Smoke Diver Course Held at Florida Fire College
A course to certify “smoke divers” was held recently at the Florida State Fire College. The 30-hour course, hailed by the college as the first of its kind in the United States, was crammed into one week so that students could get maximum participation in minimum time.
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- Humpday Hangout: All Things Smoke Divers
The course was developed after William E. Clark, Fire College director, studied smoke diver programs during a visit to Sweden and Denmark. European smoke divers are elite groups selected for experience and stamina and given intensified special training. They are the only fire fighters assigned to do interior fire fighting under heavy smoke conditions.
Realistic final exam
The Florida course was designed to bring the student gradually forward from doing moderate work while wearing breathing apparatus in a clear atmosphere to performing arduous tasks under severe heat and smoke conditions. As part of the final exam, each student advanced a hose line in a smoke-filled room with temperatures of 400°F at the 3-foot level and 1600°F at the ceiling.
A byproduct of the course was the discovery that frequent trips through the 100-foot maze wore the skin off students’ knees. The maze, a tunnel 3 feet high and 3 feet wide, with many obstructions which the trainee must crawl over or worm under while unable to see, is patterned after that of the London Fire Brigade. Incidentally, knee pads have been ordered.
Course instructors
The instructors who taught search, rescue, wood chopping, and hose stream operation under actual smoke conditions included Ray Simpson of the Fire College, Joseph McDonough of the University of Maryland, and Gilbert Haas of LaBelle, Fla., a pioneer scuba instructor. Wayland Tate of Orlando taught care and maintenance of breathing apparatus.
After the course, Clark said, “The critique sheets of the students indicate that this is one of the best courses the Fire College ever held. Therefore, we are scheduling two more right now. One will be held next November 13-17, and the other March 5-9, 1973.”
