Photo By Cpl. Sarah Cherry | Assistant Chief Barry Shughart keeps a careful watch on a house fire during a training...... read more read more
Subscribe
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. - The Structural Fire Department and Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort joined forces to train and fight fires in Pine Grove aboard the Air Station, Feb. 10.
While the Air Station is home to one of two buildings in Beaufort County designed for firefighting, called a burn building, this specific training provides a different kind of opportunity.
The burn building’s interior and exterior walls are made of brick, and fires are only permitted in one room, which is protected by thermal layers built into the building.
Burning the condemned buildings of Pine Grove gives fire fighters a less readily available opportunity for more realistic, accurate training in extinguishing structural fires, identifying the source of the fires, and understanding the effects of fires on houses.
“It’s designed for fire suppression and fire suppression only,” said Barry Shughart, assistant chief of training and emergency medical services. “[Training in Pine Grove] gives us the opportunity to light a fire in a room and let our guys actually go in and watch how the fire develops in that room, and then [suppress the fire]. They can work in zero visibility and see how the fire’s going to react to what they’re doing.”
There are several other benefits to using the condemned houses of Pine Grove for training. In the burn building, fire fighters can’t practice cutting open the roof, breaking down walls and ceilings, or venting the building.
“If we [compare] the burn building to an actual house, it’s like the difference between watching TV on a black and white set with bunny ears and watching on a flat screen with all the bells and whistles,” said Brynne Burrough, assistant fire chief.
The structural fire department worked closely with the Tri-Command, base contractors, base environmental and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control to get permission to burn down some of the houses slated for demolition.
Training realistically can be a difficult task for fire fighters. Burning houses already slated for demolition helps the fire fighters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort expand their capabilities, experience and knowledge in a realistic, controlled setting.
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 02.21.2014 12:23 |
| Story ID: | 120964 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 278 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Burn, baby, burn: Fire fighters train in Pine Grove, by Cpl Sarah Cherry, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
