Live-Fire Training Michael Foster

In today’s economic environment, getting maximum value for your money is imperative. That’s why a lot of fire departments with a tight budget might be inclined to build their own training systems and props.

After all, when you take a simple look at some fire training systems, they just look like shipping containers placed together. Someone adds wood, sets it on fire, and there you go. Training is safely completed. But was it? Was it done safely? Or did we just get lucky again?

Should fire departments build their own fire training system rather than purchasing a fully designed and engineered structured?

Several issues arise when considering a training structure. First and foremost would be liability. We’re going to come back to liability, but let’s consider everything else.

• The Choice Between Class A and B for Training Systems
• Can’t Afford to Be Without It, But Can Your Department Afford a Fire Training System?

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1402, Standard on Facilities for Fire Training and Associated Props, 2019 Edition, lists a variety of requirements to meet the standard; among them is engineered drawings of any training system.

Firefighter training systems require very specialized structural engineering. They are not like building normal structures since they will be repeatedly exposed to heat, fire, smoke, and much more. Understanding the impact requires an expert structural engineer who’s specifically aware of the stresses for fire training systems.

That structural engineering extends to elements one might not consider including the foundation and how the training system is secured. Just because someone knows a welder doesn’t mean the welds are structurally sound.

While from the outside a Swede system live fire training prop looks like an ordinary Class A shipping container, the interior has been significant altered to create fire environments that enhance firefighter training.

How to conduct the required educational components in these systems is outlined in the 2018 Edition of NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions. Generating repeatable, safe evolutions that demonstrate recognizable fire and smoke behavior is paramount for an effective training program. Interiors must be properly engineered for ventilation that allows for the appropriate fire and smoke behavior to occur. For example, learning to recognize the fire and smoke behavior in an eventual flashover and ways to delay or mitigate it requires significant infrastructure in a training system.

Everything burns, and long-term exposure to the heat in metal structures can impact the integrity of the metal. Each training unit where a burn occurs is engineered with proper insulation to endure repeated exposures.

N

Oklahoma State University christened its first new fire truck in almost a century on Sunday, KTUL.com reported.

The school’s Fire Service Training program plans to use it to train a new generation of firefighters, the report said. The ceremony happening on September 11 was pure coincidence, meant to coincide with the start of its biannual academy, but the program’s directors believe in its significance.

Tradition for fire stations dictate that new fire trucks be physically pushed into the garage for the first time. Sunday’s ceremony was the first at OSU in 90 years.

The program’s brand-new Pierce pumper truck, purchased with a federal grant, was custom-made for OSU. It cost $60,000 – which is 15 percent of the truck’s typical asking price – and took 18 months to build, the report said. Its Cowboy-centric details include an orange paint job and Pistol Pete engravings on the fire axes. Now trainees can learn on up-to-date equipment instead of hand-me-downs, the report said.

CustomFIRE—Lawrence Fire Department, DePere, WI, tender. International HX620 6×4 cab and chassis; Cummins X15 565-hp engine; Hale HPX200-H20 200-gpm pump; ProPoly 3,000-gallon polypropylene water tank; adjustable compartment shelving; Zico Quic-Lift portable tank storage; swing-out and -down rear access ladder. Dealer: Wayde Kirvida, Custom Fire Apparatus, Osceola, WI.

PREVIOUS PHOTO OF THE DAY >>

MORE FIRE APPARATUS ARTICLES >>

A new fire station is now in use in Clovis (CA), ABC30.com reported.

A ribbon-cutting was held for the newest addition to the Clovis Fire Department on Saturday. Station 6 is located on Encino Avenue – just south of Shaw and Leonard.

This station will serve 10,000 homes and 30,000 residents in the Loma Vista area, the report said.

Construction started in February of 2021 and cost $8 million, funded by development fees of the surrounding areas, according to the report. The station is staffed with three firefighters at all times.

Taylor Mill’s firehouse is in bad shape and city officials invited residents recently to tell them what they think the city ought to do about it, LinkNKy.com reported.

Open house events August 30 and September 3 opened up the firehouse to the public for inspection. Fire officials were on hand to give tours and point out some of the major flaws, the report said.

Due to issues with the structure of the building, a city official said there are four choices on the table: Try to repair the existing structure, and there are some guidelines and some recommendations from engineers; look at possibly building a second firehouse onto the backside of the bays, so repurpose the bays and tear down the front; go to a third location, which is on a property the city bought around 2010, and build a new firehouse back there; the fourth option is to do nothing.

The commission is trying to decide if they should do something, and if they do something, how much do they want to spend, the report said.

Fire and city officials said some of the problems include: The front of the building which houses the offices, the living quarters, the kitchen and day area, the laundry room and the equipment room, is sinking, causing structural problems; last year the roof was fixed which took care of some of the water leaks, but the 4-inch brick walls are porous and when it rains, the bricks leak water causing the drywall to be affected; stains on the ceiling tiles and drywall are very visible; there is asbestos inside some of the walls, which are bowing from age and weight, and although the city has taken care of the mold problems, due to the porous nature of the brick there is always the specter of mold, and it has to be cleaned as soon as it is identified; the walls, and the casing around the windows and doors are unsightly, the report said.