SOUTH YARMOUTH – Firefighters usually have to travel for live-fire training, but with the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services Mobile Live Fire Training Unit, the training travels to them. The unit is at Yarmouth Fire Headquarters this week providing live-fire evolutions for all four shifts and the call force as well.
The training unit is set up for interior firefighting operations with a kitchen and bedroom. The live fire is fed by propane and the non-toxic smoke is generated by the equivalent of a theatrical smoke machine.
State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey said, “The Massachusetts Firefighting Academy’s Mobile Training Unit allows firefighters to sharpen and hone their fire attack skills at their local fire department without having to travel to either our Stow or Springfield campus. Our trained instructors work with experienced firefighters to practice different scenarios, improve teamwork and keep skills fresh.”
Patrick Haskell is the assistant chief of the Wareham Fire Department and a fire instructor at the Massachusetts Fire Academy in Stow. He was working the unit on Tuesday in Yarmouth. He said that firefighters appreciated the opportunity to work on skills including hose-line operations, hose-line movement in the building, direct and indirect fire attack and ventilation. The unit is available to any fire department in the Commonwealth.
The crew of the training unit was kind enough to demonstrate the fire props for your correspondent without the smoke turned on. When the smoke generator is functioning, visibility within the unit is zero, simulating the conditions found in an actual structure fire.
Story, photo and video by Kevin Morley/CWN
Fire training enables firefighters to respond more efficiently, reducing the property damage caused by fires. This can be essential in situations where fire damage to the community could be substantial.