Photo By Ryan White | Thirty Airmen from the 124th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Gowen Field Fire Department...... read more read more
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Thirty Airmen from the 124th Civil Engineer Squadron’s Gowen Field Fire Department trained in two specialized burn trailers for over 80 live interior fires from Jun 2-12, 2021, Boise, Idaho.
“The goal of the training is to build confidence with the members' gear and equipment in a high heat environment,” said Staff Sgt. Reginald Pierce III, B-shift captain with the Gowen Field Fire Department. “Unlike smoke machines and lights, this is real fire. You can't always put it out right off the bat. We have some safety features but it's still high heat and without proper protective equipment it could be fatal.”
One trailer is set up to burn at high heat until it becomes a flashover, reaching over 900 degrees in the burn chamber. The other trailer is set up like a basement apartment where Airmen can put out a stove fire or a bedroom fire. This is the first year the Gowen Field Fire Department has been able to do both training trailers at the same time.
Airmen typically train by doing career development courses or computer-based training, but Pierce said without this type of training many Airmen wouldn’t have an opportunity to see how fire grows, develops, and learn how to identify the different stages of fire growth in a controlled training environment. The training experience helps firefighters make the appropriate strategic and tactical attack calls when in a real-world situation.
“When Airmen complete this training, they say they ‘I learned something, I took something home, I actually got to do my job for the day,’” said Pierce. “It builds camaraderie and morale. Our guys are able to bond together by doing these repetitions with their group and they're going to remember this training for the rest of their career.”
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.30.2021 13:09 |
| Story ID: | 400096 |
| Location: | BOISE, IDAHO, US |
| Web Views: | 72 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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