Plant Brigade Tests Itself
To provide plant fire brigade members with experience in fighting fires and working in heavy smoke, the Kingston Works of Northern Telecom Canada, Limited, initiated a training program incooperation with the Kingston Township, Ontario, Fire Department.
For some time, fire training supervisors had been worried about how the plant fire brigade members would react when they faced an actual fire for the first time. To find out before any incident occurred, arrangements were made to use the Kingston Township Fire Department’s training building.
In discussions between plant training personnel and Kingston Township District Chief Douglas McDonald, the fire department’s training officer, four dates were selected so that one of the four brigade crews could be trained on each date. McDonald, a graduate of the Ontario Fire College with a degree as a fire technologist, was in charge of the training in cooperation with myself, the plant training officer.
Exposure to heat and smoke
Our desire was to expose the men to heat and smoke while teaching them how to get under the heat layer in a room and apply just the right amount of water to extinguish the fire without scalding themselves. Rescue was also to be stressed with practice in locating a manikin in smoke and heat. The manikin was usually hidden on the third floor, thus necessitating some effort on part of the rescuers to locate it.
The sessions started at 9 a.m. at township training building. Wooden pallets doused with diesel fuel were allowed to burn for approximately five minutes to develop a ceiling temperature between 1000 and 1500 degrees before the crews entered the building. Four men were taken in at a time with the instructor in the lead and two trained firemen in the rear.
With a 1 ½-inch hose, the result of putting a fog stream into the superheated atmosphere for too long was demonstrated by the steam and heat dropping down on the men.
The need for breathing apparatus was graphically demonstrated by having the men first place their faces near the floor and lift the facepiece slightly. They were quite amazed to find they could breathe. The men were then asked to move up to shoulder level and just barely break the mask seal. It became quite apparent why breathing apparatus is essential for fire fighting. The men moved around in this atmosphere and obtained first-hand knowledge of how to protect themselves, yet be able to extinguish fire or make a rescue in a heavily involved room.
When all had been exposed to this first part of the training, the fires were rebuilt and more diesel fuel was added to create blinding smoke conditions for the rescue work.
The men were taken into the building, two at a time, after the importance of using the buddy system was explained to them. Manikins were placed on the upper floors and the teams were dispatched to the top floor to start a thorough search. Heat on the third floor was uncomfortable but certainly not intolerable. Smoke was blinding to the point that you could not see your hand in front of you.
After locating a manikin, a team began removing it with one man at the head and one man at the feet. Emphasis was placed on getting the “victim” down the two flights of stairs as quickly as possible while being mindful of personal safety on the stairs.
The program took about two hours at the training site and another two hours at the Kingston Township Fire Hall cleaning up equipment and critiquing the training session. When the brigade members were asked if this training was useful, 95 percent felt they had learned a lot from the sessions and they wanted to know how soon they could return for another session.
This industrial mutual aid has been going on with the Kingston Township Fire Department for about a year now and has been spearheaded by Township Chief Walter Bush, another graduate of the fire technology course at the Ontario Fire College.
Four instructors needed
Any fire department that cooperates in training industrial fire crews should have at least four instructors available for a two-hour session. Where the crews are exposed for a total of 30 to 45 minutes of heat and smoke, the instructors get two hours of this. Therefore, it’s wise to use two-man instruction teams to relieve each other.
This type of training has proven to the fire brigade members that they can work in smoke and heat. They also have gained the ability to perform an effective job as industrial fire fighters and have learned that there is a definite need for self-contained breathing apparatus.
Programs are now in progress to train fire brigade members in the use of aqueous film-forming foam on large hydrocarbon fires with the cooperation of the Kingston Township Fire Department and the industrial mutual aid organization in this township and city.
