Saturday was a full day. It was a testing day where we were to go over most aspects of the training we've experienced over the last few weeks.
In the morning, we rotated through hydrant set-up testing and through ladder set-up. There is more to setting up a 24-foot extension ladder than meets the eye. Especially, if you want to do it safely and quickly.
In the afternoon, we went to Station 4 for firebox training. Three teams of four with a couple extra were rotated very quickly through the firebox exercise. Teaming up, exiting the vehicle, pulling pre-connected hose, and entering a live fire building to do a rescue search and attack the fire was the routine.
No matter that I had been through a couple evolutions of training on pulling preconnected hose during the summer months, it was clear to me that I still wasn't getting it. The hose would get caught up on the air tank each time, which I chalked up to my being left-handed in a right-hand world. The point, though, is that I wasn't getting it. The hose didn't care that I was left-handed, yet I couldn't figure out how to turn in a way that would prevent it from happening.
It seemed that I wasn't the only one having difficulty, as it was the main issue brought up during the review of the day. Tomorrow, it would be the focus.
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Sunday, October 28, 2018
The Firefighter Academy--Day 8.5 and 9
Day 8.5? Tuesday, the captain offered an extra half day of training on Thursday for those who felt they needed it and I felt that any extra I could get in would help out in the testing. There were four of us who showed up and we were granted 3 1/2 hours of some very intense training on the whole process of setting up the hydrant, pulling pre-connected hose and building entry with rescue search. We drilled on these processes until I hurt through and through. And, it paid off. Going into Saturday's (Day 10) drills/tests, I felt more confident with all of these processes.
Friday, Day 9--Testing day
One of the most important aspect of this culture that I am being introduced to here at the Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue is the fine balance between high expectations and supportiveness. Everyone wants you to succeed, but they aren't going to give it to you without you working hard for it. The test for donning turn outs and air pack in under two minutes is pass/fail. I barely made it. Everyone eventually passed and went onto the knots testing and 60-question T/F test. We all made it through those too, but there was a collective review of those areas where we had difficulty. The idea is to make us all stronger in the process.
We are seeing the end of this academy drawing near. The night was completed with fitting out of Class B uniforms to be used during graduation night on Tuesday.
Friday, Day 9--Testing day
One of the most important aspect of this culture that I am being introduced to here at the Siuslaw Valley Fire & Rescue is the fine balance between high expectations and supportiveness. Everyone wants you to succeed, but they aren't going to give it to you without you working hard for it. The test for donning turn outs and air pack in under two minutes is pass/fail. I barely made it. Everyone eventually passed and went onto the knots testing and 60-question T/F test. We all made it through those too, but there was a collective review of those areas where we had difficulty. The idea is to make us all stronger in the process.
We are seeing the end of this academy drawing near. The night was completed with fitting out of Class B uniforms to be used during graduation night on Tuesday.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
The Firefighter Academy--Day 8
Tuesday night's academy parallels the normal Tuesday night training, but with a half-hour added at each end. Instead of beginning with turn out drills, we took advantage of some confusion and did knot practice instead.
This worked out well, since many of the team are still trying to get their knots down. As the rest of the firefighter association filtered in for the beginning of their 1830 hours training, they joined us in trying to figure out their knots too. It reminded me of a Boy Scout meeting with those who knew their knots teaching those who were still struggling. I learned yet another method of tying the bowline, which I thought would be easier in many situations.
Once 1830 came around, the captains herded us all upstairs. The chief had prepared a sobering discussion on how we could be charged with certain felonies if our driving resulted in life or property damage. More importantly, he gave very clear guidelines on how to prevent that from happening.
Following the chief's presentation and discussion, we--the whole association present--went downstairs and got into our turn outs and rotated through traffic control methods. We did this a month or so ago and predictably I found this time to be easier. It seems simple enough. Set up the "WRECK AHEAD" diamond signs and place the cones to divert traffic away from and around the accident site. Then, use the "STOP/SLOW" hand-held signs and radio communications to keep traffic flowing and everyone at the scene safe. Yet, there's more to it.
The big take-away I got from last night's training was: Stop all traffic in all directions around the crash site until the crash victims are safely on their way to help and you have developed a plan for diverting traffic around the crash site. Use the engines and trucks to help block the roads if necessary, but leave room for ambulances and other support vehicles through. Be ready for other drivers who will try and break through to get past the crash site.
Once a plan is developed, teams will set up the "WRECK AHEAD" signs and cones. Traffic will already be stopped and a firefighter holding traffic with their "STOP/SLOW" sign. When the scene is clear of victims, the command will be given the IC (Incident Command) to begin allowing traffic through. "Eastbound Traffic, this is Westbound Traffic. Ready to send traffic westbound." "Copy. Okay to send traffic westbound." "Sending traffic westbound...last vehicle is a blue SUV." "Copy. Last vehicle is a blue SUV." Then the reverse happens. "Westbound Traffic, this is Eastbound Traffic. Ready to send traffic eastbound." And, so on. I can only imagine how much fun it gets to be when you add a couple of intersections to the mix.
After the training drill, those of us in the academy took a few minutes to have a class photo taken. Then we got to do turn out drills some more. I am getting faster and even with getting the gloves over my fat mitts taking seeming a quarter of my overall time, I'm at 40-50 seconds for just the turn outs. We have two minutes to get turn outs and air pack on.
While I tried to do a good job as class lead, I am happy to let someone else have a go at it. I'll be over here with the dust mop.
This worked out well, since many of the team are still trying to get their knots down. As the rest of the firefighter association filtered in for the beginning of their 1830 hours training, they joined us in trying to figure out their knots too. It reminded me of a Boy Scout meeting with those who knew their knots teaching those who were still struggling. I learned yet another method of tying the bowline, which I thought would be easier in many situations.
Once 1830 came around, the captains herded us all upstairs. The chief had prepared a sobering discussion on how we could be charged with certain felonies if our driving resulted in life or property damage. More importantly, he gave very clear guidelines on how to prevent that from happening.
Following the chief's presentation and discussion, we--the whole association present--went downstairs and got into our turn outs and rotated through traffic control methods. We did this a month or so ago and predictably I found this time to be easier. It seems simple enough. Set up the "WRECK AHEAD" diamond signs and place the cones to divert traffic away from and around the accident site. Then, use the "STOP/SLOW" hand-held signs and radio communications to keep traffic flowing and everyone at the scene safe. Yet, there's more to it.
The big take-away I got from last night's training was: Stop all traffic in all directions around the crash site until the crash victims are safely on their way to help and you have developed a plan for diverting traffic around the crash site. Use the engines and trucks to help block the roads if necessary, but leave room for ambulances and other support vehicles through. Be ready for other drivers who will try and break through to get past the crash site.
Once a plan is developed, teams will set up the "WRECK AHEAD" signs and cones. Traffic will already be stopped and a firefighter holding traffic with their "STOP/SLOW" sign. When the scene is clear of victims, the command will be given the IC (Incident Command) to begin allowing traffic through. "Eastbound Traffic, this is Westbound Traffic. Ready to send traffic westbound." "Copy. Okay to send traffic westbound." "Sending traffic westbound...last vehicle is a blue SUV." "Copy. Last vehicle is a blue SUV." Then the reverse happens. "Westbound Traffic, this is Eastbound Traffic. Ready to send traffic eastbound." And, so on. I can only imagine how much fun it gets to be when you add a couple of intersections to the mix.
After the training drill, those of us in the academy took a few minutes to have a class photo taken. Then we got to do turn out drills some more. I am getting faster and even with getting the gloves over my fat mitts taking seeming a quarter of my overall time, I'm at 40-50 seconds for just the turn outs. We have two minutes to get turn outs and air pack on.
While I tried to do a good job as class lead, I am happy to let someone else have a go at it. I'll be over here with the dust mop.
The Firefighter Academy--Day 7
Sunday. This is the last day of my week of being team lead for the class. I'm pretty sure that I'll still get there early and wander out when I've got things put away, but it'll be a bit easier not having to pay so much attention to the tasks that the role requires. Onto the day, before the details slip from my memory.
I didn't make it under the two-minute mark on any of the turn-outs and air pack drills this morning. Close, but still a bit over. I think it is directly related to the fact that I still ached in every joint from Saturday's session or it could be that I am just slow. Either will work.
We loaded up the air packs into the rescue truck and headed over to Station 4 off of Sutton Lake Road to do more fire box training. Today, working on techniques of venting the structure from the inside to clear the smoke and help direct the fire. Along with that comes the drill of arrival on scene activities and what each team needs to do. It is clear that the academy will give us enough knowledge and experience to be helpful and somewhat safe, but Tuesday night drills throughout the year are going to be important. My role did not include going inside the fire box during the morning session.
Just as our lunch hour began, the station received a rescue call for an accident on the dunes. At least that's what I figured it was when I saw them going down the highway Code 3 with the trailer full of quads. This situation took most of our trainers with it, so the captain changed things up for the afternoon.
Instead of continuing to run exposure drills into the burn box, we did a rotation of three other areas. Forced entry, saws and cutting equipment, and roof access/assessment/ventilation.
The key to forced entry is to assess the situation first before you just break down the front door. Where is the fire concentrated? How far involved is it? Is the door unlocked? Is it possible to just break a window to allow unlocking the door from the inside? Like most things, the more you know the more empathy you have for someone who's decisions looks like it wasn't the best when viewed from the armchair in review.
If it is the front door that needs to be gone through because that's what's determined to be the best route to fight the fire, a series of steps needs to be gone through to protect the firefighter while quickly gaining entry. First off, check for heat at the door by exposing the back of the gloved wrist. Starting at the bottom of the door and moving towards the top, feel for heat. This process determines how close or how involved the fire is getting. If the heat is only at the top of the door, then there is the possibility of a rescue. If it is hot at the bottom, that chance has passed and the fire is very close. Once the strata of heat has been determined and the decision made to go in, the lead firefighter tries to open the door using the door handle--"Try before you Pry." If locked, they then use a Halligan to purposely determine where the locks and bolts are on the door. "Purposely" means to slam the Halligan into the bottom, middle and top of the door to see where it flexes and where it does not. The Halligan is going to be used where it does not flex.
The exercise is set up to simulate a normal dead bolt and handle set-up and what it takes to break the door jam. If there are pins in the door at the top and bottom, then you would start at the bottom and work your way up. Back to a "normal" set-up, the Halligan adze blade is placed between the deadbolt and lock set. The second firefighter steps up with the flathead axe and strikes the back of the adze when the first firefighter says "STRIKE." Once the adze is set sufficiently into the jam, the first firefighter rotates the Halligan upwards to break the jam. When the door is free, the firefighter reaches in with the Halligan and gains control of the door to prevent it being sucked in by the fire. Maintaining control of the door with the Halligan, the door handle is grabbed before removing the Halligan. Testing for positive or negative pressure on the door to determine fire conditions before doing the LLL entry is required for safety.
LLL--Oh, how we love our acronyms--is Life, Layout and Location. The initial entry into the structure is done low, very low. With one foot hooked on the door jam to gauge how far into the room you're going and prevent you from going further so that you can be pulled out if needed, the first firefighter in searches in all directions possible with their hands to determine if there is someone directly behind the door who was trying to get out and failed to do so. Simultaneously, they are determining the Layout of the room if possible and attempting to determine the Location of the fire. Then, as quickly as possible, they get out to report their findings to the rest of the entry team.
Besides the "normal" forced entry, we went over alternative methods. Kicking the door in was demonstrated and was offered up for us to try if we wanted. I like my knees, so I chose to use the tool instead. Inward facing door, such as a locked interior door, entry was demonstrated and we got to try that too. If all else fails, the K-12 tool could be used to cut through the door locks or pins.
At the next rotation station, we went over the starting, use, and prepping for storage of chain saws and the K-12 tool. Even though it should have been put away correct and it takes a few seconds to check again, first check to make sure that there is fuel and oil in the saw. It does no good to bring a saw to where it's needed only to have it not start or not have it run for long enough to do the job. The chainsaw we use is a light, powerful Husqvarna with what looks like a 24" bar. Set the chain brake. Place foot on the lower handle area. Pull the choke out which automatically opens the shutoff switch. Press the compression release button. Pull once. Close the choke and reset the compression release button. Pull again to start. Hope the thing starts. Curse the person who did I&M (Inventory and Maintenance) last if it doesn't.
The K-12 tool (see link above), has a 24" rotating blade and is used to cut metal. Metal doors, roofs, rebar, car bodies, etc. The starting procedure is similar to the chainsaw with the exception that there is no bar oil and no brake for the blade. Due to the high RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) and large diameter blade, centrifugal force is a real danger. The saw cannot be moved quickly while spinning at high RPMs. Know how you are going to move the saw and where you're going to cut before getting the saw spun up.
Putting the saws away require that fuel and oil tanks be filled, the chokes pulled out, compression buttons pushed in and switches set to run. If the blades or chains were damaged in use, they need to be changed. This makes the saw ready for the next time it is pulled out and needs to be used. The next call may happen on the way back to the station.
Our last station of the day, was roof access and ventilation. The training area has a 40-foot shipping container--the one used for the smoke rescue training--that has a wood roof with an 8 and 12 pitch attached to the side of it. A 12 and 12 pitch has a 45 degree angle and an 8 and 12 pitch has about a 34 degree angle to it. This composition shingled roof has a opening already cut into it simulating the area size that a ventilation hole would be cut if needed for fire control. While we didn't actually cut into a roof, we were able to see how and why we would be cutting into a roof for ventilation.
First off, a ladder needs to be set with at least five rungs above the roof level in order to safely get onto the roof. A two-person team is recommended to set a 24-foot extension ladder. Even though we already have had ladder training, it was clear that a refresher was already needed. I know I had forgotten more than a few steps--no pun intended. The lead firefighter climbing first--"FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING"--is carrying a trash hook to sound the roof making sure it's safe for team to follow.
Sounding the roof is similar to finding a stud in your wall to hang a picture. A hollow sound indicates that there is a hollow area underneath or a weak area. A solid sound is given when there is a rafter underneath. Also, looking for indications of heat and smoke. Once the roof has been determined to be safe, the rest of the team begins climbing the ladder with the other tools and non-charged fire hose. Other tools include a roof ladder, which has hooks to go over the ridge of the roof and a chainsaw or K-12 needed to cut the hole for ventilation. Once the roof ladder is set on the up wind side of where ventilation is planned, the team lead descends using the ladder rungs for safety and sounds the roof with the trash hook looking for the rafters and marking the area to be cut for ventilation. When a bit past the bottom of where the cut needs to be made, the team lead plants one side of the trash hook firmly into the roof and places the D-handle end on top of their foot. Their foot is securely placed on a rung of the roof ladder. This is a safety and walk rail for the firefighter who is going to be doing the cutting.
The firefighter with the chainsaw descends the ladder and makes the first cut across the bottom riding the bar over the rafter as much as possible so as not to reduce the structural integrity of the roof. The second cut is on the far side along the inside of the far rafter. The third cut is on the near side rafter next to the roof ladder. The last cut is along the top, again trying to ride the bar over the rafter in the middle so as not to cut through it. The first firefighter then calls on the radio to coordinate ventilation. The coordination is essential to avoid putting the firefighters in the building in harms way by introducing ventilation between them and the fire. When the go-ahead has been given, the the lead firefighter uses the trash hook to punch through the near side of the ventilation cuts to open the hole in a butterfly-valve fashion. The part of the valve that above the roof line should be downwind of the roof ladder. If there is no smoke resulting from the opening, then there are other layers of ceiling or roof that need to be punched though or cut to provide the needed ventilation.
Travelling down the ladder with tools in hand required a bit of instruction on where to place the hand with the tools and how to hold them to safely carry them down. The hand with the tool slides down the rail of the ladder, while the other one is on the rung as you go down.
The class has this clean up thing down. Air packs were scrubbed and and tanks filled. All engines had air packs replaced and set up for readiness. The masks and regulators cleaned and sanitized. House swept, vacuumed, and bathrooms cleaned, Radios put away with channels set to "1", placed in "off", and properly set into charger. "18-03!" "WHO YOU WANT TO BE!"
I didn't make it under the two-minute mark on any of the turn-outs and air pack drills this morning. Close, but still a bit over. I think it is directly related to the fact that I still ached in every joint from Saturday's session or it could be that I am just slow. Either will work.
We loaded up the air packs into the rescue truck and headed over to Station 4 off of Sutton Lake Road to do more fire box training. Today, working on techniques of venting the structure from the inside to clear the smoke and help direct the fire. Along with that comes the drill of arrival on scene activities and what each team needs to do. It is clear that the academy will give us enough knowledge and experience to be helpful and somewhat safe, but Tuesday night drills throughout the year are going to be important. My role did not include going inside the fire box during the morning session.
Just as our lunch hour began, the station received a rescue call for an accident on the dunes. At least that's what I figured it was when I saw them going down the highway Code 3 with the trailer full of quads. This situation took most of our trainers with it, so the captain changed things up for the afternoon.
Instead of continuing to run exposure drills into the burn box, we did a rotation of three other areas. Forced entry, saws and cutting equipment, and roof access/assessment/ventilation.
The key to forced entry is to assess the situation first before you just break down the front door. Where is the fire concentrated? How far involved is it? Is the door unlocked? Is it possible to just break a window to allow unlocking the door from the inside? Like most things, the more you know the more empathy you have for someone who's decisions looks like it wasn't the best when viewed from the armchair in review.
If it is the front door that needs to be gone through because that's what's determined to be the best route to fight the fire, a series of steps needs to be gone through to protect the firefighter while quickly gaining entry. First off, check for heat at the door by exposing the back of the gloved wrist. Starting at the bottom of the door and moving towards the top, feel for heat. This process determines how close or how involved the fire is getting. If the heat is only at the top of the door, then there is the possibility of a rescue. If it is hot at the bottom, that chance has passed and the fire is very close. Once the strata of heat has been determined and the decision made to go in, the lead firefighter tries to open the door using the door handle--"Try before you Pry." If locked, they then use a Halligan to purposely determine where the locks and bolts are on the door. "Purposely" means to slam the Halligan into the bottom, middle and top of the door to see where it flexes and where it does not. The Halligan is going to be used where it does not flex.
The exercise is set up to simulate a normal dead bolt and handle set-up and what it takes to break the door jam. If there are pins in the door at the top and bottom, then you would start at the bottom and work your way up. Back to a "normal" set-up, the Halligan adze blade is placed between the deadbolt and lock set. The second firefighter steps up with the flathead axe and strikes the back of the adze when the first firefighter says "STRIKE." Once the adze is set sufficiently into the jam, the first firefighter rotates the Halligan upwards to break the jam. When the door is free, the firefighter reaches in with the Halligan and gains control of the door to prevent it being sucked in by the fire. Maintaining control of the door with the Halligan, the door handle is grabbed before removing the Halligan. Testing for positive or negative pressure on the door to determine fire conditions before doing the LLL entry is required for safety.
LLL--Oh, how we love our acronyms--is Life, Layout and Location. The initial entry into the structure is done low, very low. With one foot hooked on the door jam to gauge how far into the room you're going and prevent you from going further so that you can be pulled out if needed, the first firefighter in searches in all directions possible with their hands to determine if there is someone directly behind the door who was trying to get out and failed to do so. Simultaneously, they are determining the Layout of the room if possible and attempting to determine the Location of the fire. Then, as quickly as possible, they get out to report their findings to the rest of the entry team.
Besides the "normal" forced entry, we went over alternative methods. Kicking the door in was demonstrated and was offered up for us to try if we wanted. I like my knees, so I chose to use the tool instead. Inward facing door, such as a locked interior door, entry was demonstrated and we got to try that too. If all else fails, the K-12 tool could be used to cut through the door locks or pins.
At the next rotation station, we went over the starting, use, and prepping for storage of chain saws and the K-12 tool. Even though it should have been put away correct and it takes a few seconds to check again, first check to make sure that there is fuel and oil in the saw. It does no good to bring a saw to where it's needed only to have it not start or not have it run for long enough to do the job. The chainsaw we use is a light, powerful Husqvarna with what looks like a 24" bar. Set the chain brake. Place foot on the lower handle area. Pull the choke out which automatically opens the shutoff switch. Press the compression release button. Pull once. Close the choke and reset the compression release button. Pull again to start. Hope the thing starts. Curse the person who did I&M (Inventory and Maintenance) last if it doesn't.
The K-12 tool (see link above), has a 24" rotating blade and is used to cut metal. Metal doors, roofs, rebar, car bodies, etc. The starting procedure is similar to the chainsaw with the exception that there is no bar oil and no brake for the blade. Due to the high RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) and large diameter blade, centrifugal force is a real danger. The saw cannot be moved quickly while spinning at high RPMs. Know how you are going to move the saw and where you're going to cut before getting the saw spun up.
Putting the saws away require that fuel and oil tanks be filled, the chokes pulled out, compression buttons pushed in and switches set to run. If the blades or chains were damaged in use, they need to be changed. This makes the saw ready for the next time it is pulled out and needs to be used. The next call may happen on the way back to the station.
Our last station of the day, was roof access and ventilation. The training area has a 40-foot shipping container--the one used for the smoke rescue training--that has a wood roof with an 8 and 12 pitch attached to the side of it. A 12 and 12 pitch has a 45 degree angle and an 8 and 12 pitch has about a 34 degree angle to it. This composition shingled roof has a opening already cut into it simulating the area size that a ventilation hole would be cut if needed for fire control. While we didn't actually cut into a roof, we were able to see how and why we would be cutting into a roof for ventilation.
First off, a ladder needs to be set with at least five rungs above the roof level in order to safely get onto the roof. A two-person team is recommended to set a 24-foot extension ladder. Even though we already have had ladder training, it was clear that a refresher was already needed. I know I had forgotten more than a few steps--no pun intended. The lead firefighter climbing first--"FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING"--is carrying a trash hook to sound the roof making sure it's safe for team to follow.
Sounding the roof is similar to finding a stud in your wall to hang a picture. A hollow sound indicates that there is a hollow area underneath or a weak area. A solid sound is given when there is a rafter underneath. Also, looking for indications of heat and smoke. Once the roof has been determined to be safe, the rest of the team begins climbing the ladder with the other tools and non-charged fire hose. Other tools include a roof ladder, which has hooks to go over the ridge of the roof and a chainsaw or K-12 needed to cut the hole for ventilation. Once the roof ladder is set on the up wind side of where ventilation is planned, the team lead descends using the ladder rungs for safety and sounds the roof with the trash hook looking for the rafters and marking the area to be cut for ventilation. When a bit past the bottom of where the cut needs to be made, the team lead plants one side of the trash hook firmly into the roof and places the D-handle end on top of their foot. Their foot is securely placed on a rung of the roof ladder. This is a safety and walk rail for the firefighter who is going to be doing the cutting.
The firefighter with the chainsaw descends the ladder and makes the first cut across the bottom riding the bar over the rafter as much as possible so as not to reduce the structural integrity of the roof. The second cut is on the far side along the inside of the far rafter. The third cut is on the near side rafter next to the roof ladder. The last cut is along the top, again trying to ride the bar over the rafter in the middle so as not to cut through it. The first firefighter then calls on the radio to coordinate ventilation. The coordination is essential to avoid putting the firefighters in the building in harms way by introducing ventilation between them and the fire. When the go-ahead has been given, the the lead firefighter uses the trash hook to punch through the near side of the ventilation cuts to open the hole in a butterfly-valve fashion. The part of the valve that above the roof line should be downwind of the roof ladder. If there is no smoke resulting from the opening, then there are other layers of ceiling or roof that need to be punched though or cut to provide the needed ventilation.
Travelling down the ladder with tools in hand required a bit of instruction on where to place the hand with the tools and how to hold them to safely carry them down. The hand with the tool slides down the rail of the ladder, while the other one is on the rung as you go down.
The class has this clean up thing down. Air packs were scrubbed and and tanks filled. All engines had air packs replaced and set up for readiness. The masks and regulators cleaned and sanitized. House swept, vacuumed, and bathrooms cleaned, Radios put away with channels set to "1", placed in "off", and properly set into charger. "18-03!" "WHO YOU WANT TO BE!"
The Firefighter Academy--Day 6
We had gone long on the Friday night session, so today we started a half-hour later with the idea that we would end also a half-hour earlier. I think that it didn't work out this way is somehow part of the training.
At Station 4, we split up again into three groups for the training rotation. My group started off with more hydrant work. This time in the daylight and some more guidance, we were able to find the correct hydrant off the main road in a nearby neighborhood. In this next advancement in training, the truck would actually be moving forward on our signal. This way, we get to feel how supply line pulls against the hydrant and see the importance of making sure we are out of the way if something gets caught up and the supply line pulls out from underneath our foot. Having a new hydrant wrench is a big improvement too, as the one used last night would not tighten enough to stay on the hydrant. We are to never set the wrench on the ground. Apparently, the sand has a tendency to swallow hydrant wrenches.
You're the firefighter right behind the driver, because that's the side that the hydrant tools are on. The driver, who is the engineer, stops just past the hydrant going towards the fire. You, the hydrant person, gets out of the engine looking up for hanging electrical and other obstructions, looking down for dangers such as fuel on the ground and side to side for traffic. The first compartment on each rig is where the hydrant tools are kept. Grab the wrench and place the 4-inch adapter onto it, then the gate valve goes on top of that so that you can carry the entire cluster with one hand. In most of the other engines and trucks, there is a yellow bag with all of this equipment already gathered together. Carry this in your right hand, because you are going to grabbing the strap that has the 4-inch supply line with your left as you round the back of the engine. Drag the supply line to and around the hydrant, place your foot on the end of the supply line behind the coupling, and give the signal to engineer to drive towards the fire. Once the coupling at connecting the first 50-foot section to the next hits the ground, get busy on getting the adapter and gate valve connected to the hydrant. And, of course, the supply line too. Wait for the signal to send water or you can clearly see that the hose clamp has been set on the supply line by the engineer. I'm still clumsy, but getting it done.
Next is the smoke room and this time we get to do the search and extraction of possible victims. The simulation is run with a three-person team. The nozzle lead, the search dog and the officer. One of the trainers will be our officer. The nozzle lead checks the door for heat stratification and whether the door is open, and what pressure is on the door. All of this is communicated to the rest of the team. Then the nozzle lead does an initial entry and search for victims that might be right near the door. They go in low, with one foot hooked onto the door jam to prevent them from going too far and making it possible to be pulled out quickly if needed. Searching as far as their arms will allow in all directions, making note of the situation simultaneously, getting back out and closing the door before communicating the three "Ls" to the rest of the team. Life--did you find or see any victims. Layout--what did the layout of the building look like, what could you see. And, Location of the fire. The smoke was so thick that trying use the flashlight only made things worse, just like trying to use your high beams from your car when driving in heavy fog.
Nozzle lead in front, search dog in the middle and officer in the rear. Nozzle lead calls out clearly what they see as they see it. We have determined that we are doing a right-hand search before going in, so we work our way into the building while maintaining close contact with the right hand wall. The search dog is on the left side of the hose in order to extend the distance into the room. When a doorway is found--by feel, because you can't see anything at all--the nozzle lead calls it out and moves to just beyond the doorway. The officer sends the search dog into the room to do a right hand wall search in that room. Everyone stops moving forward until that room is determined clear of victims. The door of that room is then closed if possible and marked on the door as being cleared. Then we move forward into the building. If a victim or victims are found, they are removed by the search dog and officer. The nozzle lead backs up towards the entry door with the nozzle facing the fire at all times to be close enough to pick up the search dog and officer once they get the victim out the door and make their way back into the building to continue the search. The search must be done high and low looking in places where someone caught might go to try and escape the fire and smoke. Closets, bathrooms, under beds--everywhere. Once the search is complete, the team makes their way back out of the building by following the charged hose. Remember, you cannot see anything and the entire search is done by Braille, so to speak.
Our searching of the smoke room was without a charged hose, so it was a simple task to make it ready for the next rotation group and we were on our way next door to the fire box. Here we were going to be in the room--another 40-foot shipping container--with a live fire going inside. We got to go into the fire box just as the initial fire was being started to watch how it developed. As the pallets and an old Christmas tree were ignited, the room began to fill with smoke. It filled with so much smoke that it was just like the smoke room in that we were unable to see each other or the fire for that matter. Every once in a while, a small orange glow would appear where the fire was hottest. Even though I knew that no one had moved from our semi-circle facing the fire container, I involuntarily reached out a couple times to see if I could touch one of my team mates sitting next to me. It was a more than a little un-nerving when I wasn't able to feel them there. The trainer then ordered us to back out of the fire box. After making sure all were out and okay, we talked about what we felt and saw. Then we readied to go back in.
The second trip into the fire box, the fire was more developed and smoke had begun to clear a bit. We were able to see the fire. It had grown hot enough to start pallets on fire that were just hanging on the walls, but were not actually in the fire. Being about 10 feet from the fire, we were getting hot. The heat was making it's way through the protection of our turn out gear. The trainer had us put out the fire, as we were the last ones to go through this rotation today. I was right behind the guy with the nozzle as we were putting out the fire and retreating. During the debrief, I found out that I was too close and was making it difficult for him to control the nozzle.
Before getting back into the engines and other vehicles, we did a preliminary scrub down at Station 4 of our turn outs. While wearing them, we were hosed down and then scrubbed with a brush and soaping water. It was just like if you were washing your car. One more hose off to get the soap off and we were packing up and headed back to Station 1, where we could do another decon of our gear and the air packs.
All of the air packs were laid out in a row with the air bottles removed and taken to be recharged and wiped down. The air packs were scrubbed with brushes and soapy water and thoroughly rinsed and patted dry before being refitted with air bottles. Each engine and truck was restocked with air packs to be ready for any incident.
We didn't do the organizing first for cleanup tonight, because everyone was on it already. If someone didn't have something to do, they were coming to me for an assignment. It was pretty cool seeing how we were coming together as a team. I did the sweeping of the bay and vacuuming, as everything else was being covered.
We were out the door at 6:00pm--1800 hours. I was beat and in bed by 9:00pm--2100 hours.
Up at 3am for more cobbler and ice cream and an Aleve.
At Station 4, we split up again into three groups for the training rotation. My group started off with more hydrant work. This time in the daylight and some more guidance, we were able to find the correct hydrant off the main road in a nearby neighborhood. In this next advancement in training, the truck would actually be moving forward on our signal. This way, we get to feel how supply line pulls against the hydrant and see the importance of making sure we are out of the way if something gets caught up and the supply line pulls out from underneath our foot. Having a new hydrant wrench is a big improvement too, as the one used last night would not tighten enough to stay on the hydrant. We are to never set the wrench on the ground. Apparently, the sand has a tendency to swallow hydrant wrenches.
You're the firefighter right behind the driver, because that's the side that the hydrant tools are on. The driver, who is the engineer, stops just past the hydrant going towards the fire. You, the hydrant person, gets out of the engine looking up for hanging electrical and other obstructions, looking down for dangers such as fuel on the ground and side to side for traffic. The first compartment on each rig is where the hydrant tools are kept. Grab the wrench and place the 4-inch adapter onto it, then the gate valve goes on top of that so that you can carry the entire cluster with one hand. In most of the other engines and trucks, there is a yellow bag with all of this equipment already gathered together. Carry this in your right hand, because you are going to grabbing the strap that has the 4-inch supply line with your left as you round the back of the engine. Drag the supply line to and around the hydrant, place your foot on the end of the supply line behind the coupling, and give the signal to engineer to drive towards the fire. Once the coupling at connecting the first 50-foot section to the next hits the ground, get busy on getting the adapter and gate valve connected to the hydrant. And, of course, the supply line too. Wait for the signal to send water or you can clearly see that the hose clamp has been set on the supply line by the engineer. I'm still clumsy, but getting it done.
Next is the smoke room and this time we get to do the search and extraction of possible victims. The simulation is run with a three-person team. The nozzle lead, the search dog and the officer. One of the trainers will be our officer. The nozzle lead checks the door for heat stratification and whether the door is open, and what pressure is on the door. All of this is communicated to the rest of the team. Then the nozzle lead does an initial entry and search for victims that might be right near the door. They go in low, with one foot hooked onto the door jam to prevent them from going too far and making it possible to be pulled out quickly if needed. Searching as far as their arms will allow in all directions, making note of the situation simultaneously, getting back out and closing the door before communicating the three "Ls" to the rest of the team. Life--did you find or see any victims. Layout--what did the layout of the building look like, what could you see. And, Location of the fire. The smoke was so thick that trying use the flashlight only made things worse, just like trying to use your high beams from your car when driving in heavy fog.
Nozzle lead in front, search dog in the middle and officer in the rear. Nozzle lead calls out clearly what they see as they see it. We have determined that we are doing a right-hand search before going in, so we work our way into the building while maintaining close contact with the right hand wall. The search dog is on the left side of the hose in order to extend the distance into the room. When a doorway is found--by feel, because you can't see anything at all--the nozzle lead calls it out and moves to just beyond the doorway. The officer sends the search dog into the room to do a right hand wall search in that room. Everyone stops moving forward until that room is determined clear of victims. The door of that room is then closed if possible and marked on the door as being cleared. Then we move forward into the building. If a victim or victims are found, they are removed by the search dog and officer. The nozzle lead backs up towards the entry door with the nozzle facing the fire at all times to be close enough to pick up the search dog and officer once they get the victim out the door and make their way back into the building to continue the search. The search must be done high and low looking in places where someone caught might go to try and escape the fire and smoke. Closets, bathrooms, under beds--everywhere. Once the search is complete, the team makes their way back out of the building by following the charged hose. Remember, you cannot see anything and the entire search is done by Braille, so to speak.
Our searching of the smoke room was without a charged hose, so it was a simple task to make it ready for the next rotation group and we were on our way next door to the fire box. Here we were going to be in the room--another 40-foot shipping container--with a live fire going inside. We got to go into the fire box just as the initial fire was being started to watch how it developed. As the pallets and an old Christmas tree were ignited, the room began to fill with smoke. It filled with so much smoke that it was just like the smoke room in that we were unable to see each other or the fire for that matter. Every once in a while, a small orange glow would appear where the fire was hottest. Even though I knew that no one had moved from our semi-circle facing the fire container, I involuntarily reached out a couple times to see if I could touch one of my team mates sitting next to me. It was a more than a little un-nerving when I wasn't able to feel them there. The trainer then ordered us to back out of the fire box. After making sure all were out and okay, we talked about what we felt and saw. Then we readied to go back in.
The second trip into the fire box, the fire was more developed and smoke had begun to clear a bit. We were able to see the fire. It had grown hot enough to start pallets on fire that were just hanging on the walls, but were not actually in the fire. Being about 10 feet from the fire, we were getting hot. The heat was making it's way through the protection of our turn out gear. The trainer had us put out the fire, as we were the last ones to go through this rotation today. I was right behind the guy with the nozzle as we were putting out the fire and retreating. During the debrief, I found out that I was too close and was making it difficult for him to control the nozzle.
Before getting back into the engines and other vehicles, we did a preliminary scrub down at Station 4 of our turn outs. While wearing them, we were hosed down and then scrubbed with a brush and soaping water. It was just like if you were washing your car. One more hose off to get the soap off and we were packing up and headed back to Station 1, where we could do another decon of our gear and the air packs.
All of the air packs were laid out in a row with the air bottles removed and taken to be recharged and wiped down. The air packs were scrubbed with brushes and soapy water and thoroughly rinsed and patted dry before being refitted with air bottles. Each engine and truck was restocked with air packs to be ready for any incident.
We didn't do the organizing first for cleanup tonight, because everyone was on it already. If someone didn't have something to do, they were coming to me for an assignment. It was pretty cool seeing how we were coming together as a team. I did the sweeping of the bay and vacuuming, as everything else was being covered.
We were out the door at 6:00pm--1800 hours. I was beat and in bed by 9:00pm--2100 hours.
Up at 3am for more cobbler and ice cream and an Aleve.
The Firefighter Academy--Day 5
I was going to be ready for today's class. Friday's class. Arrive early enough to speak with either Firefighter Warren or Captain Larson about what exactly needed to happen with the class before we started and at the end of day clean-up activities. The list of class leader responsibilities were helpful, but I needed some more specifics and some clarification on things. I was able to track down FF Warren and get what I needed to at least get started on the right foot for class. I found out who on the list of candidates was actually supposed to there. I was just trying to find out who on the list had dropped out, so I could get a good number for who was absent. I also found out that one person had come early in the day to complete their training and another was sick, which wasn't expected at all.
A few of us who were early worked on our knots and chit chatted getting to get to know each other a bit more. This last part was the better of the two.
Each class begins with turn-out and air pack drills. One time today, I was kicking it only to have it pointed out that my pants were still down around my ankles. Usually, when I'm "kickin' it," it's because I've forgotten some part of the ensemble--my helmet or my Nomex or I've put the regulator on before my helmet strap can get underneath it. If I'm fast, it's usually because I've done it wrong.
At Station 4, we broke up into three teams to do a rotation of evolutions (I think that this is what the captain is saying). My team's first evolution was hydrants. We reviewed the steps we had gone over before in the previous hydrant sessions and took it to the next step, where we going to drive to a hydrant. Finding the hydrant is the first task and we had some trouble finding the hydrant we were supposed to be at. This time instead of talking and walking it through, we were actually grabbing the hydrant tools--4-inch adapter, gate valve with 4-inch adapter and hydrant wrench--walking purposefully back to the rear of the engine to grab the flat webbing that is attached to the 4-inch supply line, and dragging it towards the hydrant. Wrap the supply line around the hydrant to form a "U" shape and step on the end to hold it making sure that you are out of the way if the hose somehow gets caught on something and give the GO signal to the engineer. If you can't see the engineer, use your radio. Once the first coupling at 50 feet hits the ground, you can turn your attention to getting the adapter and gate valve put onto the hydrant, and getting supply line connected. The gate valve goes onto the port facing away from the fire to allow another engine to attach and be able to feed the water that way.
The second station we rotated to, was to run 1 1/2" pre-connect to a building and entering the building. We reviewed how the planning is done on the engine in-route to the scene. The available crew is broken up into two teams: Team A and Team B. Our passports, small 3/8"x1 1/2" pieces of plastic with Velcro on the back and our names on the front are passed to the officer of the engine who places them on small placards for each team. This is an effective, low-tech method of keeping track of who is where at the scene. Replacing our passports, which are kept on the front of our helmets, are engine or truck emblems that are attached to our helmets to help command know which team each team member belongs.
Team A, in this case, was going into the building, while Team B was going to be pulling pre-connected hose and gathering tools. Both teams have their air packs on while exiting the engine. Each member checks for aerial obstructions and power lines above, dangerous conditions below, and traffic side to side as they exit. Team A heads directly for building and "masks up" to prepare for entering the building. Team B is pulling the pre-connect hose from each side of the engine in a way that allows all of the pre-connect to be pulled from the compartment and gives Team A plenty of working length to attack the fire within the building. One pre-connect is set up to attack and the other is set up for backup protection at the door. As Team A enters the building, one member of Team B assists in feeding the hose used in the attack and the other member of Team B is at the ready with the backup hose facing the door.
After the simulated attack, the engineer shut off the pump and we discharged the pressure on the hose to begin taking it all apart and loading it back onto the engine. Now, the engine was set for the next group in the rotation and we moved onto the smoke building.
The smoke building is a 40-foot shipping container set up as a typical residence. It has a living room in the front, a kitchen with island, a bathroom and a bedroom in the back. There are three possible victim dummies used in our training: Firefighter Steve, Scuba Steve and Baby Steve. These dummies are placed in various locations by the training staff to train us to look everywhere when we do our searches. Oh, there is a smoke machine in the back that puts out enough smoke to make visibility impossible. Due to time constraints, we were only able to get an overview tonight. Tomorrow, we get to do the searches.
Tuesday night's clean-up process was chaotic at best, so tonight I gather the team first and we decided on who was going to do what in the clean-up. Garbage, sweeping the bays, vacuuming all carpets, cleaning all air packs and masks, all engines and trucks have all their air packs and masks, and making sure that all radios are returned. I didn't realize that we needed to make sure that the radios were set to channel one, shut off and that the charge indicator light was either red or green. Do better next time.
"18-03!" "WHO YOU WANT TO BE!"
A few of us who were early worked on our knots and chit chatted getting to get to know each other a bit more. This last part was the better of the two.
Each class begins with turn-out and air pack drills. One time today, I was kicking it only to have it pointed out that my pants were still down around my ankles. Usually, when I'm "kickin' it," it's because I've forgotten some part of the ensemble--my helmet or my Nomex or I've put the regulator on before my helmet strap can get underneath it. If I'm fast, it's usually because I've done it wrong.
At Station 4, we broke up into three teams to do a rotation of evolutions (I think that this is what the captain is saying). My team's first evolution was hydrants. We reviewed the steps we had gone over before in the previous hydrant sessions and took it to the next step, where we going to drive to a hydrant. Finding the hydrant is the first task and we had some trouble finding the hydrant we were supposed to be at. This time instead of talking and walking it through, we were actually grabbing the hydrant tools--4-inch adapter, gate valve with 4-inch adapter and hydrant wrench--walking purposefully back to the rear of the engine to grab the flat webbing that is attached to the 4-inch supply line, and dragging it towards the hydrant. Wrap the supply line around the hydrant to form a "U" shape and step on the end to hold it making sure that you are out of the way if the hose somehow gets caught on something and give the GO signal to the engineer. If you can't see the engineer, use your radio. Once the first coupling at 50 feet hits the ground, you can turn your attention to getting the adapter and gate valve put onto the hydrant, and getting supply line connected. The gate valve goes onto the port facing away from the fire to allow another engine to attach and be able to feed the water that way.
The second station we rotated to, was to run 1 1/2" pre-connect to a building and entering the building. We reviewed how the planning is done on the engine in-route to the scene. The available crew is broken up into two teams: Team A and Team B. Our passports, small 3/8"x1 1/2" pieces of plastic with Velcro on the back and our names on the front are passed to the officer of the engine who places them on small placards for each team. This is an effective, low-tech method of keeping track of who is where at the scene. Replacing our passports, which are kept on the front of our helmets, are engine or truck emblems that are attached to our helmets to help command know which team each team member belongs.
Team A, in this case, was going into the building, while Team B was going to be pulling pre-connected hose and gathering tools. Both teams have their air packs on while exiting the engine. Each member checks for aerial obstructions and power lines above, dangerous conditions below, and traffic side to side as they exit. Team A heads directly for building and "masks up" to prepare for entering the building. Team B is pulling the pre-connect hose from each side of the engine in a way that allows all of the pre-connect to be pulled from the compartment and gives Team A plenty of working length to attack the fire within the building. One pre-connect is set up to attack and the other is set up for backup protection at the door. As Team A enters the building, one member of Team B assists in feeding the hose used in the attack and the other member of Team B is at the ready with the backup hose facing the door.
After the simulated attack, the engineer shut off the pump and we discharged the pressure on the hose to begin taking it all apart and loading it back onto the engine. Now, the engine was set for the next group in the rotation and we moved onto the smoke building.
The smoke building is a 40-foot shipping container set up as a typical residence. It has a living room in the front, a kitchen with island, a bathroom and a bedroom in the back. There are three possible victim dummies used in our training: Firefighter Steve, Scuba Steve and Baby Steve. These dummies are placed in various locations by the training staff to train us to look everywhere when we do our searches. Oh, there is a smoke machine in the back that puts out enough smoke to make visibility impossible. Due to time constraints, we were only able to get an overview tonight. Tomorrow, we get to do the searches.
Tuesday night's clean-up process was chaotic at best, so tonight I gather the team first and we decided on who was going to do what in the clean-up. Garbage, sweeping the bays, vacuuming all carpets, cleaning all air packs and masks, all engines and trucks have all their air packs and masks, and making sure that all radios are returned. I didn't realize that we needed to make sure that the radios were set to channel one, shut off and that the charge indicator light was either red or green. Do better next time.
"18-03!" "WHO YOU WANT TO BE!"
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
The Firefighter Academy--Day 4
I wake up at 3:30 (sorry, 0300 hours) this morning with the chief's voice in my head, "The next time I ask, I want to hear each of you." His question? "What are our priorities?" We found out from our captain after that uncomfortable silence of no one knowing that our priorities are: FLIP. Firefighter, Life, Incident control, and then Property. So, this is what I wake up to. This acronym on a loop.
The Tuesday night academy seemed like we were getting the hang of things. My first night as class lead went okay even though I never felt like I knew what I was supposed to be doing. I felt for the first person assigned the role, as it seemed like a glorified hall monitor role with being the contact person for bathroom needs and making sure that we always go in pairs--two in, two out. I dropped the ball a couple myself of times tonight by leaving my partner behind, as I hurried off to try and keep up. Lead by example and do better on Friday.
Regardless of my mind telling me to keep the dinner quantities under control, I didn't. It was all so good. Pam and I went to a Rhody Club pre-meeting dinner at Ichiban's Restaurant before the academy session. I had to leave early, but not before filling up with too much food. This made everything go really slow. My body felt as though it were swimming in mud as I tried to get my gear on at the beginning of drill. I went from slow to slower. Then in my frustration with my slowness, I began forgetting pieces of the process.
Next, we split the team into two groups. One went on the truck--oops, engine (I've been told, but I can't remember how to tell the two apart)--to work on hydrant hook-ups and the rest did ladder work. I started off in the ladder group.
My ladder partner from Sunday asked me to help her with getting the 24 foot extension ladder off of Engine 7, which was a nice vote of confidence that she would want to work with me on ladders again. Low shoulder carry is the preferred method for carrying longer distances. Working in teams of two, we went through setting up the extension ladder. Who'd a guessed that there would be more to it than the usual brute force struggle method I've been using for most of my life. Let me try and explain the new approach.
The first thing you notice right away is that there are two people doing this process. This makes it easier, safer and a lot more graceful. Communication is key though. The person at the head of the ladder has the control and calls out the directions, such as how it's going to be raised (flat or beam). Both people check for aerial obstructions, such as power lines. I think most of us went with the flat raise, where the ladder is raised parallel to the building face. The beam raise is with the ladder perpendicular. Either way, the fly portion of the ladder--the part that goes up--will be facing the building when it is raised. This seems weird, but makes sense when you see the whole process. The person at the spurs, which is the part that stays on the ground, now stands on the bottom rung of the ladder and holds onto the halyard (rope that goes to the pulley and is used to pull up the fly along the bed) as the person at the top of the ladder calls out that they are raising the ladder. "RAISING LADDER." Echoed by the person at the foot of the ladder. "RAISING LADDER." Using their weight as a counter-balance, the person at the foot makes it easier for the person at the top of the ladder to lift the ladder and slide their hands down the beams pushing the ladder up to a standing position. The foot person places their right foot firmly next to the beam and the top person quickly stands on the bottom rung with their left foot while running their right foot down the beam to hold it firm. We haven't even got the ladder to the wall yet.
Next, raise the fly. Untie the halyard. Check for aerial obstructions. Pull the halyard to raise the fly. "RAISING FLY." Echoed by foot person, "RAISING FLY," so that they know to make sure their fingers are out on the beam and not where they are going to be caught between the rungs. How far up depends on the situation--window rescue, roof access, etc--which is more detail for later. Catch the dogs on the desired rung. "ROTATING ON BEAM," the top person calls out as they point to the beam that will be the pivot point and holding onto the halyard. "ROTATING ON BEAM," echoed by the foot person. The ladder is flipped, so that the fly is now away from the building. The top person now stands on the bottom rung acting as a counter balance, while the bottom person gently lowers the ladder to the wall. The top person now ties off the halyard with a clove hitch and a safety half-hitch.
You think we're done here, but not so fast. We have to make sure that the ladder is safe to climb. The top person does a safety check and calls it out as they are doing it. "TIPS SQUARE." "DOGS SET." "HALYARD SECURED." "SPURS SOLID." "CLIMBING ANGLE GOOD." The climbing angle is checked by sanding on the bottom rung and extending the arms out level to the rung while the body is vertical. This way ensures that the ladder won't be too steep even when the firefighter is climbing wearing an air pack. Now, we are ready to climb. "FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING." Echo, "FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING." As the top person is climbing, the bottom person rotates around to the front of the ladder and places their feet firmly on the beams with their hands on the beam watching the other firefighter climb. "FIREFIGHTER COMING DOWN," is call in the opposite direction. You guessed it. Echoed by, "FIREFIGHTER COMING DOWN," from the bottom person.
We got to climb the ladder to the top of the second story wall of the firehouse, which was just at the edge of the 24 foot ladder's reach, without and with the air packs. Pretty exciting stuff even though I've climbed a lot of ladders in my life.
The fire truck--correction, engine--is here to pick us up to take us to the next drill, which is hydrants.
If you ever see those little blue reflectors on the roadway, they are there to indicate where there is a fire hydrant. This is still a mystery to me as to how you are supposed to see these things or just a hydrant while racing to fire situation and know where to stop the engine so that things can be hooked up in such as way as to actually try and put out the fire. I am holding some faith in the process that this will become clear in time. For now, we are just going to learn how to set up the hose on the hydrant. In theory, the engine will stop near an acceptable hydrant that is close enough to the structure that has a fire to be useful.
A firefighter on the driver's side will get out and open the first cabinet to get the hydrant tool and the bag of fittings. As the firefighter passes the rear of the engine, they will grab the line holding the 4-inch supply line and drag it towards and past the hydrant to enable the hose to be wrapped completely around the hydrant and cross the supply line at a 90 degree angle. A foot is placed firmly on the supply line at the point where the hose crosses itself. The firefighter then signals for the driver to advance towards the fire. Once the first connection at 50 feet hits the ground, the firefighter can safely begin connecting the fittings to the hydrant because there is now enough weight of the hose on the ground to pretty much ensure that the supply line will be pulled from the engine bed.
The hydrant wrench can never--NEVER--be left on the ground. The sand will devour it and it will never be seen again.
After making sure that the two side caps are on securely, the main cap is removed. The hydrant is then flushed to make sure any sentiment is washed out. The valve is then shut again. The adapter is screwed onto the main port and then the cap closest to the fire or in the direction of the fire is removed and a secondary gate valve and adapter for a three inch hose is attached. Make sure that the gate valve is shut. Unwind the supply line and straighten it out, because once it's full of water it won't be able to be moved. The main four inch hose is then attached to the adapter on the main port.
The signal is now given to the engineer that the water is available to be turn on. This is done by hand signal or radio. Once the engineer is ready, the water is turned on at the hydrant.
It was a warm night and I was soaked through with sweat at the end of our three-hour training session.
Being class lead this week, I was given instructions to make sure that the engine and truck had full air pack set-ups with masks, that all air bottles had been filled and that all radios returned to the charger and set to the proper channel. At first, I was failing this be doing instead of making sure that it was getting done. After making sure that my air pack was cared for, I got busy making sure that my team knew what was needed to be done before we were excused. Do better next time.
The Tuesday night academy seemed like we were getting the hang of things. My first night as class lead went okay even though I never felt like I knew what I was supposed to be doing. I felt for the first person assigned the role, as it seemed like a glorified hall monitor role with being the contact person for bathroom needs and making sure that we always go in pairs--two in, two out. I dropped the ball a couple myself of times tonight by leaving my partner behind, as I hurried off to try and keep up. Lead by example and do better on Friday.
Regardless of my mind telling me to keep the dinner quantities under control, I didn't. It was all so good. Pam and I went to a Rhody Club pre-meeting dinner at Ichiban's Restaurant before the academy session. I had to leave early, but not before filling up with too much food. This made everything go really slow. My body felt as though it were swimming in mud as I tried to get my gear on at the beginning of drill. I went from slow to slower. Then in my frustration with my slowness, I began forgetting pieces of the process.
Next, we split the team into two groups. One went on the truck--oops, engine (I've been told, but I can't remember how to tell the two apart)--to work on hydrant hook-ups and the rest did ladder work. I started off in the ladder group.
My ladder partner from Sunday asked me to help her with getting the 24 foot extension ladder off of Engine 7, which was a nice vote of confidence that she would want to work with me on ladders again. Low shoulder carry is the preferred method for carrying longer distances. Working in teams of two, we went through setting up the extension ladder. Who'd a guessed that there would be more to it than the usual brute force struggle method I've been using for most of my life. Let me try and explain the new approach.
The first thing you notice right away is that there are two people doing this process. This makes it easier, safer and a lot more graceful. Communication is key though. The person at the head of the ladder has the control and calls out the directions, such as how it's going to be raised (flat or beam). Both people check for aerial obstructions, such as power lines. I think most of us went with the flat raise, where the ladder is raised parallel to the building face. The beam raise is with the ladder perpendicular. Either way, the fly portion of the ladder--the part that goes up--will be facing the building when it is raised. This seems weird, but makes sense when you see the whole process. The person at the spurs, which is the part that stays on the ground, now stands on the bottom rung of the ladder and holds onto the halyard (rope that goes to the pulley and is used to pull up the fly along the bed) as the person at the top of the ladder calls out that they are raising the ladder. "RAISING LADDER." Echoed by the person at the foot of the ladder. "RAISING LADDER." Using their weight as a counter-balance, the person at the foot makes it easier for the person at the top of the ladder to lift the ladder and slide their hands down the beams pushing the ladder up to a standing position. The foot person places their right foot firmly next to the beam and the top person quickly stands on the bottom rung with their left foot while running their right foot down the beam to hold it firm. We haven't even got the ladder to the wall yet.
Next, raise the fly. Untie the halyard. Check for aerial obstructions. Pull the halyard to raise the fly. "RAISING FLY." Echoed by foot person, "RAISING FLY," so that they know to make sure their fingers are out on the beam and not where they are going to be caught between the rungs. How far up depends on the situation--window rescue, roof access, etc--which is more detail for later. Catch the dogs on the desired rung. "ROTATING ON BEAM," the top person calls out as they point to the beam that will be the pivot point and holding onto the halyard. "ROTATING ON BEAM," echoed by the foot person. The ladder is flipped, so that the fly is now away from the building. The top person now stands on the bottom rung acting as a counter balance, while the bottom person gently lowers the ladder to the wall. The top person now ties off the halyard with a clove hitch and a safety half-hitch.
You think we're done here, but not so fast. We have to make sure that the ladder is safe to climb. The top person does a safety check and calls it out as they are doing it. "TIPS SQUARE." "DOGS SET." "HALYARD SECURED." "SPURS SOLID." "CLIMBING ANGLE GOOD." The climbing angle is checked by sanding on the bottom rung and extending the arms out level to the rung while the body is vertical. This way ensures that the ladder won't be too steep even when the firefighter is climbing wearing an air pack. Now, we are ready to climb. "FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING." Echo, "FIREFIGHTER CLIMBING." As the top person is climbing, the bottom person rotates around to the front of the ladder and places their feet firmly on the beams with their hands on the beam watching the other firefighter climb. "FIREFIGHTER COMING DOWN," is call in the opposite direction. You guessed it. Echoed by, "FIREFIGHTER COMING DOWN," from the bottom person.
We got to climb the ladder to the top of the second story wall of the firehouse, which was just at the edge of the 24 foot ladder's reach, without and with the air packs. Pretty exciting stuff even though I've climbed a lot of ladders in my life.
The fire truck--correction, engine--is here to pick us up to take us to the next drill, which is hydrants.
If you ever see those little blue reflectors on the roadway, they are there to indicate where there is a fire hydrant. This is still a mystery to me as to how you are supposed to see these things or just a hydrant while racing to fire situation and know where to stop the engine so that things can be hooked up in such as way as to actually try and put out the fire. I am holding some faith in the process that this will become clear in time. For now, we are just going to learn how to set up the hose on the hydrant. In theory, the engine will stop near an acceptable hydrant that is close enough to the structure that has a fire to be useful.
A firefighter on the driver's side will get out and open the first cabinet to get the hydrant tool and the bag of fittings. As the firefighter passes the rear of the engine, they will grab the line holding the 4-inch supply line and drag it towards and past the hydrant to enable the hose to be wrapped completely around the hydrant and cross the supply line at a 90 degree angle. A foot is placed firmly on the supply line at the point where the hose crosses itself. The firefighter then signals for the driver to advance towards the fire. Once the first connection at 50 feet hits the ground, the firefighter can safely begin connecting the fittings to the hydrant because there is now enough weight of the hose on the ground to pretty much ensure that the supply line will be pulled from the engine bed.
The hydrant wrench can never--NEVER--be left on the ground. The sand will devour it and it will never be seen again.
After making sure that the two side caps are on securely, the main cap is removed. The hydrant is then flushed to make sure any sentiment is washed out. The valve is then shut again. The adapter is screwed onto the main port and then the cap closest to the fire or in the direction of the fire is removed and a secondary gate valve and adapter for a three inch hose is attached. Make sure that the gate valve is shut. Unwind the supply line and straighten it out, because once it's full of water it won't be able to be moved. The main four inch hose is then attached to the adapter on the main port.
The signal is now given to the engineer that the water is available to be turn on. This is done by hand signal or radio. Once the engineer is ready, the water is turned on at the hydrant.
It was a warm night and I was soaked through with sweat at the end of our three-hour training session.
Being class lead this week, I was given instructions to make sure that the engine and truck had full air pack set-ups with masks, that all air bottles had been filled and that all radios returned to the charger and set to the proper channel. At first, I was failing this be doing instead of making sure that it was getting done. After making sure that my air pack was cared for, I got busy making sure that my team knew what was needed to be done before we were excused. Do better next time.
Monday, October 15, 2018
The Firefighter Academy--Day 3
I hurt this morning. Really hurt. Not like I got hit by a car hurt, but just a good over-all ache that follows a solid day of work. You wouldn't think that just getting into and out of what amounts to heavy winter clothing over and over again would do that to a person. Yet, the body was doing it's share of whining this morning. I spent some time doing yoga stretches to work the kinks out before heading back over to the fire station for another full day of training.
I was able to beat the two-minute time required for donning full turn-outs and air pack. Just beat it. In subsequent timings I did better, but forgot pieces of equipment like the Nomex or my helmet. Sometimes I would get my gloves all the way on and realize that I forgot to put on my helmet, which means that I had to back out my regulator, put the helmet on, put the regulator back onto the mask--with heavy gloves on. In the end, I was getting faster at the process.
The Captain said something today that really struck me. That during an emergency a person doesn't rise to the occasion, but rather sinks to their level of training. Looking back on my life, I could see how this idea rings true.
Gladly, we moved on to other things today. We spent more time and detail in getting into and out of the truck. Even in the big ladder truck, where there is lots of room it's a choreographed process getting four people into the back with seat belts on. Add an air pack to each of them on the way back out and it gets fun. Using a smaller truck and it's like two families of kids fighting over the available seats in the back of a 1970s station wagon.
Ladder fun was next. How to carry them, stand them, lower them. With one person. With two people. Hint: communication is key.
More knots. It felt like a Boy Scout meeting.
The afternoon was spent learning how to load 200 foot of inch and a half hose into space that allowed for it to be pulled out in a usable fashion. Load the hose. Pull it out for deploying into a structure. Open the nozzle (the most fun). Shut it down. Tear it down. And, do it again. And again. And again.
Nozzle techniques. How to advance with a charged hose. How to control the hose easily over a long period of time. A charge hose has a lot of energy and can be really dangerous if not controlled.
After a tour of the burn building, where we will be spending a lot of time learning about the dynamics of fire and how to control it, we did a short overview of the fire hydrant and how to connect feeder hose to it.
An important lesson at the end of the day was the cleaning of the firehouse. Emptying the garbage, sweeping and vacuuming the floors, making sure everything was picked up and put away. The fire station was going to be ours too and we need to take pride in it.
I gave up my "Screwed on Straight" award to another candidate at the end and was given the assignment of class lead for the following week. This new role--I'm guessing I got because I'm the next oldest on the team, because the oldest person got it for the first week--puts me at the first station in the command chain. The candidates need to come to the class lead to get permission to do anything where they are not with the rest of the group, so that someone always knows where they are at. And, they need to go in pairs: two in, two out. This is an important safety aspect, as no one is go wandering off by themselves to do something without someone knowing about it and without someone making sure that they got out.
It was a good first week.
I was able to beat the two-minute time required for donning full turn-outs and air pack. Just beat it. In subsequent timings I did better, but forgot pieces of equipment like the Nomex or my helmet. Sometimes I would get my gloves all the way on and realize that I forgot to put on my helmet, which means that I had to back out my regulator, put the helmet on, put the regulator back onto the mask--with heavy gloves on. In the end, I was getting faster at the process.
The Captain said something today that really struck me. That during an emergency a person doesn't rise to the occasion, but rather sinks to their level of training. Looking back on my life, I could see how this idea rings true.
Gladly, we moved on to other things today. We spent more time and detail in getting into and out of the truck. Even in the big ladder truck, where there is lots of room it's a choreographed process getting four people into the back with seat belts on. Add an air pack to each of them on the way back out and it gets fun. Using a smaller truck and it's like two families of kids fighting over the available seats in the back of a 1970s station wagon.
Ladder fun was next. How to carry them, stand them, lower them. With one person. With two people. Hint: communication is key.
More knots. It felt like a Boy Scout meeting.
The afternoon was spent learning how to load 200 foot of inch and a half hose into space that allowed for it to be pulled out in a usable fashion. Load the hose. Pull it out for deploying into a structure. Open the nozzle (the most fun). Shut it down. Tear it down. And, do it again. And again. And again.
Nozzle techniques. How to advance with a charged hose. How to control the hose easily over a long period of time. A charge hose has a lot of energy and can be really dangerous if not controlled.
After a tour of the burn building, where we will be spending a lot of time learning about the dynamics of fire and how to control it, we did a short overview of the fire hydrant and how to connect feeder hose to it.
An important lesson at the end of the day was the cleaning of the firehouse. Emptying the garbage, sweeping and vacuuming the floors, making sure everything was picked up and put away. The fire station was going to be ours too and we need to take pride in it.
I gave up my "Screwed on Straight" award to another candidate at the end and was given the assignment of class lead for the following week. This new role--I'm guessing I got because I'm the next oldest on the team, because the oldest person got it for the first week--puts me at the first station in the command chain. The candidates need to come to the class lead to get permission to do anything where they are not with the rest of the group, so that someone always knows where they are at. And, they need to go in pairs: two in, two out. This is an important safety aspect, as no one is go wandering off by themselves to do something without someone knowing about it and without someone making sure that they got out.
It was a good first week.
Saturday, October 13, 2018
The Firefighter Academy--Day 2
Today was the first full day of the academy. 8:00am to 5:00pm or as we say this in the fire service, 0800 hours to 1700 hours. Whatever notation you want to use, it was a long day. By the end of the drills, I was cramping up in my hands and arms, as well as my calves. Oddly, the amount of energy put into just trying to get those infernal gloves on, especially when they were wet with sweat, was the toughest part of the drills. Yet, I get ahead of myself.
Yesterday, we began learning about how to put our "turn-outs" on and how to set them up so that they can go on quickly with the least amount of movements. Today, we built on that base by adding the SCBA unit. Before I get too far down the description here, let me describe these two pieces of equipment. "Turn-outs" are the outfit that is worn by a firefighter for going to structure fires and things like auto accidents. This outfit includes steel-toes and steel-shanked boots, heavy quilted pants with substantial suspenders, a heavy quilted coat similar to what you see on those police attack dogs shows, a Nomex hood, helmet and heavy gloves. The SCBA or Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus is an air tank on a back-pack frame and a mask that the air regulator fits onto to connect the air to the mask. These two pieces of equipment weigh about 50-60 pounds combined.
The process of donning this equipment goes something like this. You'd think after as many times we donned (put on) and doffed (took off) this stuff, that I could tell you exactly how to do it. That may be the case at the end of three weeks, but for now we're just going to go with "something like this." As I'm kicking off my shoes, I'm putting on the Nomex hood. Moving as efficiently as I can, I'm stepping into my boots. The pants are already pre-loaded over the boots. As soon as I get into my boots, I'm pulling up my pants, which are large enough to fit over my jeans without any issue. The suspenders hold up the pants until I can get them buckled with the big plastic buckle. My jacket is laid out to be easily thrown on. I'm still struggling to get the zipper zipped up without getting caught in the velcro flap, flashlight, neck cuff, etc. This cost me time in the donning process. Once the jacket is on and zipped with the neck cuff velcro'd with the sad, worn-out velcro, I roll down the Nomex hood off my head and over the collar of the jacket. This is the basic "turn-out" donning.
Next is getting the air pack or SCBA on and working. First, check to make sure that there is air in the tank. Makes sense. Then, turn the valve to make air available to the regulator. This causes all kinds of lights and sounds to go off. The regulator vibrates loudly. The secondary gauge should show the same pressure as on the tank. The lights on the heads-up display light up. The PASS--Personal Accountability Safety System??--beeps a couple of times. Once all that is checked, I can swing the pack onto my back and tighten the shoulder straps and waist strap. That done, I have to keep moving to keep the PASS thingy from making all kinds of racket and pissing everyone else off. Moving directly to the mask, I put it over my face and hold it there while tightening five separate straps to hold the thing to my face. Remember the Nomex hood? I now roll it back over my head and make sure that it's fitted around the mask. Now, my helmet and making sure to cinch down the strap. Finally, the regulator. Red up and rotate left one quarter turn. I'm now breathing from the air in the tank.
Now comes the most difficult part of the whole assembly--those infernal gloves. I have to pull so hard on these damn things that my forearms ached by the end of the day.
By the end of the academy, I will be able to do this whole process in under two minutes.
Interspersed in this donning and doffing routine was getting a feel for how breathing on bottled air works and what happens when you begin to run out of air and then what it feels like when there is no more air. Because this is a team activity, there are parts of the SCBA that facilitate getting really close to your team. In one exercise, we were all running out of air and linked together through our buddy-breathing dongles--all of us breathing on the last remaining good bottle of air. Then, it too ran out.
Towards the end of the day, we got into knot-tying and rescue drag techniques. That was a great way to end the day.
Before they let us go, I was called up to the front of the class and awarded the "Screwed on Right" award for trying hard all day and helping other members of the team. This twisted wrench below is my award for the night. I get to return it tomorrow so that someone else may have the honor.
Yesterday, we began learning about how to put our "turn-outs" on and how to set them up so that they can go on quickly with the least amount of movements. Today, we built on that base by adding the SCBA unit. Before I get too far down the description here, let me describe these two pieces of equipment. "Turn-outs" are the outfit that is worn by a firefighter for going to structure fires and things like auto accidents. This outfit includes steel-toes and steel-shanked boots, heavy quilted pants with substantial suspenders, a heavy quilted coat similar to what you see on those police attack dogs shows, a Nomex hood, helmet and heavy gloves. The SCBA or Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus is an air tank on a back-pack frame and a mask that the air regulator fits onto to connect the air to the mask. These two pieces of equipment weigh about 50-60 pounds combined.
The process of donning this equipment goes something like this. You'd think after as many times we donned (put on) and doffed (took off) this stuff, that I could tell you exactly how to do it. That may be the case at the end of three weeks, but for now we're just going to go with "something like this." As I'm kicking off my shoes, I'm putting on the Nomex hood. Moving as efficiently as I can, I'm stepping into my boots. The pants are already pre-loaded over the boots. As soon as I get into my boots, I'm pulling up my pants, which are large enough to fit over my jeans without any issue. The suspenders hold up the pants until I can get them buckled with the big plastic buckle. My jacket is laid out to be easily thrown on. I'm still struggling to get the zipper zipped up without getting caught in the velcro flap, flashlight, neck cuff, etc. This cost me time in the donning process. Once the jacket is on and zipped with the neck cuff velcro'd with the sad, worn-out velcro, I roll down the Nomex hood off my head and over the collar of the jacket. This is the basic "turn-out" donning.
Next is getting the air pack or SCBA on and working. First, check to make sure that there is air in the tank. Makes sense. Then, turn the valve to make air available to the regulator. This causes all kinds of lights and sounds to go off. The regulator vibrates loudly. The secondary gauge should show the same pressure as on the tank. The lights on the heads-up display light up. The PASS--Personal Accountability Safety System??--beeps a couple of times. Once all that is checked, I can swing the pack onto my back and tighten the shoulder straps and waist strap. That done, I have to keep moving to keep the PASS thingy from making all kinds of racket and pissing everyone else off. Moving directly to the mask, I put it over my face and hold it there while tightening five separate straps to hold the thing to my face. Remember the Nomex hood? I now roll it back over my head and make sure that it's fitted around the mask. Now, my helmet and making sure to cinch down the strap. Finally, the regulator. Red up and rotate left one quarter turn. I'm now breathing from the air in the tank.
Now comes the most difficult part of the whole assembly--those infernal gloves. I have to pull so hard on these damn things that my forearms ached by the end of the day.
By the end of the academy, I will be able to do this whole process in under two minutes.
Interspersed in this donning and doffing routine was getting a feel for how breathing on bottled air works and what happens when you begin to run out of air and then what it feels like when there is no more air. Because this is a team activity, there are parts of the SCBA that facilitate getting really close to your team. In one exercise, we were all running out of air and linked together through our buddy-breathing dongles--all of us breathing on the last remaining good bottle of air. Then, it too ran out.
Towards the end of the day, we got into knot-tying and rescue drag techniques. That was a great way to end the day.
Before they let us go, I was called up to the front of the class and awarded the "Screwed on Right" award for trying hard all day and helping other members of the team. This twisted wrench below is my award for the night. I get to return it tomorrow so that someone else may have the honor.
The Firefighter Academy--Day 1
Last night, the academy began in earnest with a version of the "scared straight" process that those in prison give to young people who think it wouldn't be so bad to go into prison. Our version, though, was to make us acutely aware that seeing the kinds of stuff that you are most probably going to see has the probability of taking a toll on your mind, body and soul. This toll can easily spill over onto your family and friends. And, that you need to be aware of this possibility and guard against it with disciplined daily actions, vigilant awareness, and consistent post-event evaluation. Then, when that isn't enough, there are several layers of peer support and professional counseling. Are you still sure you want to do this, Jay?
It was sobering to listen to the statistics that more in the fire services commit suicide than are taken in the line of duty. Those numbers are consistent across all first responder roles. The numbers for alcohol and drug abuse and abusive actions towards family and friends follows in the same vein. It's something to think about. I have endured more stress throughout my life than I cared to for sure. Not always adjusted for it in the best ways either. What makes me think I can do better here?
Yet like the moth to the flame (maybe not such a good metaphor), I seem to be drawn to help where I can while I can. I may only have a few years of this type of activity left in me until my body no longer cooperates, so why not give it my best shot. I know that I'll increase my physical toughness from soft to stale marshmallow hard at the very least. I'm hoping that I'll learn some new skills to build my mental toughness from "fragile flower" to a level where I don't cause any pain and suffering to those I love.
It was sobering to listen to the statistics that more in the fire services commit suicide than are taken in the line of duty. Those numbers are consistent across all first responder roles. The numbers for alcohol and drug abuse and abusive actions towards family and friends follows in the same vein. It's something to think about. I have endured more stress throughout my life than I cared to for sure. Not always adjusted for it in the best ways either. What makes me think I can do better here?
Yet like the moth to the flame (maybe not such a good metaphor), I seem to be drawn to help where I can while I can. I may only have a few years of this type of activity left in me until my body no longer cooperates, so why not give it my best shot. I know that I'll increase my physical toughness from soft to stale marshmallow hard at the very least. I'm hoping that I'll learn some new skills to build my mental toughness from "fragile flower" to a level where I don't cause any pain and suffering to those I love.
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