Published: February 23, 2008 09:28 pm            

Fire conference continues today in Huntsville

The Huntsville Fire Conference, a training opportunity for paid and volunteer firefighters hosted by the Huntsville Fire Department, will continue today in various locations around the city.

The conference, which began Saturday and drew in approximately 90 firefighters from as far as Tennessee, included seven training classes related to firefighting safety and strategy.

“What we do for the Huntsville Fire Conference is advertise to all fire departments in a 200-mile range, and we have firefighters from all around come in,” said Jason January, HFD training coordinator. “We then hold seven different classes over a weekend that deal with safety and the fire department.

“Every year, 100 firefighters die in the line of duty, and the ultimate goal of the weekend conference is to be able to teach firefighters skills that will ensure that they go home to their families.”

The seven classes featured in the conference include an extrication course which involves the use of the Jaws of Life, an emergency driving course, a forest service incident command course and a general safety course hosted by the Texas Engineering Extension Service.

A self-contained breathing apparatus course, a pump operations course and a ladders course which covers both round and aerial ladders and utilizes the HFD ladder truck are also included in the conference.

“We started the conference back up two years ago, and we’ve gotten an outstanding response from the firefighters who have participated,” January said. “When we got evaluations back last year, we didn’t receive any negative comments about any of the courses we offered. I think participants really take a lot away from this conference.”



Jaws of Life

In the extrication course held at Fire Station No. 2, conference participants worked with cars involved in previous accidents to learn how to use various extrication tools effectively and safely.

According to January, the vehicles used for the course came from State Farm Insurance and from various area wrecker services.

“We really did get a really good working relationship going with State Farm, because they provided us with new model cars to work with in this course,” he said. “We actually got a 2006 Hummer H3 for the classes to work with.”

Course participants observed the use of various extrication tools including spreaders and cutters, which are both used to free entrapped accident victims.

“There are definitely a lot of firemen learning different tasks in this course,” January said. “The way cars are built now, we can turn basically any vehicle into a convertible with just a few cuts in specific areas on the vehicle.”

Participation in the course even helps firefighters find new tools to utilize in their departments, January said.

“A number of manufacturers let us use their tools for this course, which is beneficial in a number of ways,” he said. “Not only are we not putting so much additional wear time on City of Huntsville tools, but if a certain firefighter likes a tool they use at this course, they can take note of the manufacturer who produced the tool and go back and purchase it for their city.”



Pushing physical limits

The self-contained breathing apparatus course, so named because it deals with extremely challenging situations where air tanks are utilized in small or awkward spaces, requires firefighters to stress themselves in a number of ways.

“This course is one we designed that deals with extreme safety concerns of a firefighter inside of a structure while breathing air,” January said. “These firefighters are pushed to their limit, and they are shown ways to deal with being low on air, being trapped inside of a structure and being disoriented when and if they are in danger inside of a structure.”

Inside and around Fire Station No. 2, several rope and obstacle courses were set up to simulate various physical challenges firefighters face in the line of duty.

One course exercise required a single firefighter to maneuver through a room with cords, wires and insulation in the way.

“These exercises illustrate the kinds of dangerous situations a firefighter would have to deal with in an actual building,” January said. “We’ll also have a course set up where the participants will have to climb up a pipe and fall out.”

Another course exercise was modeled specifically to mimic an incident that resulted in the death of a firefighter in Colorado.

Utilizing a room built to the same measurements as the room which trapped the firefighter, teams of participants were instructed on how to free a downed firefighter from a confined space.

“Some of our firefighters got together in order to recreate the exact conditions that led to a firefighter’s death,” January said. “They built a unit with an aisle only 28 inches wide with an exterior window at one end, and the teams have to get an unconscious firefighter in full gear out of that window.

“The idea is to focus on the speed of getting them out, and experienced firefighters can do it in 28 seconds.”



Additional courses

The ladders course exposed firefighters to the operation and capabilities of the HFD ladder truck.

“The ladders course is designed to ensure firefighters operate both round and aerial ladders effectively and safely,” January said. “In the course, Huntsville firemen teach out-of-town firefighters how to set up the ladder truck so it can be used in a way that is safe for both the people on the truck and those around it at ground level.”

Positioning the ladder truck near the side of Bowers Stadium, course instructors guided guest firefighters through the steps required to lower and raise the ladder.

“This ladder can reach up to 100 feet in the air,” January said. “Today, we’re going to use it to be able to negotiate this building, and we’ll actually be able to see inside the stadium from the top looking down.”

During the pump operations course, firefighters observed the use of a drop tank as a means of storing water at the scene of a fire.

“The pump operations course is essential because firefighters need to know how to get water to a scene quickly and efficiently if a hydrant isn’t available,” January said. “If there’s no hydrant available but we have a 2,000 gallon truck, we can transport water to a scene, use a drop tank to store it and go get more.

“There’s also a long hose on the side of the trucks that allows for the use of any standing water source, like a lake.”

In the forest service course, participants learned some of the basic facts required when responding to a grassfire.

“The forest service course teaches firefighters how to watch out for danger signs and also teaches them overall scene safety on a forest fire scene,” January said.

The TEEX 16-hour safety course is nationally recognized and encompasses most areas of firefighter safety.

“Our emergency driving course is also very focused on safety,” January said. “It’s designed to show paid and volunteer firefighters how to drive defensively and safely.

“We offer this course partially because 25 percent of firefighters who die in the line of duty each year are killed while responding to or coming back from a call.”

For more information, contact Assistant Fire Chief John Hobbs at (936) 291-5943 or January at (936) 291-5940.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.