to be inspected by the safety officer prior to entry into any hazardous environment.

Ignition Officer

One instructor for each live-fire operation will be designated as the ignition officer. The ignition officer will operate under the control of the instructor-in-charge. The ignition officer will use full personal protective gear and SCBA while igniting the fire.

The decision to ignite the fire will be made by the instructor-in-charge. The ignition officer is the only person authorized to ignite the fire. This individual is to be placed under the direct supervision of the safety officer. This provides a better control over the onset of the fire.

The fuels for these acquired building operations will be limited to materials with known characteristics. Do not use unidentified debris. As we stated earlier in this article, please do not use the following:

• Plastics
• Rubber
• Pressure-treated wood
• Hay or straw treated with pesticides

It has been my experience that straw for livestock bedding and pallets that are used in food delivery (no preservatives) serve as safe fuels. DO NOT use any flammable or combustible materials, except as approved by NFPA 1403. The instructor-in-charge must review the area where the fire will be conducted. Too much fuel can lead to a fire that can get out of control.

The instructor-in-charge will need to document the fuel loading, size of the room and type of construction. They should also write down any information about the roof and any void spaces that exist.

It is important to recognize the role which training in acquired structures can play in preparing your fire department for the real thing. It is also important to remember how dangerous training of this type can be. By the very uncontrolled nature of such facilities, they create a higher level of danger to your personnel then might be encountered at an established fire department training site.

Because of the great danger involved in these sorts of evolutions, we would urge every instructor to acquire and study NFPA 1403. I have conducted a thorough review of the new NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions that was issued in January 2002. I have incorporated a number of new changes in this article.

Please do not rely solely on my article. You will be liable for what the codes specify, and not what I suggest that you do. There is far more information in the code than I can include in this article.

You need to acquires of the following NFPA standards:

• NFPA 58, Standard for the Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases.
• NFPA 59, Standard for the Storage and Handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gases at Utility Gas Plants.
• NFPA 1001, Standard for Firefighter Profession Qualifications, 1997 edition.
• NFPA 1142, Standard for Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Firefighting, 2001 edition.
• NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, 2002 edition.
• NFPA 1971, Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Firefighting, 2000 edition.
• NFPA 1975, Standard on Station/ Work Uniforms for Fire and Emergency Services, 1999 edition.
• NFPA 1981, Standard on Open-Circuit Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus for the Fire Service, 1997 edition.
• NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems, 1998 edition.

Always be sure that you have the latest edition of the standard and be sure to provide continuing training for your training staff. Too much is at stake when fire personnel are asked to go into harm's way during firefighting operations.

We need to insure that they are exposed to realism in their training environment. However, we must not kill them or injure them while we are training them. It is our hope that the information presented here will help you get started on the road to safety. Buy the right books and train according to established practices. The rewards will be great, and your people should come through it all safely. As always, know it before you need it.

Live Fire Training: A Plan For The Future

Once again, the fire service has lost two members who were operating within a training environment. Osceola County, FL, Fire Rescue Lieutenant John Mickel, 32, a nine-year veteran, and Firefighter Dallas Begg, 20, who joined the department just a month earlier, were killed during a live-fire training exercise on July 30. Investigators told The Associated Press the two men died after inhaling air that was so hot that it burned through their breathing equipment and protective suits. The Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner's Office said the official cause of death was severe smoke inhalation and thermal burns.

When people die in a training-related situation, we must pause for a moment and reflect upon what happened. As is my way, there will not be an instance of Monday-morning quarterbacking, not with my name attached to it. We must all leave the investigation of the recent tragic training fire to those charged with that sad duty by the State of Florida. What I intend to do here is look at the big picture, to set the tone for an educated debate regarding how we intend to conduct live-fire exercises with the greater future context of the American fire service.

The steady decline in the number of actual fires over the past two decades has been a double-edged sword. The increased emphasis on the delivery of fire prevention and code enforcement services has had the desired effect. The number of fires is down. However, my research indicates that we have not experienced a commensurate percentage decrease in the number of firefighters who are dying. In other words, while the number of fires has decreased, the number of deaths, as a percentage of the workload, has not experienced a similar decline. Simply stated, firefighters are still dying in numbers that are greater than the decline in fires would lead you to expect. Why is that?

I am going to suggest that our training of firefighters is not all that it could be. As one who spent many years within the world of training, I must shoulder my share of the blame for this. I tried to do a good job, but I feel that I could have done more. I see people making the same mistakes I learned to avoid many years ago.

Firefighting is still a dangerous activity. We possess the knowledge as to why people have died in training fire situations over the past two decades. We in the fire service have reduced the experience gained from these mistakes to written form within the many different National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes and standards. The sharing of knowledge is one way to prevent future tragedies.

Since we are all seeing less actual fire duty, we must insure that our personnel receive training that prepares them for the fireground. But how can you expect people to operate well under that pressure if they have not experienced heat and smoke recently?

The problems do not seem to be happening often at established local, county, regional and state training centers. What we do hear about is people being burned and killed in acquired structures. The reason for this is quite simple.

The environment at a fixed, permanent burn building is controlled. Someone is responsible for maintaining the burn buildings. They usually receive frequent cleanings, as well as periodic maintenance. You do not have the same luxury in an acquired structure scenario. You have what you have, because that is what was offered to you. Even the best inspections by well-trained fire personnel cannot see through walls, ceilings and roofs.

If the difference is as simple as using a fire-training center, rather than utilizing an acquired structure, why is there a problem? First, there are just not enough training centers to handle the user population that needs them. Second, far too many people fail to recognize the need for periodic refresher training within a live-fire environment.

My suggestion is to create a network of traveling training sites. The technology exists. We just need to fund its alternative use for the structural firefighting service.

I was exposed to this new approach to live-fire training at the Congressional Fire Service Caucus' annual gathering in Washington, D.C., in April, when I was invited to see the latest in crash/rescue fire training technology. Lieutenant Commander Mark Persutti of the Naval Safety Center at Norfolk, VA, was my host.

The training unit I saw in action is a mobile aircraft firefighting mockup. It is propane-fired and travels the Eastern Seaboard allowing firefighters, both land-based and shipboard, to hone their practical firefighting skills. It is towed by a commercial tractor unit that has been modified to serve as not only the transport-towing vehicle, but as the operations control center for the unit.

When I observed this unit, it was being used at the Garfield Circle, behind the Capitol Building. I witnessed a number of Washington, D.C., firefighters repeatedly attack fires within the mock-up. It is totally environmentally correct. All that was left when the fire was extinguished was water in the gutter. I was told by the manufacturers that they are also working on structural firefighting units that will operate along the same lines. Right now, they have the fixed training location audience in mind. I have a different plan in mind.

I can envision the day when there will be a fleet of traveling live-fire training centers moving throughout the country. They will set up shop, provide classroom training in local facilities, and then hold well-supervised, live-fire training sessions in their mobile fire trainers. They will operate out of regional support facilities that will be located within each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) regions.

We now are said to have a heightened awareness of the importance of the fire service as a vital component of the Homeland Defense scheme. Much is now being expected of us, we are told. With that in mind, I say that if much is to be expected, then much more must be provided by the same government that has those expectations.

I believe that the time has come for the federal government to stop providing lip service to the fire service. If we truly are the first line of defense for our nation's infrastructure, then treat us that way. We are not talking Buck Rogers technology here, what we are talking about is a matter of just plain bucks! I can envision a day when fleets of mobile fire trainers circulate throughout the country, teaching everyone how best to fight a fire. And I see them doing it in the safest possible manner.

What better way to honor the memory of every firefighter who has died in a training-related, live-fire incident. I offer to you the National Firefighter's Mobile Memorial Training Program. Please let me hear what you have to think about this idea. I believe that this is an idea whose time is at hand. We know the danger. I have proposed a solution. All I ask is a fair hearing for this plan.

Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE