Date: 07/21/2011
Location: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Weather: Sunny and Hot
Title: Day 4 of STCW-95 Course, Firefighting Practical

Yesterday we had the theory part of the Firefighting training and today we completed the practical part. I must admit that there were parts of this that were tough.

First we had to get our gear issue which consisted of heavy fire fighter's pants and coat, hood, boots and Scott SCBA and mask. Our first exercise didn't include the Scott. We had to demonstrate that, working in pairs, we could put out a galley fire with a dry chemical fire extinguisher and then an electrical fire with a CO2 extinguisher.

Our next exercise was to put out a pit fire which was a much larger fire and required the coordination of two fire teams, one to put up a cooling wall of mist while the other actually attacked the flames. Trust me those flames were hot! And that's on top of mid summer temperatures of 90+ degrees. After these two exercises, it was time to go back to the tent where we could take off our gear, cool down and drink some much needed water. I must have drank a gallon of water today.

After a break, we suited up for our last exercise of the day which was the easiest physically but possibly the hardest mentally. With full gear on and breathing the Scott's air, we all crammed into this long room that looked like the inside of a ship. At one end of the room, there was a pile of pallets about 6 or 7 high. When we were all in, the instructor in back of us closed the door and the head instructor in front of us lit the pallets on fire. The head instructor then proceeded to point out some of the aspects of the blaze as it got bigger and hotter and the room filled up with acrid smoke. The temperature rose to over 200 degrees and before long, the smoke was so thick, we could no longer see each other. I know most of us were thinking, "How long is he going to keep us in here?". But he just keep talking and talking. Finally, he asked us if we had any questions. "No!" was the concerted reply.

The worse was yet to come. After lunch, we had to pair up, don the Scotts and take turns searching a shipboard room full of smoke and heat. One of the pair was the forward search person they had to feel in front of them and up the sides of the wall as they crawled on their hands and knees. The other person held on to the front person's leg as they searched in one direction around the room until they found the way they came in. Guess who was the lead person on my team? This was the hardest exercise for me, and probably most of the class. The room was totally black, very hot and full of smoke plus you were working pretty hard and it took a concerted will not to overbreath the SCBA. If you didn't keep calm and control your breathing, your mind might think that you weren't getting enough air and you could easily panic. In a real situation, panicking would just make matters worse because you are in an uninhabitable situation and the only chance of survival is to keep your mask on and work your way slowly to the exit.

After a break, we suited up for our last exercise of the day which was the easiest physically but possibly the hardest mentally. With full gear on and breathing the Scott's air, we all crammed into this long room that looked like the inside of a ship. At one end of the room, there was a pile of pallets about 6 or 7 high. When we were all in, the instructor in back of us closed the door and the head instructor in front of us lit the pallets on fire. The head instructor then proceeded to point out some of the aspects of the blaze as it got bigger and hotter and the room filled up with acrid smoke. The temperature rose to over 200 degrees and before long, the smoke was so thick, we could no longer see each other. I know most of us were thinking, "How long is he going to keep us in here?". But he just keep talking and talking. Finally, he asked us if we had any questions. "No!" was the concerted reply.