Firefighter training drill by Forest Reeder
Your company is dispatched to an automobile fire on the highway. This is a single-engine response and your company is responding from a training assignment. While responding to the incident, dispatch advises that this is a confirmed fire and police are reporting the possibility of the driver still being inside the auto. You can see a large header of smoke on the highway as you enter. There is no hydrant water supply available to you on this incident.
- It’s NOT Just Another Vehicle Fire!
- The Officer’s Guide to Preparing for and Commanding Large Vehicle Fires
- Gustin: Expect the Unexpected in Vehicle Fires
Following your department SOGs, describe the elements of your initial action plan and follow-up assessments of the incident scene. Discuss each responder’s role in the incident plan according to the JPR’s listed in the drill page.
Download this week’s firefighter training drill as a PDF HERE.
Looking for more firefighter training ideas? See all of Forest’s drills, or consult our comprehensive archive of online training drills.
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Forest Reeder began his fire service career in 1978 and retired as fire chief of the Tinley Park (IL) Fire Department in 2021. He has worked extensively in the areas of instruction, firefighter safety, and officer development and earned his Master of Science Degree in Public Safety Administration in 2004. He is the author of Fire Department Incident Safety Officer 4th edition (2025) and co-author of Fire Service Instructor Principles and Practices, now in its 3rd edition. Forest presents nationally on fire service leadership, safety, and instructor development. He was inducted into the Moraine Valley Community College Alumni Hall of Fame in 2020 and awarded the Distinguished Alumnus award in 2021. In 2008, he received the ISFSI George D. Post Instructor of the Year, considered to be the highest recognition for fire service instructors in the nation.
