By Wes Tomlinson
The Decatur Daily
DECATUR, Ala. — Another Decatur firefighter earned smoke diver certification this month and is now equipped with advanced skills to navigate burning buildings, perform rescues under extreme conditions and properly assist injured firefighters.
Jeremy Bevis was hired as a firefighter with Decatur Fire and Rescue in April and after working as a full-time firefighter for three years prior to that, became interested in completing the smoke diver course at the Alabama Fire College in Tuscaloosa.
“I talked to some guys who have been here for a little while and they’ve been in that class and they had talked about how challenging it was and I’ve always been one to want to challenge myself,” Bevis said. “I just felt like it would be a great opportunity for me to better myself and it’s a class where it’s all about the basics and getting them mastered. It’s stuff you do every day, but it’s just mastering those things and building off that.”
The five-day, 50-hour training course in Tuscaloosa is no walk in the park as Bevis said it was the most intense training he has ever completed as a firefighter.
Decatur Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Brandon Strickland is the state program manager for the smoke diver course and said the first day of the training is usually the deciding factor on whether firefighters will finish the program.
“Morning one, we do what is called a consumption course and it’s a timed event where you go through simulated fireground activities,” Strickland said. “You’ve got to complete two laps in under 23 minutes. That’s kind of the baseline; if you can do that, you’re capable of doing the other drills. This year, we started with 31 (firefighters), but we had five right out of the gate that couldn’t do the minimum standard and lost another four that afternoon.”
Strickland said smoke diver certification is not required for Alabama firefighters, and a certified smoke diver must sign off for a firefighter to begin the certification process in Tuscaloosa.
Bevis said his first morning began at 6 a.m. on Jan. 27 . He said they trained in full gear for 10 to 12 hours each day and said the consumption course was “nerve-racking.”
Strickland said he recommends state firefighters get themselves in shape and begin training before making the decision go to the state Fire College, and he said Decatur firefighters can prepare for certification by utilizing resources at their training center on Old Highway 31 in Flint.
Bevis said he began preparing for his certification almost a year before he went to the college by doing extra conditioning and weightlifting.
“This is one of those classes for sure that you can’t just go out there and pass,” Bevis said. “You definitely have to prepare yourself and train for it.”
Bevis said he looks forward to utilizing what he learned in a real structure fire.
Strickland said retired Decatur Fire and Rescue Lt. Shaun Chandler began promoting smoke diver certification within their department over 20 years ago and became one of the first instructors over the program at the Fire College. Strickland said before then, firefighters used the term “smoke diver” to describe someone entering a burning structure and pushing as far inside as possible through thick smoke.
“It’s a throwback to when our (self-contained breathing apparatus) were new and a lot of people weren’t trained on them,” Strickland said. “Years ago, we didn’t have our SCBA. So, when you went into fires, you went in for as deep as you could and as long as you could and you ate that smoke until you couldn’t anymore.”
Strickland said the smoke diving certification was originally called the SCBA specialist course after the equipment began to be widely used across the United States. He obtained his own certification during the fall of 2009 and became the program manager 10 years ago.
He said the smoke diver program in Alabama sees firefighters every year from not only across the state, but fire departments from other states such as Idaho and Georgia.
According to Strickland, less than 1% of all firefighters in the state of Alabama are certified smoke divers but at Decatur Fire and Rescue, almost 40% of their firefighters are certified.
“If you want to be something more and not just the run-of-the-mill standard fireman, that’s one way to up your game,” Strickland said.
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