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Fire News

Explore the Continuum of Training with FAAC at the 2023 FDIC International Conference

Published on April 4, 2023

Explore the Continuum of Training with FAAC at the 2023 FDIC International Conference
FAAC is looking forward to attending the Fire Department International Conference this year (April 27-29, 2023, Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN) and introducing new developments in high-fidelity simulation-based fire service training, especially for pump operations. FDIC International is North America’s Leading Firefighter Conference and the world’s largest fire service event. It … Continued

Safely Train to Fight Wildland Fires

Published on February 7, 2023

Safely Train to Fight Wildland Fires
Wildland fires are becoming more frequent and more severe. For example, the eight largest wildfires in California history all happened in the last five years. In that time, wildland fires burned 10+ million acres in the state, killed hundreds of Californians, and destroyed at least 32,000 homes. As a nation, we are desperately short of … Continued

Minimize the Risks of Training Firefighter for Hazmat Emergencies

Published on January 10, 2023

Minimize the Risks of Training Firefighter for Hazmat Emergencies
  In one week of August 2022 alone, three dangerous petrochemical fires raged all around North America and brought attention to the serious challenges facing first responders fighting hazmat accidents, spills, and crimes—not to mention the ordinary incidents arising from the prevalence of everyday hazardous materials in industry and our communities.  On August 6, a … Continued

Foam Simulators for Safer ARFF Training

Published on October 28, 2022

Foam Simulators for Safer ARFF Training
Fire training is always stressful and risky. But ARFF (aircraft rescue and firefighting) training is especially challenging. It’s not simply that this is higher stakes training that must cover a broad range of topics: response, hazard mitigation, evacuation, possible rescue of aircraft passengers or personnel, and coordination with civilian and other authorities in an airport … Continued

Fire Department Training: Is the Training Ground Too Safe?

Published on October 20, 2022

Fire Department Training: Is the Training Ground Too Safe?
William Greenwood has been in fire services for more than twenty-seven years. As Chief of Warwick, RI’s T.F. Green International Airport Fire Department and Senior Staff Instructor New Hampshire Fire Academy, he thinks a lot about the way that stress affects performance—and he has bad news. Stress can have such a big impact that it … Continued

Combining the Training Ground and Simulation for Comprehensive Cold-Weather Fire Department Training

Published on October 6, 2022

Combining the Training Ground and Simulation for Comprehensive Cold-Weather Fire Department Training
  Last winter Jim Vaughn (battalion chief with the Normal, IL, Fire Department and Field Staff Instructor and Regional Representative for the Illinois Fire Service Institute) discussed cold-weather fire department training for an article for Firehouse magazine. Vaughn stressed that “Although a large part of North America sees freezing temperatures, departments that are located in … Continued

Addressing the Risks (and Cost) of Firefighting Foam Training

Published on August 15, 2022

Addressing the Risks (and Cost) of Firefighting Foam Training
  Firefighting foams are essential tools for fighting fires, making firefighter foam training essential to every fire brigade. When it comes to particularly hard to extinguish fires, like those whose source includes flammable liquids and/or petroleum (i.e., Class B fires), aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) is still the recommended option where lives or critical infrastructure are … Continued

Fire Department Training for Pump and Water Pressure Failure

Published on December 17, 2021

Fire Department Training for Pump and Water Pressure Failure
Back in 2011, Noel Maitland (at that time lieutenant and 15-year veteran with the FDNY) wrote an excellent fire department training op-ed for Fire Engineering. Maitland recalled: “I had an officer who taught me to always test the hydrant on a fire run, even if it’s for one of those annoying automatic alarms that always … Continued

Avoiding the Pitfalls of “Perfect-World Scenario” Fire Department Training

Published on December 3, 2021

Avoiding the Pitfalls of “Perfect-World Scenario” Fire Department Training
In a November article for Fire Engineering, Burlington (NC) Fire Department battalion chief Paul Watlington sang the praises—and spoke to the brain-bending complexities—of pump operations. It isn’t just that each department has a unique mix of equipment. And it’s not only that new equipment and apparatuses enter the market, altering some of the fundamentals underlying … Continued

Using Fire and EMS Simulation Training to Address the Emergency Responder Shortage

Published on June 28, 2021

Using Fire and EMS Simulation Training to Address the Emergency Responder Shortage
  Firefighters are expecting 2021 to be a record-breaking year for building and wildfires. But fire teams are shorthanded and overworked nationwide. This isn’t just about the increasing length and intensity of the wildfire season—nor is it about COVID. Both play a role, but it’s one of intensifying an existing problem: We are an aging … Continued