Live Fire Exercise with Real Consequences

The fire was real. The burning furniture was real. The heat exhaustion was real, and so was the vomit in the face mask.

Such is the life of a volunteer firefighter in a live fire training exercise held tonight at the Pugwash Fire Department (PDF).

Pugwash firefighters have slowly built their inventory of training aids and facilities, now complete with three shipping containers which have been modified to replicate an apartment or mobile home.

Tonight’s exercise, a car fire that spread to the nearby trailer, with people— fire practice dummies—inside.

Two other fire departments—Oxford and Shinimicas—took part along with the PFD hosts.

The conditions were quite realistic, including temperatures inside the makeshift trailer reaching above 600 degrees.

Firefighters trained with the car fire, interior attack, roof venting, victim extrication, even a few simulations of firefighter down, an event no-one ever wants to face.

At least two firefighters suffered heat exhaustion, one of whom was physically ill at the scene.

It is such realistic results that train firefighters for what they may face and allows them to experience real-life consequences of trying to do too much. 

While the volunteers are on-call 24/7, actual firefighting should be limited to short twenty minute bursts on the fire ground, especially during interior firefighting which depends on portable air tanks, near blackout conditions, intense heat, obstacles, and stressed communications.

The departments also used the occasion to practice drills in securing water in portable tanks while interconnecting with multiple departments working as one.

Firefighters will debrief later to reinforce what is learned from the overall experience.

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