Firefighting

Good Evening,

Today was probably one of the coolest days of the semester. Myself and along with 27 other Cadets had the chance to go over to the Barnstable County Fire Academy for our sophomore firefighting training. As license majors (Marine Trans and Marine Engine) we are required to complete firefighting training every year. Of course every year gets harder with the amount of material we need to know and the different assessments that we need to pass. As sophomores we receive training on how to enter the burn building, different fire extinguishers, and how to operate and man the hose lines.

We started off by putting on the "turn out" gear that the academy provided for us. After that we went over to put on our SCBA's (Self Contained Breathing Aparatus). We learned how to properly put these on during our freshman orientation. After splitting into two different groups, the first half of us split in smaller hose teams for the burn building. The burn building is a cement building specifically designed for the purpose of fire training. We needed to successfully put out a fire on each floor (3 floors total) and also a maritime fire.

The maritime fire simulated a fire in a compartment in which we need to enter from above and go down the stairs before attacking the fire. A maritime fire is exceptionally dangerous because on a ship there in no fire department to be called. It's just the crew that is responding. Also the fire spreads in 6 directions which are the six sides of the compartment. With fires being able to be all the way in the bottom of the ship we need to be trained in handling a situation that wouldn't normally arise on land.

Our first fire was on the first floor. We moved in and attacked the fire. The nozzle man sprayed the fire and knocked it down, meaning the flames were gone. As we all know though is that the fire is not out even if the flame is gone. There were still plenty of embers burning that the next two hose men needed to expose so that they could be extinguish. We did this for all the fires. The fire on the 3rd floor was a real tough fire. We started on the ground and hauled hose up three flights of stairs. Visibility was restricted in the building, when the nozzle man sprayed the fire the visibility completely disappeared. I went to expose the embers and saw nothing but steam and smoke, the embers were only two feet in front of me. It was quite the challenge to make sure we got everything because we couldn't see.

After lunch we practiced putting fires out with the fire extinguishers. This is vital because if we can extinguish the fire early we will be able to save the ship as well as not have to gather a hose team in which to enter dangerous and more damaged conditions. We practiced spraying a pressurized fuel fire with two hose teams. I had the chance to be on the nozzle of the big 2 1/2 inch hose on this exercise. When we approached the fireball the heat that it was putting out was extreme. Though we were 30 feet back I could feel it through the gear.

After the long day we came back with a greater understanding on how to properly fight a fire. We are totally exhausted from the long day and definitely some sore muscles. Can't wait for the next and more advanced fire training next year.

Coming up:
-Hypnotist
-Open House

Signing off,
3/c Joshua Lamm
Cadet Blogger
joshua.lamm@maritime.edu