In today’s modern training environment, it would be a little strange if firefighters didn’t have access to some sort of flashover training. It’s everywhere, from lectures, videos, articles, textbooks, near-miss reports, constructed oriented strand board (OSB) burn houses, various training props, FSRI reports and videos on modern home furnishings, and Vincent Dunn’s phenomenal “Flashover!” video. The latter was ahead of its time and still on target when it comes to flashover training. Often emulated but never duplicated, it is a must watch for every firefighter.
Although there are many other classes, training props, and electronic media that I did not mention, they are all trying to accomplish the same thing, namely to educate firefighter on the danger of flashover, smoke movement, flow path, fire speed, and fire behavior. There are a lot of good classes and training going on, much of it stemming from that original video by Vincent Dunn.
Despite this abundance of training modalities, we still see lots of firefighters with little to no training on flashover.
Flashover training is part of every fire academy class and is written about in every entry-level fire textbook. At this point, I am surprised by the fact that we still find firefighters showing up at conferences and having very little knowledge on the subject. Yes, there are always new firefighters coming into the fire service, but during fire school they should have gained a good foundation of knowledge about flashover events and dangers.
Sadly, every year we read about near misses that firefighters have had with flashover events. How can they not know about the speed of a modern fire and fuel loads? Do firefighters believe that their new structural firefighter turnout gear is like a suit of armor? Turnout gear will provide you a few seconds against the speed and power of a flashover, but these temperatures reach well over 1,000° within seconds. That heat will easily damage gear and burn the firefighter inside.
At what point do we no longer call them “modern” home furnishings? The Internet seems to suggest 20 years, which means often firefighters are encountering dated furnishings, some of which have been around for more than 30 years. Older home furnishing were made up into the ‘80s. Made with wood, metal, and natural materials, they burn slower and with less toxins in the smoke. This furniture took longer when it burned to get to a flashover and produced less toxic smoke.
Modern home furniture, on the other hand, uses plastics. Even the wood is composite wood with chemicals and thermal resin glues. They are not firefighter-friendly, and they can get us to a flashover in as little as three minutes.
Depending on what is burning, some of the chemical in smoke include:
- carbon monoxide
- carbon dioxide
- particulate matter/soot
- nitrogen oxides
- sulfur dioxide
- polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
- benzene
- toluene
- styrene
- aldehydes
- acids gases
- heavy metals
- hydrogen cyanide
- acrolein
- formaldehyde
- dioxins
- furans
- flame retardants
- plasticizer
- volatile organic compounds
Given the dire consequences of flashover and risk management strategies, why do some firefighters continue to go too deep into raging infernos?
The fire tactics of yesterday still apply today; nothing has changed in this regard. Put water on hot smoke to cool it and prevent it from flashing over, put the origin of fire (or seat of fire) out, and ventilate to remove the hot gases and steam from the structure.
When does this become old news? As mentioned, Chief Dunn has been talking about flashover since the ‘80s. One would think the message has gotten around, but sadly it seems that not much has changed in the way firefighters look at smoke today.
Three minutes is not a lot of time on the fireground. You must always bring your “A” game and keep your head on swivel.
Know the Warning SIgns
And yet firefighters do not need to know complex geometry or physical equations. They do, however, need to know four basic warning signs of flashover:
- A developing fire/free burning fire
- Thick dark smoke
- Rollover
- Intense heat
These can develop rapidly and, as mentioned above, within three minutes of a fire starting.
Let’s Start a Movement
How do we get firefighters’ attention about these dangers? As instructors, how do we do a better job with educating our firefighters about the dangers of flashover? The information is out there; so why aren’t they seeing it? We need to stop the injuries, near misses, and fatalities associated with flashover.
I propose that we pick the week of May 12 every year as National Flashover Week. It should be a must that during this week you watch the Vincent Dunn video. Then get out and practice your skills, read an article about flashover, and, most importantly, spread the word to all your fellow firefighters about the dangers of flashover. If possible, make your own replica home out of OSB and teach a class on flashover. Go sit in a class or flashover container.
We need our members to be safe. But we are not there yet. We need a movement in the fire service to enure the message is getting through. Firefighters must get training both in the classroom and out on the fireground about the dangers of flashover. We need our newer firefighter to believe in this movement and spread the word about the dangers and speed of a flashover event.
Joseph Berchtold is the chief of the Teaneck (NJ) Fire Department.
