Training in Acquired Structures: A Beginner’s Guide

By Tanner Morgan

One of the enduring goals of a training officer is building practical training evolutions with a high degree of realism while maintaining a consistent, safe training environment. It’s a constant challenge. State-of-the-art training centers are great but, over time, our members eventually learn and remember the prop locations, floor plans, and site limitations. Training in acquired structures can provide the breath of fresh air that your department needs. You need to consider and account for numerous items when preparing for training drills in an acquired structure. Administrative support, city partnerships, site logistics, quality drill formulation, unit scheduling, site safety, and department coordination are all significant issues you need to address when conducting training in acquired structures.

• The Company Officer: The Perfect Training Officer
• Getting the Most Out of Acquired Structure Live Burns
• ACQUIRING STRUCTURES FOR TRAINING
• Fire Training in Acquired Structures

The Grand Prairie (TX) Fire Department (GPFD) conducted training in an acquired 60-year-old motel that provided these fundamental lessons learned, on which this beginner’s guide to training in acquired structures is based. The process was not easy, but for the department the dividends far outweighed the costs. Below is practical information on planning, scheduling, coordinating, and conducting training in acquired structures.

The Building

The training division was tipped off that the city had purchased a 60-year-old motel on old Main Street. This structure included many of the telltale construction features of the era, such as 3⁄4-inch shiplap roof decking, true dimensional wood members formed into lasting trusses, gusset plates anchored with six-penny nails, offset wall studs to assist in room-to-room soundproofing, and a large ballroom spanning the entire second story above the main office lobby. At one point in time, this motel had it all.

As you may expect, time had taken its toll on this building. The motel had been sitting vacant for nearly a year. The windows had been boarded up, the pool was filled in, and the structure was decaying. Changes in ownership and the area demographics significantly altered the outlook for this old motel. Firefighters were all too familiar with this structure; they frequently responded there for “nuisance calls,” usually in the early-morning hours. The opportunity to train in a building this unique was one the training division could not pass up (photo 1).

Administrative Support

Before you can begin creating a training plan, it is critical to have administrative support. Acquired structures present their own unique set of challenges. The fire department’s administration must be willing and able to support the training division. The administration must serve as an organizational voice to other city department heads about the importance of fire department training.

The fire chief, assistant chiefs, and command staff must believe in the direction of the training division. As with any training, there will be additional costs (some foreseen and some not) throughout the training period. Regarding support, the department chief was a powerful voice to city management and municipal department heads about the need for and importance of training in acquired structures, especially one as distinct as this motel. The chief outwardly confirmed his support of the training division and the upcoming acquired structure training in writing through departmentwide memos, yielding significant dividends. Top-to-bottom support creates excitement among line personnel and further aligns the department as one body.

Every week during the training, administrative assistant chiefs would visit the structure and observe and participate in the training.

Perhaps the most important element of administrative support is that of the battalion chiefs. Battalion chiefs are responsible for daily staffing needs and ensuring that the overall demands of the city are met. Taking units out of service for training is never easy, since call volume fluctuates daily and there is always much to do in day-to-day activities. Battalion-level support greatly enhanced the overall success of our training. The staffing challenge is never easy; it requires collaboration and flexibility. We made sure to be upfront and honest regarding daily schedules, lesson plans, and training outlines. If possible, involve the battalion chiefs in the planning process. Collaboration between training officers and battalion chiefs (staffing chiefs) will produce a training plan that suits the needs of both operations and training.

Partnerships

Partnerships are needed with city management, environmental specialists, and building department officials. Many city employees had a hand in purchasing the structure, scheduling the asbestos abatement, and ultimately arranging for the building’s demolition. Their plan did not include fire department training. Thus, we needed to forge relationships with key individuals to secure training time in this structure.

Persuading City Administrators

One day was the initial time allotment city management was prepared to allow us. One day in a two-story, multiple-building motel with more than a hundred rooms would not have allowed us to even scratch the surface of this building’s potential training value. Fortunately, the deputy city manager understood the importance of training for our firefighters and that attrition had drained our department of invaluable experience. After a long conversation with the city’s director of environmental services, our department was granted three weeks to train in the structure! The fire department worked to find a shared timeline that aligned with that of city management, building services, and environmental services.

An obstacle came one week after the three-week allotment was granted. Environmental services advised us of a delay in asbestos abatement, so we would have to unfortunately delay our training another week. We still had three weeks, but they would not fall nicely into one calendar month. This creates a challenge because of the influential demands of other departmental training and activities (e.g., emergency medical service, inspections, and public safety demonstrations). It is important to be flexible when dealing with other city departments. We must be willing to adapt and recognize other municipal departments’ needs.

It was time to draft lesson plans, create a unit schedule, design training drills, acquire needed equipment and supplies, designate an instructor cadre, and—most important—make the building safe. Of course, we followed national standards for prepping the building (asbestos issues, securing utilities) such as found in National Fire Protection Association 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions (even though weren’t conducting live burns).

Logistics

You need to obtain a significant amount of supplies and equipment to safely train in an acquired structure. First, you need basic fire training supplies depending on the type of training planned, ranging from rescue dummies to fog machines. Create a detailed supply list early in the process because you will inevitably overlook a few items. For example, important but easily forgotten supplies include nails, screws, duct tape, hazard/fire line tape, spray paint, small engine fuel, plywood, and 2 × 4s (for forcible entry door repairs). All these supplies are incredibly valuable for making the structure safe and for building quality training scenarios.

Once all the necessary equipment has been procured, be sure to test it to ensure it is working properly. Power generators and smoke foggers require regular maintenance to operate properly.

Newly hired recruit firefighters were a beneficial logistical factor for our training division. Before they receive their shift assignments, new hires are assigned to the training division, which was a huge help. These members assisted greatly in the work required to create quality training evolutions. They repaired and reinforced old motel doors, loaded hose for transitioning crews, kept coolers full of drinking water and ice, operated the smoke machines during the training scenarios, reset rescue dummies between evolutions, refueled generators, and performed chain saw maintenance. Pulling off training of this magnitude would have been difficult without their help. Be sure to use any available personnel for logistical help; it makes a huge impact on the training delivery.

Scheduling

Scheduling department units can be a training officer’s worst nightmare. How do we get all our members through the scheduled training while still leaving room for the impact of our daily call volume? As mentioned previously, fostering a strong partnership with staffing chiefs will assist greatly in this process. Every acquired structure is different. It is important to create a schedule that gets the absolute most out of the structure. Evolutions in an acquired structure are too valuable to be wasted. Forcing real motel doors, vertically ventilating actual roofs, and breaching interior and exterior walls are all excellent examples of the incomparable nature of training in an acquired structure. In the case of our acquired motel, we created an extensive schedule that spanned three weeks and required training on every day of the week except Sunday (photo 2).

When creating the unit training schedule, it is enormously important to continue to provide coverage to all areas of the city. Training is an essential part of our job but should never come at the expense of response capability. Allow for an equitable split so that response times are not compromised. The downside of this division is that crews won’t necessarily be operating on the training ground with crews from neighboring districts. This is a fair compromise considering our prevailing mission—the public always comes first.

Additionally, consider a department’s adopted shift schedule when rotating companies in for training. Our department recently transitioned to a 48/96 shift schedule, which impacted our scheduling design. Recognize the elevated level of risk of training in acquired structures. The increased risk required smaller apparatus groupings to maintain manageable student-to-instructor ratios and a more appropriate span of control on the training ground. Limiting the units in the apparatus groupings also creates less operational strain on department resources. A sample unit schedule is detailed below, reflecting a 48/96 shift schedule (Table 1).

Safety

Safety must be the number one priority in any training scenario. The challenge is to create realistic training drills that maintain an infallible threshold for safety. This challenge is particularly emphasized when training in an acquired structure. Steve Keller, the director of the Public Safety Training Center at Tarrant County College, once said, “No one should be hurt or injured in an environment we create.” This was our motto for these training evolutions. Considering all the moving parts involved in delivering this training, safety was front and center in every discussion (photo 3).

We ensured each building was safe before beginning our training evolutions. Coordinating with the city building officials, we secured the termination of all utilities—electric, gas, and water. Additionally, we had to confirm that all the asbestos had been successfully abated and removed from the property.

After the utilities were disconnected and the asbestos was removed, the training division completed a building safety preplan. We walked throughout the structure identifying any hazardous locations, assessing the building construction, and isolating any unsafe areas. We marked holes in the ground with safety cones, cordoned off unstable floor zones with fire line tape, and marked unsafe rooms with spray paint. This motel in the later years became home to many transient guests. Drug use and criminal acts were unfortunately quite common at this location. Asbestos abatement crews found paraphernalia on site and reported it to the training division. All training drill areas were swept clean of any hazardous items during the safety preplan; any needles and drug paraphernalia found during the preplan walk-through were promptly disposed of. These components of training in an acquired structure are frequently overlooked.

One element of training that we can’t control is the weather. After all the development, scheduling, lesson plan drafting, and safety planning, don’t expect it to be 78°F and sunny every day. Weather extremes can play a significant role in the delivery of training. Be prepared for all weather extremes and adapt your rehab to the expected weather, especially if your lesson plans call for labor-intensive training drills. Water, tables, and chairs are necessities and constant staples of your rehab area. If expecting excessively hot temperatures (that typically accompany a Texas summer), make sure to include canopies and misters in the rehab cache. If expecting strikingly cold temperatures (that oddly occur in February in Texas), make sure you have portable heaters and a sheltered location out of the elements.

The commitment to training safety doesn’t stop after the first crews arrive to complete their evolutions. You will need to hold a formal safety briefing at the beginning of every training session, followed by a safety walk-through of the structure areas you will be using. In the safety briefing, keep the message concise, honest, and thorough. Members should be well aware of the hazards present and the training division’s efforts to limit their exposure. Emphasize proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE); discuss this early in the safety briefing, making the PPE requirements clear. Ensure that the assigned safety officer enforces the PPE requirements for instructors and firefighters on the training ground and be prepared to rein in overly aggressive firefighters, members who will push the limits of the training. Freelancing on the training ground can be just as dangerous as on the fireground. Additionally, make it clear that indiscriminate building damage is unprofessional and will not be tolerated. Keep a constant eye on every firefighter on the training ground and be proactive with training ground safety.

Training Cadre

The training division instructor cadre was vital to the successful training at this site. All cadre members were certified to at least the fire instructor I level and were essential in conducting the training drills. Implementing an instructor cadre depended on administrative support. Two instructors were hired on overtime each day to assist in training delivery. Given the financial restrictions for certain departments, this may not always be feasible. However, the quality of the training depends heavily on the quality of the instructors.

Our training cadre consisted of training division staff and 12 members carefully selected from operations. Selecting the right people is important; our instructors included firefighters, driver/engineers, lieutenants, and captains; representation from all ranks contributed greatly to their overall effectiveness. We looked for line personnel who were quality operators, instructors who had stretched lines, cut roofs, performed searches, raised ladders, and forced doors; this garners credibility and respect. We selected individuals with an open and dutiful teaching style. We invited those with valuable real-world experience to share their experiences and thoughts during drills to create authentic understanding. These experiences were shared with other student groups to spread the wealth of tangible experience—“Iron sharpens iron.” Everyone matters and their experience is all valuable. The training division adopted this philosophy and preached it to the instructors, and it had a powerful and dynamic impact on the training ground.

Employing an instructor cadre created the necessary safety ratios to conduct quality, realistic training drills. It is important to create an instructor schedule that mirrors each instructor’s personal expertise and creates day-to-day continuity. Instructors were scheduled for training drills that paralleled their respective skill sets. More experienced instructors were scheduled for the high-risk evolutions. This generated high-quality instruction. The instructor schedule was created to provide for continuity of training delivery. It is useful to build a schedule that doesn’t place two “first-day” instructors on a specific training drill. Establishing stability in the schedule produces consistency in the instruction and delivery of the training message. This helps us all avoid the seemingly familiar “three different fire departments” scenario.

The cadre was vital in implementing our training evolutions. Student-to-instructor ratios were maintained at 3:1 throughout the training drills, allowing for the safe operation of high-risk training drills—e.g., vertical ventilation of a two-story structure, exterior and interior wall breaching, and ground ladders. A safety officer was appointed and formally identified each day. On-scene battalion chiefs also acted as assistant safety officers. Instructor cadre members and safety officers received instructor shirts to identify them within units, which permitted a quick assessment of the necessary safety ratios present on the training ground.

For those departments without sufficient personnel or finances for a cadre, consider partnering with a neighboring fire department or local training institution. Certain colleges or groups such as the Fraternal Order Of Leatherheads chapters will provide instructors at little or no cost.

Drills and Evolutions

Now, we’ve secured the structure, acquired the equipment, and have had instructor overtime approved. What are our training priorities? What drills and evolutions should we create? We must not waste time in an acquired structure; training opportunities such as this don’t come around often. Creating realistic and methodical drills is key (photos 4-6).

First, perform an in-depth assessment of the knowledge, skills, and abilities of your department; identify weak areas you have been struggling with. Every department is constantly in a state of improvement. In our case, we decided to build a robust schedule compiled with drills centered on the basics. Forcible entry, ground ladders, hose deployment, search and rescue, Mayday practices, and ventilation were our focus subjects. These were carefully aligned in six detailed lesson plans. Complete lesson plans must be created to allow for consistency and guidance in the training delivery. We used the classic crawl, walk, run system for implementing the training plan. It was imperative that we begin the training with less hazardous drills and then escalate as the weeks proceeded, which helped us avoid breaching a vital load-bearing wall before we completed vertical ventilation.

The evolution schedule was methodically crafted to provide training ground safety for the students and the instructors. In week one, we introduced hose operations and search; week two, because of inclement weather, shifted into forcible entry and interior/exterior breaching; and week three was capped off with ground ladders, vertical ventilation, and a multicompany Mayday evolution. This breakdown allowed us to maximize use of the building’s characteristics while providing comprehensive training on the fundamentals.

Once the lesson plans were complete, they were distributed to all department members with the site map. Disseminating information before the beginning of the training creates energy and excitement among those members who enjoy quality training, introduces the evolutions to your members so that they begin working through the techniques in their minds, establishes clear expectations and goals, and streamlines your time on the training ground. Each week, we disseminated the lesson plans with the schedule so that there were no surprises. We all grow to expect surprises on the fireground, but on the training ground, we all want to be prepared and perform on a level playing field. If your members are prepping for the training ahead of time at the station, then you have received two trainings for the price of one.

Holding a meeting with the instructor cadre before the start of training is a key element for preparation. This meeting is designed to review the lesson plans, the instructor expectations, and the site plans before the training begins. Meeting with your instructors provides a powerful brainstorming session that can help clear up any overlooked items. We adopted many suggestions presented during the initial instructor meeting on the training ground; for example, involving fire dispatch in the Mayday drills. Dispatch is an integral component in every incident, so it makes sense to involve them in our scenarios, especially a full-speed Mayday drill. This notion served as an important element in our training drills and consequently brought forth many valuable concerns from our partners in dispatch.

The final component is to set realistic expectations and adapt when the drafted lesson plans don’t translate well to your timeframe or the training environment. Some of our lesson plans were a little ambitious for our allotted time frame and unit groupings but were easily modified after the first session. Mondays were always good days to test the lesson plans’ feasibility; we had to adapt the lesson plans to fit our assigned three-hour training sessions. Designate a timekeeper during the training sessions to ensure that all the instructors stay on track. Instructors can be a little long-winded when instructing on topics they enjoy. Stay flexible and be willing to adjust the lesson plans, if needed. Use quick adjustments to a drill and quality communication to solve this problem.

Expect the Unexpected

Even with the best preplanning, unforeseen events will surface. We had an early breakdown in communication with city officials in charge of terminating the utilities. We planned to conduct the week one training evolutions with no on-site power. The generators were fueled, extension cords set up, and smoke foggers filled. When we arrived on site the first day, we found that power was still active. Normally, this would not be a problem, but in a structure that had just had a complete asbestos abatement, this was a significant issue. Breakers were shut off and all students and instructors were made aware of the status of the utilities. Despite taking precautions, one of our instructors received an electrical shock when he contacted a hanging exit sign; the instructor was not injured, but the incident was documented. This report was followed by a direct call to city officials to finalize the termination of utilities immediately; that occurred the next morning.

Call volume can spoil even the best training plans. Throughout the three weeks of training, the department responded to multiple structure fires, a suspicious white powder call that required the entire hazmat team, and an overwhelming number of medical calls. Battalion chiefs may frequently have to shuffle units to ensure proper staffing for the city. Expect these occurrences when you begin your drill and adapt to them accordingly.

Don’t be surprised by equipment failures from heavy use on the training ground. Smoke foggers, self-contained breathing apparatus, adapters, and nozzles will fail at times; have contingency plans for this. Our cache of smoke foggers was old, dated, and worn out. Consequently, we suffered a few untimely equipment failures. Without smoke, it’s difficult to conduct quality search drills. With some on-site maintenance, we got two machines back up and running and borrowed foggers from a neighboring department. Having allies in the training world will help when you are in a bind; ask around to nearby departments for help. Training officers in these departments may have faced a similar problem and are willing to lend a hand when you’re in a bind.

The weather can impact training plans. In Texas, the weather changes quite rapidly. The beautiful 70°F and sunny first week morphed into a low of 20°F and freezing rain the second week. Have a backup plan for when inclement weather strikes. Originally, we planned to perform vertical ventilation and ground ladder evolutions in week two. We had to swap these drills with week three’s forcible entry, breaching, and Mayday drills. We canceled one day because of hazardous weather. Ultimately, our schedule adaptation worked out for the best; we completed forcible entry and breaching drills while inside and protected from the elements and performed vertical ventilation and ground ladder drills in week three when the weather improved. Be prepared to adjust for weather extremes.

Training ground challenges involve your hired instructors too. Be flexible with your instructor schedule. Things can and will come up for your team, especially with COVID-19 and other sicknesses. Consider this when you are creating your instructor cadre. We operated with 12 instructors. Given the dynamics of our family and life schedules, having 16 would have been optimal.

Evaluation

The final day is concluded and the training drills in the acquired structure are over. In our case, the building was briskly demolished just two days later. Honestly, accurately, and constructively evaluating training effectiveness can be challenging. Be critical and use qualitative and quantitative data metrics to establish and assess proper value.

From a qualitative sense, have all personnel complete an anonymous course evaluation examining criteria such as the training’s relevance, value, and instructors. Include the question, “How could the training have been improved?” Encourage authentic commentary about the exercises’ positives and negatives.

Despite all the hard work, long days, and careful planning, there is no substitute for high-quality training in a real building. Our state-of-the-art fire training centers can’t beat forcing doors, breaching walls, and cutting roofs in an acquired structure. Don’t pass up an opportunity to train in an acquired structure; the dividends will be tenfold compared to the preparation needed to make training of this scale happen. The following key takeaways will guide you in developing your own training adventure in an acquired structure.

• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Build the drills and let the students own it.
• Set realistic expectations.
• Be prepared for “rainy” days.
• Make the drills realistic and relevant to real-world examples.
• Remember your “why”: to make your department better.
• Training on the basics is valuable, even more so when done in an acquired structure.
• Break out the tools that you haven’t used in a while in the training drills—e.g., lock cylinder pulling devices and piercing and distributor nozzles.
• Buy more screws, spray paint, duct tape, and permanent markers than you think you will need.
• Make the structure your teaching surface. Write on walls, doors, and furniture. Make it part of the instruction.
• Be prepared to be tired and worn out. A lot of work goes into building good training. It’s always worth it in the end.
• Follow up the hands-on training with a lessons-learned document to reinforce the key concepts.
• Lead and close the training with gratitude. Thank the administrative chiefs who helped, the battalion chiefs who made staffing work, the line crews for their participation and input, and the training staff/cadre for their passion for teaching.

---

TANNER MORGAN is a 14-year fire service veteran and a lieutenant in the training division of the Grand Prairie (TX) Fire Department. A fire service instructor for 11 years, he is an adjunct instructor at Tarrant County College and a graduate of the Texas A&M University Fire Service Chief Executive Officer program and of the Texas Fire Chief’s Academy. Morgan has a master’s degree in public administration from Sam Houston State University.