BY TERENCE COLETTA
The U.S. Fire Service has experienced a num-ber of injuries and deaths over the years during live fire training. One such incident in New Jersey changed the way firefighters train. The trend over the past 15 years has been to build facilities that use simulators to provide heat and smoke for firefighter training. These systems are limited in producing the realism many believe is required for adequate training. With changes to codes and adoption of credible standards, nonsimulator live fire training can be conducted safely enough to minimize the risks involved to an acceptable level.
As a firefighter and an instructor, I am quite aware of the hazards involved with live fire training. The object is to create, as close as possible, the conditions of an uncontrolled fire while controlling it to minimize the hazards. Even with this balance, firefighters will be exposed to extremely harsh conditions in an attempt to familiarize them with the realities they will face. Human skin starts to burn at 124°F. Wood and paper ignite at 451°F. Left unchecked in a room, a wood fire can reach temperatures well above 1,000°F, and flashover will occur around 1,200°F. Structural firefighting turnout gear will degrade in a few seconds at the extreme temperatures in flashover conditions. Even at much lower temperatures, a firefighter's body core temperature can easily rise above safe levels.
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