Student firefighters face live fire in burn trailer

LIME SPRINGS - The FireFighter One class got some hands-on training with live fire in front of the Lime Springs Fire Station on Thursday, March 3, when the “Burn Trailer” rolled into town. 

The Fire Service Training Bureau’s (FSTB) Mobile Prop Training Burn Trailer is a traveling training scenario designed to provide a safe and controlled environment for firefighters to hone their firefighting skills. The trailer, approximately 30 feet long, arrives on a flatbed truck and has several propane burners at various points inside. Hay bales are added to provide smoke and heat.

After some instruction on hydraulic ventilation — a quick and effective way of using a hoseline to vent smoke and heat out a window — from Jim Carpenter of the FSTB, FF1 students paired up to make entry. 

In a live fire, there’s always a back-up team at the door, ready to come in and help if something unexpected happens, so each two-man entry team had their own back-up team on deck, too, feeding hose in and out as the firefighters inside advanced on the fire. 

Each team spent approximately 15 minutes inside the trailer, facing several different situations, including a ceiling fire, a chair fire, a stove fire, and fire coming up through the floor. Once they emerged, the back-up team prepared themselves to make entry, and a new back-up team moved into position.

According to FF1 teacher and acting Chester Fire Chief, Jeff Wendel, it’s important for students to experience these kinds of hands-on, live-fire scenarios in a controlled environment as part of the class curriculum. 

It helps the firefighters develop their practical skills as well as giving them a better, real-life understanding of how fire moves through an enclosed space.

 “You’re more ready when the live scenario comes at you,” Wendel said. “Basically, you’re practicing for the real thing.”

The Burn Trailer is a mobile prop training scenario sponsored by the FSTB. 

It is fully funded by the Iowa Volunteer Firefighter Training Fund and available at no cost to volunteer firefighters.