On Sunday November 12, 2007 Lake Carmel Fire Dept. was holding a car fire drill. I was one of two safety officers. We were about 45 minutes in the drill and had done approx. 7 evolutions where we would approach car sweep under and then attack fire but not put it out. I was … [Read more...]
LIVE FIRE TRAINING ALMOST TURNS DISASTEROUS DUE TO GASOLINE!
Crews were setting up to do a final complete burn down of an old house. Rooms were stoked with hay, old pallets, old wooden fence. Training officer okayed use of 2 gallons of gas on the first floor since there would be no crews entering for the burn. Gas was put down in living … [Read more...]
Incident Description: At approximately 1815, myself and the academy members, my two assistant instructors and our engineer for Engine 7 arrived at the training site and began preparing the drill. My assistants stocked all four vehicles with Class A materials while the academy … [Read more...]
IF YOUR THE TRAINING OFFICER – LEAD BY EXAMPLE!
It was a normal training night. Our newly appointed training coordinator had planned a "fire fighter challenge" type of drill. This is always a fun drill to see how fit you are compared to your fellow firefighters. Everything was going as planned. We were toting around pales of … [Read more...]
While we were out training on a new Yamaha Rhino (similar unit pictured below) one firefighter was injured. The two were training on the Rhino and were horse playing around. They were doing donuts in the loose dirt and gravel back by the L.P. props. They stopped and changed … [Read more...]
PUMP OPERATORS: PROTECT YOURSELVES!
On April 21st, I was teaching a firefighter how to operate the pump on our 2005 pumper. We were supplying the engine with a 2 1/2" supply line from a hydrant that flows at approximately 100psi, while flowing 160 GPM from a smoothbore nozzle on a 200 foot 1 3/4" … [Read more...]
WATER RESCUE TRAINING…RESCUE!
"...one hour into the training, the scenario turned into a rescue..." Swift Water Rescue Tech I class, (DRI curriculum). After a full day of classroom instruction, day 2 was on the White River, just south of Indianapolis, with the water at about normal level. 20 … [Read more...]
The importance of safety was brought home to a couple of our guys today. While walking the hose lines checking for leaks on NEW 5in DJ hose section, that was only about 30 ft away, let go from the coupling. The hose was being tested at 300 psi per NFPA and had been … [Read more...]
CONSIDER ALL POSSIBLE SCENARIOS WHEN PLANNING LIVE BURNS!
Our department was recently approached by a property owner in our district, requesting our assistance burning down a mobile home on their vacation property. The trailer was an old one, infested with termites, and the owners, as well as their neighbors, would prefer to … [Read more...]
ANOTHER TRAINING CLOSE CALL!
Our Fire Company was approached by an estate and contractor to burn down a house. Our (former) fire chief looked over the structure and found it ok to light off. The house had been lived in by an elderly man who collected everything and anything! House … [Read more...]