Throughout the world there is agreement that firefighting is a potentially dangerous profession. Yet in some parts of the world, firefighters are expected to carry out firefighting operations in life threatening emergency situations without ever having the opportunity to observe the development of a fire in a compartment, in a safe, low stress environment.
The environment in a typical structural fire can suddenly change from what appears to be relatively stable to an inferno with temperatures over 1000 degrees Celsius at ceiling height and over 300 degrees Celsius at floor level. While sudden, such changes can be anticipated if the indicators are recognised. Therefore it is essential that the firefighter has a solid understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour. This can only be achieved by allowing the firefighter the opportunity to witness the development phases of a fire in a realistic, safe, controlled and predictable environment. The firefighter can then see the results of the different firefighting techniques on the dynamics of the environment. This leads to an understanding of the implications of his actions not only on the fire but also entrapped occupants, other firefighters, and possible effects on fire spread to surrounding areas. Then it is possible to obtain full benefit from the next phase of “Realistic Training”, ie Tactical Live Fire Training.
The purpose is to teach firefighters how a fire develops in a compartment, and how to recognise and safely deal with Flashover/Backdraught and other emergent fire phenomena. These training methods originated in Sweden where they have been incorporated into basic firefighter training since the mid eighties.
