A Look At Fire Fighter Training

By Marla Mills


When people were young and someone asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, many answered a fireman. There is something about that job that always seemed to capture a youngster's imagination. It has to be said that there is slightly more to the job than spraying water at a burning building. To achieve their high standards of professionalism all prospective recruits have to undergo fire fighter training.

All fires are different but there are some basic similarities. Any blaze needs three things to exist and survive, these are fuel, heat and oxygen. If any one of these elements is removed then the blaze will diminish and die. This is something often referred to as the fire triangle. The firemen have to decide which element they will attempt to remove at an emergency call.

Whenever you see news footage of emergency crews tackling a blaze, you will observe they are using hoses. The water jets and sprays are being utilized to cool the surrounding areas and the flames. What they are really doing is removing the heat element from the triangle.

Certain crew members will also be dressed in breathing equipment. There will also be someone in charge assessing how much air a team has before sending in the next crew. Not something that the average person can do, so they have all had special instruction in the use of this equipment.

A lot of these wearing the breathing equipment will also be armed with axes and poles. These tools are used to break apart the seat of the fire. Or to put it another way they are attempting to remove any further fuel which the flames might feed upon. Before they can even be part of such a crew they have to be trained in how to function while within the blaze itself.

The types of incidents that crews will face depends upon their location. These incidents could require different skill sets. There is a world of difference between incidents in residential areas and those at airports. At an airport there are plenty of flammable liquids, and so a foam forming compound is utilized. However if this is not used properly the flames can reignite.

You will often see these crews attending serious highway incidents. These crews carry a wide variety of specialized equipment. This can include cutting tools which are used to help extract victims from damaged vehicles. If cuts are made in the wrong places then even more harm can happen to the victim.

Even driving the firetruck is going to require a different set of driving skills to those normally needed. Therefore there will also be specialized courses that potential drivers will have to go on. These trucks will have different driving characteristics depending on how much water is on-board.

Hopefully from this brief overview it is easier to understand why fire fighter training plays such an important part. It is part of the reason why a fireman becomes so well accepted into the community once they are fully trained. As with all of the emergency services it requires a particular type of person to go through all of the instructional drills.




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A Look At Fire Fighter Training

By Marla Mills


When people were young and someone asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, many answered a fireman. There is something about that job that always seemed to capture a youngster's imagination. It has to be said that there is slightly more to the job than spraying water at a burning building. To achieve their high standards of professionalism all prospective recruits have to undergo fire fighter training.

All fires are different but there are some basic similarities. Any blaze needs three things to exist and survive, these are fuel, heat and oxygen. If any one of these elements is removed then the blaze will diminish and die. This is something often referred to as the fire triangle. The firemen have to decide which element they will attempt to remove at an emergency call.

Whenever you see news footage of emergency crews tackling a blaze, you will observe they are using hoses. The water jets and sprays are being utilized to cool the surrounding areas and the flames. What they are really doing is removing the heat element from the triangle.

Certain crew members will also be dressed in breathing equipment. There will also be someone in charge assessing how much air a team has before sending in the next crew. Not something that the average person can do, so they have all had special instruction in the use of this equipment.

A lot of these wearing the breathing equipment will also be armed with axes and poles. These tools are used to break apart the seat of the fire. Or to put it another way they are attempting to remove any further fuel which the flames might feed upon. Before they can even be part of such a crew they have to be trained in how to function while within the blaze itself.

The types of incidents that crews will face depends upon their location. These incidents could require different skill sets. There is a world of difference between incidents in residential areas and those at airports. At an airport there are plenty of flammable liquids, and so a foam forming compound is utilized. However if this is not used properly the flames can reignite.

You will often see these crews attending serious highway incidents. These crews carry a wide variety of specialized equipment. This can include cutting tools which are used to help extract victims from damaged vehicles. If cuts are made in the wrong places then even more harm can happen to the victim.

Even driving the firetruck is going to require a different set of driving skills to those normally needed. Therefore there will also be specialized courses that potential drivers will have to go on. These trucks will have different driving characteristics depending on how much water is on-board.

Hopefully from this brief overview it is easier to understand why fire fighter training plays such an important part. It is part of the reason why a fireman becomes so well accepted into the community once they are fully trained. As with all of the emergency services it requires a particular type of person to go through all of the instructional drills.




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