When people were young and someone asked what they wanted to be when they grew up, many answered a fireman. There is something about that job that always seemed to capture a youngster's imagination. It has to be said that there is slightly more to the job than spraying water at a burning building. To achieve their high standards of professionalism all prospective recruits have to undergo fire fighter training.
Outwardly no fires are the same, but they all have the same basic needs. You might have heard people mention the fire triangle. Imagine the three elements of heat, oxygen and fuel being the walls of the triangle. If one element gets removed both the triangle and the blaze cease to exist. When the crews arrive at an incident they have to decide which element to remove.
For instance when you see news reports showing a blaze being tackled and hoses of water being directed towards the flames. The purpose of water is helping to cool the flames. In other words the heat is being removed from the triangle.
The more observant will have spotted that some of the crew are wearing breathing equipment. There will also be someone in charge of these teams, and they will be assessing how long the air supplies will last before another team has to be sent in. These jobs require specialist instruction to ensure the operatives understand the equipment.
A lot of these wearing the breathing equipment will also be armed with axes and poles. These tools are used to break apart the seat of the fire. Or to put it another way they are attempting to remove any further fuel which the flames might feed upon. Before they can even be part of such a crew they have to be trained in how to function while within the blaze itself.
The crews base location will determine the type of incidents they are likely to face. Different incidents need different approaches. A warehouse blaze will be treated differently to a crash at an airport. Airports have so many flammable liquids in their vicinity that often blazes are fought using foam. The foam removes the oxygen and also cools, but if it isn't used properly the flames can breakthrough.
You will often see these crews attending serious highway incidents. These crews carry a wide variety of specialized equipment. This can include cutting tools which are used to help extract victims from damaged vehicles. If cuts are made in the wrong places then even more harm can happen to the victim.
Many schoolboys could see themselves driving the firetruck, but in reality this requires special skills which have to be learnt. It is completely different to driving an ordinary car. The firetruck itself will handle in different ways depending on how much water it is carrying internally.
So with all of these different aspects to their job it is easy to see why fire fighter training has to be so extensive. Once all of the qualifications have been gained then a fireman becomes a valuable part of the community. Like any of the other emergency services it takes a special kind of person to fill the job requirements, but what a rewarding job it is for those lucky enough to be selected.
Outwardly no fires are the same, but they all have the same basic needs. You might have heard people mention the fire triangle. Imagine the three elements of heat, oxygen and fuel being the walls of the triangle. If one element gets removed both the triangle and the blaze cease to exist. When the crews arrive at an incident they have to decide which element to remove.
For instance when you see news reports showing a blaze being tackled and hoses of water being directed towards the flames. The purpose of water is helping to cool the flames. In other words the heat is being removed from the triangle.
The more observant will have spotted that some of the crew are wearing breathing equipment. There will also be someone in charge of these teams, and they will be assessing how long the air supplies will last before another team has to be sent in. These jobs require specialist instruction to ensure the operatives understand the equipment.
A lot of these wearing the breathing equipment will also be armed with axes and poles. These tools are used to break apart the seat of the fire. Or to put it another way they are attempting to remove any further fuel which the flames might feed upon. Before they can even be part of such a crew they have to be trained in how to function while within the blaze itself.
The crews base location will determine the type of incidents they are likely to face. Different incidents need different approaches. A warehouse blaze will be treated differently to a crash at an airport. Airports have so many flammable liquids in their vicinity that often blazes are fought using foam. The foam removes the oxygen and also cools, but if it isn't used properly the flames can breakthrough.
You will often see these crews attending serious highway incidents. These crews carry a wide variety of specialized equipment. This can include cutting tools which are used to help extract victims from damaged vehicles. If cuts are made in the wrong places then even more harm can happen to the victim.
Many schoolboys could see themselves driving the firetruck, but in reality this requires special skills which have to be learnt. It is completely different to driving an ordinary car. The firetruck itself will handle in different ways depending on how much water it is carrying internally.
So with all of these different aspects to their job it is easy to see why fire fighter training has to be so extensive. Once all of the qualifications have been gained then a fireman becomes a valuable part of the community. Like any of the other emergency services it takes a special kind of person to fill the job requirements, but what a rewarding job it is for those lucky enough to be selected.
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