BY CRAIG ANDERSON, DR. STAN ANDERSON, AND PAUL SCHROER
Murphy’s Law tells us that emergencies will occur at the most inopportune time. Fire personnel may respond to a vehicle fire at 2 a.m. on a stormy night or a structure fire when the temperature is 85°F in the shade. Firefighters will be expected to tap into their physical and mental reserves to bring the emergency situation under control. We operate in a world of split-second decision making. These decisions often must be made when personnel are physically and mentally exhausted. The key to limiting mistakes on the fireground is realistic, repetitive training. We must have the attitude of training like we fight and fighting like we train. Repetitive training will ingrain an evolution into our minds, enabling us to recall the information at any time, under any conditions.
- Using Props, Simulators, and Mockups for More Realistic Training
- Training Props Might Just Be Whatever You Can Find At the Moment
- Training Drill: Less-Expensive Metal Cutting Props
- Lumber, Pipes, and More: Affordable Resources for Quality Firefighter Training
Firefighters want to be challenged with realistic, relevant training. How do we, therefore, keep firefighters’ interest while performing repetitive training evolutions that reinforce the basics? How do we provide this training when fire departments across the country continue to deal with shrinking budgets? We must look for new ways to create an interesting, educational, and realistic training environment.
When a training officer sees a need to develop a prop, he need look no further than his own firefighters for the answer. Ask a group of firefighters to come up with a realistic training prop, and all you need do is step back and watch them build a prop that is a realistic solution and exceeds all expectations.
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(1)Mobile walls that reconfigure and store easily. Cost is approximately $12 to $15 per section. (Photos by authors.) (1) Variations of wall: Openings are hinged and can be fastened so the section can be used as a normal wall section. The door section is constructed of 2 2 4s instead of 2 2 2s. Damaged doors were obtained from lumberyards at reduced prices. The door is inserted in place of a blank wall where a door is needed. You will also have to construct several two- and 1-foot-wide wall sections for versatility.
 (2) Various uses of walls for training.
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MULTIUSE, AFFORDABLE PROPS
Following are ideas for props that will enhance your training program as they provide realistic, multiuse training simulations that fit any training budget.
Most training facilities consist of four walls, a floor, and a ceiling. After a firefighter has performed search and rescue drills or fire extinguishment multiple times, the challenge of the layout of the structure no longer exists. This leads to firefighters’ taking shortcuts because they know the layout and the situation are always the same. No longer do they perform a right- or left-hand search; they simply go to the area where they know from previous experiences the fire or rescue dummy will be. If this attitude is allowed to continue, the firefighter is likely to repeat the same shortcut during an emergency situation. There is a need to come up with a cost-effective, multiple configuration that is easy to change and provides firefighters with unexpected challenges during each training evolution.
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 (5) Oven fire produced with LPG.
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 (6) Results of the water’s hitting a grease fire.
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Central Whidbey Island (WA) Fire and Rescue’s burn facility is a 30- 2 50-foot, two-story, metal structure that has burn rooms on the first and second floors. The original configuration did not provide a realistic floor layout that challenged firefighters. They simply crossed a large open area to get to the burn room and extinguish the fire. To provide a more realistic floor plan, easily produced walls were constructed to various heights, providing a freestanding, easy-to-change, stable configuration.
Oak Harbor Fire Department’s training facility is three stories, of masonry-concrete construction, and is fire resistive. All rooms are 20- 2 20-foot open spaces. Simply changing furniture configurations within these open spaces does not provide the ongoing challenges firefighters need. Photo 3 indicates how walls were constructed to enhance the floor layout of this facility.
Sometimes while designing a prop to be used for firefighter training it becomes evident that this same prop could also be used for public education. An example of this is the LPG stove prop originally designed to teach firefighters how to extinguish kitchen fires. When artificial or hay smoke is added to a room, the prop provides a realistic simulation of a stovetop grease or oven fire. Even when used inside a structure, the ability to control the level of the LPG fire by using valves allows only a minimal temperature increase. We then placed this prop on wheels so that it can be easily transported to fire extinguisher training and kitchen fire safety public education classes. This hands-on training and live demonstration have proven extremely successful for public presentations. Parts needed to create this prop include the following:
Stove Parts
- Nine 1/2-inch elbows.
- Four 1/2-inch caps.
- Three 1/2-inch gas valves.
- Three 1/2-inch tees.
- 12 feet of 1/2-inch pipe.
- Two 1/2-inch pipe straps.
- Stove.
LPG Tank to Stove
- Six to 12 feet of 3/8-inch LPG hose.
- 3/8-inch FL 2 1/4-inch MPT connector.
- 3/8-inch 2 1/4-inch FPT coupling.
- LPG nipple fitting.
- 1/2- to 1/4-inch reducer.
All firefighters have a strong desire to put out fires. If firefighters think a real fire is not present or if they know the location of the burn room, they become complacent in their actions during the training evolution. Therefore, we added portable, self-contained real fire—a five-gallon LPG tank and a metal barrel that can be moved anywhere within a structure. When smoke is added, this prop creates the environment of a realistic room-and-content fire (photo 7). You will need the following to create this prop:
- 55-gallon drum.
- Two 1/2-inch floor flanges.
- Two rubber gaskets.
- 72-inch 2 3/8-inch LPG hose.
- 3/8-inch FL 2 1/4-inch MPT connector.
- 3/8-inch FL 2 1/4-inch FPT CPLG.
- 1/2-inch cap.
- 1/2-inch 2 3-inch double-threaded pipe.
- LPG nipple fitting (for gas tank).
- 1/2-inch 2 1/4-inch reducer.
- 1/2-inch 2 12-inch double-threaded pipe; drill three evenly spaced holes with 7/16-inch to 1/8-inch bit.
- four top-lock 1/4-inch 2 20 nuts.
- four 1/4-inch washers.
- four 1/4-inch 2 20 2 1-inch bolts.
When these portable LPG props are used in a building that is not designed for high-temperature, live-fire training, we use gypsum board backdrops, which can be made portable for use during public safety presentations (photo 11).
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 (8) Simulating flammable liquid fire for fire extinguisher training (used for firefighter training and public education).
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 (9) Barrel under auto to simulate an engine fire (remember to chain the bumper for safety).
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Another challenge for a training officer is forcible entry training. Generally, only one firefighter would get to perform the forcible entry tactic before the door or doorframe were destroyed. These props can be placed within the doorframes of a training facility or on doors of any acquired structure. Repeated attempts at forcible entry can be made before the door or the frame deteriorates. To construct this prop, you will need the following:
- Two 6-inch channel iron, 26 inches long.
- Three 1/2-inch angle iron, 24 inches long.
- One 1-inch angle iron, 24 inches long.
- One 4-inch angle iron, 24 inches long (this could replace one 1/2-inch angle iron and the 1-inch angle iron).
- Tubes 1/2- to 3/4-inch diameter.
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 (11) Backdrop constructed of a 2 2 4 or 2 2 6 form covered with gypsum board.
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As with any realistic training, safety standards and considerations must always be met. During construction and prior to implementation, the training officer must consult with the department’s safety officer for an independent review and critique of the prop. Because these props are used repeatedly, there is a need for ongoing safety inspections.
Realistic simulation gives responding personnel the training they need to perform during hazardous emergency situations. The more we train under realistic conditions, perfecting our basic skills, the less the chance of our becoming statistics.
CRAIG ANDERSON, a 19-year veteran of the fire service, is a lieutenant/paramedic and training officer in the Oak Harbor (WA) Fire Department. He has served as an instructor at the Washington State Fire Training Academy and various state training officer conferences. He is an FDIC and FDIC West instructor.
DR. STAN ANDERSON retired in June 2002 after serving 37 years in Central Whidbey Island (WA) Fire & Rescue, where he was battalion chief/training officer. He co-founded one of the five accredited training programs in Washington State and served on the Washington State Fire Protection Policy Board for nine years. He has been a state adjunct instructor and a member of several Washington State technical advisory committees and was instrumental in developing the training materials for the Washington State Basic Fire Fighter 1 training program. He has served as an instructor at various state training officer conferences and is an FDIC and FDIC West instructor.
PAUL SCHROER is an 11-year veteran of the fire and emergency services, including having served 10 years as a firefighter with the Oak Harbor (WA) Fire Department and a fire/emergency program specialist for the Washington State Fire Training Academy. He is an instructor in structural, flammable liquids, and shipboard firefighting and has an associate’s degree in fire command and administration.
