Old Buildings Become Testing Ground
Nearly 2000 California fire fighters participated in a three-week training exercise that covered a spectrum of fireground assignments from fire suppression to staging and from personnel safety to equipment supply.
The BURBANK Burn program last April was held at two locations in Burbank, Calif. BURBANK is an acronym for Burn Urban Renewal Buildings Acquiring Needed Knowledge.
The primary area of training was a square city block consisting of 17 buildings partly in a walking mall. The structures included dwellings, a furniture store, many one and two-story stores, and the 76-year old, six-story Burbank Hotel. This area of the city had been earmarked for demolition by the Burbank Redevelopment Agency to make way for a 20-story Holiday Inn and a one-story commercial facility. The burning of the existing structures represented a substantial cut in demolition costs to the redevelopment agency.
The second area of training was a 400 X 75-foot, two-story building formerly used by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. It was in this Lockheed building where six fire fighters were burned, two seriously, when one of the fire exercises flashed over.
The training program was a fire control III course accredited through Santa Ana Junior College and conducted by the California State Fire Marshal’s Office Training Section and the Burbank Fire Department.
Physical data collected
During the first week of the threeweek exercise, 25 fire fighters participated in the recording of stress and physiological data by several medical representatives. On April 3, the fire fighters undergoing medical observation were run through a strenuous exercise period while receiving numerous physiological tests. The next day, they went through a similar exercise period, only this time in an actual fire fighting environment. Tests were continued four hours after the session and again on April 5.
Saint Joseph Medical Center donated approximately $15,000 in laboratory services and personnel to study the effects of stress and fire gases on blood, lungs, and hearts of the fire fighters. Smith-Kline Clinical Laboratories assisted with carbon monoxide analyzing. Dr. James Barnard of U.C.L.A., who has performed extensive physiological testing on fire fighters in the past, conducted dehydration and adrenalin studies.
The training was attended by nearly 200 fire fighters each day of the threeweek program. Training included comprehensive programs in fire control and suppression, fireground command, arson detection, forcible entry with contemporary locking devices, STAR Team (survival technology and rescue), sprinklers, OSHA tests, temperature rise and flame spread, thermal balance, fire gas generation, smoke detectors, attack pumpers, water additives, ventilation and fireworks.
Free burning exercise
One of the buildings, the Last Call Bar & Grill, was set on fire and allowed to burn from a small incipient fire to a fully involved stage as fire fighters stood back and watched. By allowing the building to burn with no suppression efforts—other than protecting exposed trees and a power line—the fire fighters had a rare opportunity to see how a fire progresses and the length of time it takes to reach different degrees of involvement. It took nearly an hour before the exterior walls collapsed. During the three weeks of the exercise and at both training sites, the Salvation Army provided a canteen with food and cold drinks.
Ray Russell of the State Fire Marshal’s Office and Burbank Fire Captain M.W. Johnson coordinated the training program. Fire fighting apparatus was sent to the exercise site by the Burbank Fire Department, State of California Office of Emergency Services, and fire departments in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside Counties.
Each day, fire fighters from hoseman to chief of department, were assigned fire tasks such as incident commander, staging communications, equipment, safety, statistics, etc. Fire classes in suppression were conducted in a team concept, always under the direct supervision of at least one safety officer. Hours of burning were restricted by cooperation with the California Highway Patrol so that nearby freeway traffic would not be severely affected and the burning was monitored by the Air Quality Management District. A Burbank Fire Department paramedic rescue ambulance was at the training site at all times.
Flashover injures six
On April 10, six fire fighters working an interior fire on the second floor on the Lockheed building received burns when a flashover occurred in the room they were working in. An investigation as to the exact cause of the flashover was initiated immediately but the report had not been completed at this writing.
Initially, the continued success of the exercise was threatened by the accident, but it was determined by members of the Burbank Fire Department and the Fire Marshal’s Office that the program could continue as planned with some modification of interior fire attack and safety coordination.
The two most seriously injured were Captain Leroy Keller of the Burbank Fire Department with third degree burns over 35 percent of his body (face, arms and legs) and Fire Fighter John Moore of the Lompoc Fire Department in Santa Barbara County with second degree burns over 15 percent of his body (mostly arms). The fire fighters were taken to the Sherman Oaks Burn Center for treatment. Among the injured were fire fighters who pulled members of the interior team to safety.
Only a few other minor injuries were received by other fire fighters during the program.
Safety gear such as helmets and gloves showed weak points when encountering extreme heat and contributed to most of the injuries. In all fire training exercises, full turnout gear, including coats, helmets, boots, and gloves, were mandatory.