MCBJ firefighters take on Kadena's "burn house"

Photo By Spc. Leigh Campbell | A firefighter with Marine Corps Bases Japan Fire Department battles a fire crawling across the ceiling of the Live Fire Structural Trainer Jan. 22. The building's flamethrowers simulated a kitchen fire coming from a stove, cabinet and ceiling.  

01.18.2002

Story by Lance Cpl. Bradley Rogers 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

By Lance Cpl. David Rogers
III MEF PAO

KADENA AIR BASE, OKINAWA, Japan — Japanese Firefighters from Marine Corps Bases Japan Fire Department conducted fire training at the Live Fire Structural Trainer, commonly referred to as the "burn house," on Kadena Air Base Jan. 18 and 19.

The training was intended to keep the firefighters prepared for possible disaster, and for one new addition to the department, the evolution was part of his basic fire training.

Instructors began the training with lessons inside the fireproof metal building to show the firefighters how the propane-fueled fire system worked. The system simulates three actual fires within the building.

The firefighters then split up into three-man attack teams and took turns putting out fires and rescuing victims from the burn house.

The teams had to enter the living room of the burn house through the front door and crawl across the floor to avoid smoke as they searched for victims – heavy rubber dummies that they had to evacuate.

Teams then had to move on to the kitchen where the source of the fire was and put out all three propane fires and rescue another simulated victim.

The firefighters occasionally sprayed a cone of water out of a kitchen window in order to create suction which cleared the room of smoke.

One team deliberately played dead to set off their personal alert safety system devices, which sound a screeching alarm that lets other firefighters know when one of their own is in trouble.

Yuki Kumazawa, the department's newest recruit, was on the backup team when he heard the alarms. Kumazawa said he panicked at first because the backup teams had not had any activity all day and the situation was an unexpected portion of the training.

He said he quickly put his fears and insecurities to rest and followed the lead of the senior firefighters.

Sensory overload was a possibility as the backup team entered the house, according to Eric Rhode, the assistant training chief of the department. The amount of smoke in the house made eyesight useless, and the three blaring alarms on the downed firefighters fiercely resonated in the backup teams' ears. But they were able to stay focused as they rescued their fellow firefighters and put out the fire.

"You want to train in the most realistic environment as possible, but in a controlled setting," Rhode said.

Kumazawa will be graduating his basic training and receiving his Department of Defense certification to officially become a MCBJ Fire Department firefighter in a ceremony Feb. 20. He will then join the Camp Kinser Fire Department.

• Date Taken: 01.18.2002
• Date Posted: 01.26.2007 10:23
• Story ID: 8947