There's a fire; now what? Petroleum supply students learn to fight fuel fires

Photo By Terrance Bell | A team of students from Uniform Company, 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, guided by an instructor, use a twin agent unit to put out a controlled fire during training April 28 at the QM School’s Spc. Win’e Fire Suppression Training Facility. During the training, which occurs in week nine of an 11-week Petroleum Supply Specialist Course, students become familiar with equipment and materials used to suppress petroleum fires.  

UNITED STATES

05.05.2016

Story by Terrance Bell  

Fort Gregg-Adams

FORT LEE, Va. (May 5, 2016) -- Much of what students learn during the Petroleum Supply Specialist Course involves the receipt, issuance and storage of petroleum products.

In the conduct of those duties, personnel must protect against the ever-present threat of fire. That’s why training at the Quartermaster School’s Spc. Win’e Fire Suppression Training Facility is essential. Students not only learn emergency procedures but get valuable hands-on experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom, said Staff Sgt. Melvin Johnson, an instructor team chief.

“You can explain this on PowerPoint all day, but that goes right over their heads as opposed to coming out here and actually using the equipment, knowing the importance of having battle buddies, learning safety procedures and feeling the hose pressure,” he said after an April 28 training session.

During the two-hour familiarization, each student donned protective gear and was allowed a few minutes to man the lead position of a firefighter team tasked with suppressing a controlled fire.

Roughly 50 Soldiers from Victor and Uniform companies, 262nd QM Battalion, underwent the training that occurs during the ninth of an 11-week course.

• Date Taken: 05.05.2016
• Date Posted: 05.05.2016 11:04
• Story ID: 197380
• Location: US