Online Training Available: Training Fire Exposures
Live fire training is a critical tool in teaching firefighters about fire behavior and preparing them for the situations they will encounter on the fireground. However, this training also comes with different chemical and thermal exposure risks for firefighters. It is important to understand the risks associated with training fire exposures and how to apply control measures that can help reduce these chemical and thermal exposures.
The “Training Fire Exposures: A Risk-Benefit Framework'' online course examines different fuels and some common best practices utilized during training fires. Available through UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute’s (FSRI’s) Fire Safety Academy, this course provides fire instructors with a framework to understand what kind of training environment they want to create and how fuels, props, and high-level control measures can help reduce exposures, injuries and fatalities on the training ground.
After taking this course, fire instructors will be able to:
- Explain the risks and benefits of live fire training.
- Understand the interaction between fuel and structures as well as how different combinations can lead to different training environments.
- Apply control measures to modify firefighters’ exposure in the training environment to both meet training objectives and minimize risk.
“Our research indicates that implementing different control measures during live fire training can have an important impact on exposure reduction. These control measures can include changing where fire instructors work inside the training structure, engineering isolation practices, and maintaining consistent PPE protection.”
–Gavin Horn, research director, FSRI
This online course is made possible with support from technical panel members of the Training Fire Exposures from the Source: Developing a Risk-Benefit Framework research project. This research project is supported by the Department of Homeland Security Assistance to Firefighters Grants Program.
