February 1998

THE EAST LAKE EAGLE

Fire In The Hole

Surviving Flashover Training Area Fire Fighters
By Claudia Sodaro Due to the recent federal, state and county regulations prohibiting burning old, abandoned,, donated houses, it has become difficult for firefighters to simulate safety-survival techniques needed to fight a fire. Also, the introduction of plastics other highly flammable building materials, flashover occurs in about five minutes, very close to the time it takes for a fire company to respond. Flashover, as described by Stuart Grant of the Dallas Fire Department, is this Stage of a fire at which all surfaces, objects, and vapors are heated to their ignition temperatures and flame breaks out almost at once. This phenomenon is attributed to the buildup of heat pipe thermal radiation feedback. On Friday, January 16, East Lake's District Fire Chief, Tom May, arrange and set up a training session at Safety Harbor to sharpen the skills needed to deal with a flashover environment. Local firefighters were represented from East Lake, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Dunedin and Safety Harbor. Each of these firefighters engaged in training about 180 firefighters from January 26-31 at the same location. Even the chairman of East Lake 2000 agreed to suit up and engaged in the exercise further understand the risk our firefighters endure. It was an international fire safety conference that Tom May attended in Indianapolis which for to his attention the container used to actually; safely create a contained flashover experience. May then learned that David Kessenger of Diversified Fire Safety in St. Petersburg owned the only mobile cargo container in the state of Florida. The Swedes perfected the container used for a flashover control environment and hence name it the Swede Survival System. Tom May recognized the desperate need for a controlled, safe environment to train firefighters and that the container met this need. May believed that training the firefighters to recognize and then deal with the signs and impending flashover would ensure their safety. He described a flashover phenomenon signs as being that of heavy pressure, black, heavy smoke and high temperatures in excess of 1000 degrees. As one of the firefighters was seen exiting container his helmet was affected by that excess heat and had partially melted.

Inside the container, firefighters employ the different nozzle techniques that they were previously taught. These are the techniques which will prevent and/or delay flashover. During my 18 years experience with the fire company this is the best training in saving firefighters lives I've ever seen, says District Fire Chief and Training Officer Tom May.