Washington Fire Chiefs have sent a guiding document to Labor and Industries to provide support to our members as they journey toward proactive compliance with the new live fire training requirements in WAC 296-305-05502. You can view a PDF copy of the following letter by clicking the link below.
June 12, 2014
John Kiely
Department of Labor & Industries
PO Box 44610
Olympia, WA 98504
Subject: Live Fire Training in Washington State
To assist you and our members in moving forward to proactively comply with the new live fire training requirements in WAC 296-305-05502 we have sent this guiding document out to support them in their journey toward compliance. We have had our fire training and administrative professionals who participated in the development of the new standard help this effort through training on the changes at several conferences in the last six months.
After a thorough review of the information available we conclude that every fire department or fire district has different hazards and since the new language references live fire training based on hazards present, it is important that fire departments first determine what hazards are present in their community. Further these hazards should be categorized so that the percentage of a hazard is determined and that it be cross referenced with historic data for response. Regardless of what type of a structure exists in any community, interior fire firefighting where the training tower or simulator mimics a confined interior fire meets the base requirement. Additional complexities, like high-rise, hazardous materials or high life hazards require additional training to supplement the interior live fire training.
Below are the components that we agree are the minimum criteria each firefighter must meet according to the January 1st, 2014 version of WAC 296-305-05502:
- All members who engage in interior structural firefighting shall be provided with live fire training at least once every three (3) years.
Exception: If during this 3 year period the member responds and operates at a full alarm assignment where the Incident Command System was established AND attends an After Action Review of the incident, the member will not have to attend a live fire training session during this 3 year period. This exception applies for two consecutive three year cycles but in the third three year cycle, the firefighter MUST attend live fire training.
A training evolution is considered to be three (3) years in length. Any member who operates at a working structure fire for years 1-3 and then again for years 4-6 would not have to attend a live fire training session. However, during years 7-9 the member MUST attend a live fire training session regardless of the number of working fires they respond to during that time period.
If any member does not meet the above schedule, they would not be eligible to return to an interior structure firefighting position until such time that a live fire training session is delivered.
- Who must attend live fire training under these rules:
All suppression personnel including Chief Officers, Drivers, Investigators, etc., all members who are issued an SCBA mask, and Driver/Operators who may be counted as Backup Team or part of 2 in/2 out.
- Live fire training must be conducted in accordance to NFPA 1403
- Interior live fire training must follow a lesson plan and objectives which include these subjects:
- Fire attack in IDLH conditions, Direct attack, Indirect attack and Combination attack.
- All training must be properly documented
If you have any questions please call the WFC office and we will facilitate an answer that complies with the new requirements, thank you,
Wayne Senter
Executive Director
Washington Fire Chiefs
360-352-0161
wayne@washingtonfirechiefs.org