| Click here for full coverage from the 2006 FireRescue Conference and Expo |
Participants practice window exit techniques during the Mayday Firefighter Down/RIT class, one of the Hands-on sessions held on Tuesday at the FireRescue 2006 Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, which runs through Saturday. (Photo by Glen Ellman/www.fortworthfire.com) |
By Shannon Pieper, Managing Editor, FireRescue Magazine
The sound of chainsaws and the smell of smoke hit the hot morning air in Henderson, Nev., as the FireRescue 2006 Conference & Expo got off to a running start. Hands-on classes are taking place all day Tuesday, Nov. 7, and Wednesday, Nov. 8; they allow firefighters to practice essential skills that can’t be learned in a classroom.
During Rob Fisher’s Truck Company Operations: Roof Ventilation class, participants split into small groups, each of which rotated through stations on chainsaw operation and maintenance, roof maneuvers, making cuts and sounding roofs for integrity. After reviewing the basics, the cutting started; Fisher warned students they’d be cutting all day. “The more you cut up, the less we have to take back,” he said.
Participants in the Flashover Simulator class entered an enclosed trailer designed to mimic the conditions that lead fire to flashover, in which an entire room’s contents can ignite. As one participant put it, the simulator is “designed to help us identify a flashover before it occurs” — and teach firefighters the proper way to react. Later, instructors gave students a close-up look at a flashover using a special 4' wood box with a small doorway cut into it. One instructor started a fire in the box, then held a piece of wood up to the door to trap the fire inside, creating ideal conditions for a flashover and allowing students to study the smoke patterns up front. Then the instructor removed the wood abruptly, creating a flashover that students could safely view to better understand its mechanics.
5 Roof Ventilation Tips
From “Truck Company Operations: Roof Ventilation”
• Start chainsaws every day to ensure they’re working properly.
• Get in the habit of good saw handling techniques—and practice them with both hands.
• When using a sounding tool, always hold onto the D handle. Sound by hitting center/right/left, resting your weight on your back foot so if the sounding tool goes through the roof, you don’t go with it.
• Don’t tighten a chainsaw while it’s hot. The more you run the saw, the more the metal expands, which can cause the chain to hang down. Let the chain cool before tightening; it may naturally tighten up again to the point where manual tightening is unnecessary.
• Always ensure the chain brake is on when passing the chainsaw. |
In Confined Space Entry and Rescue with Joe Nadeau, students spent the morning in the classroom, then came out onto the training grounds to review victim placement in the rescue litter. Nadeau explained the types of equipment needed to properly restrain and package confined space victims. In the afternoon, the class rigged for entry into the space and staged a mock rescue on a victim trapped inside.
Firefighters were put to the physical test during the Mayday Firefighter Down/RIT class, taught by Andy Speier. Students practiced a technique designed to get them out a window and down a ladder as quickly as possible. Grasping the second or third rung of the ladder, head pointed down, they “dove” out of the window, rotating their bodies around with their other hand, until their heads were pointed upward. Then they slid down the ladder to safety. Another challenging part of the Mayday class involved dragging a downed firefighter. Students completed a carpeted on which they used different dragging techniques: pulling the SCBA strap with one hand, hooking the strap into the crook of the arm to pull with the arm and pulling from a seated position while scooting backward.
Although students worked in 80-plus-degree heat in their turnout gear, there were few complaints. Most participants seemed very focused on the action and what they are learning. Several of the classes continue tomorrow. For more information on the FireRescue Conference & Expo, go to www.firerescueexpo.com.
