Jul 14, 200610:39 AMThe Life

Fire Fighter I

At least nine fire fighters have been injured to date, in the blazing inferno just north of us. I wanted to find out what these brave folks need to learn, in order to fight fires, so I visited the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection, then looked at their downloads page, under Fire Fighter I. These are only a few of the hundreds (and hundreds) of topics which comprise their training:

» Characteristics and functions of pneumatic air chisels
» Characteristics of pyrolysis, rollover, flashover, and backdraft
» How to don structural PPE [personal protective equipment] within one minute, doff, and prepare for reuse
» How to don a SCBA [self-contained breathing apparatus] facepiece with a low-pressure hose
» How to service a gas cartridge portable fire extinguisher
» How to tie-off a charged hoseline for hoisting
» How to make a self-locking twin donut roll
» How to advance a 2-1/2" hoseline up an exterior stairway using a pike pole, three-person method
» How to raise a pole ladder, five to six-person, flat-raise method
» How to force open a double-hung/checkrail window
» How to move an unconscious victim down a ladder, two-person method
» How to use a smoke ejector to force ventilation through a horizontal opening
» Physical properties of combustible and flammable liquids and gases
» Procedures for extinguishing hidden fires
» How to spread an accordion folded salvage cover using the two-person counter payoff method
» Principles and procedures for using and constructing water chutes and dikes
» Characteristics and functions of clean agent and Halon replacement systems
» Characteristics and functions of traffic pre-emption devices
» How to remove a channel mounted vehicle windshield, two-person method
» How to displace a steering wheel/column using a come-along
» How to remove a vehicle roof using powered hydraulic shears
» Wildland fire fighter preparedness and personal protective equipment
» Lookouts, communications, escape routes, and safety zones
» How to deploy a fire shelter, lying-down method
» How to perform a mobile attack
» Characteristics and functions of mop-up and patrol