When it comes to fire, there are a lot of unpredictable elements that come into play. Steam, smoke, heat, equipment malfunctions. There are just too many variables, and saying, “here’s a fire extinguisher. Pretend there’s a fire over here and put it out - but don’t actually use the extinguisher,” isn’t going to prepare anyone for anything.
Fires are a beast of their own, every time.
That’s why Farrier Firefighting School is set up. There are no pretend fires here; you get the real thing while keeping everyone safe. Here, Sailors get the full treatment, variables and all.
Farrier sets up multiple scenarios that Sailors could face on a ship, such as fryer fires, locker fires, and electrical fires. Learning these skills will save not just their lives, but their shipmates too.
The school starts out with classroom instruction in the morning, then moving on to learning how to put on the gear and taking a tour of what they will be up against. However, once you’ve seen the kitchen, it’s time to face the heat.
“It can get anywhere from two to 300 degrees inside that space. Especially with wearing about 40 pounds of gear,” said Damage Controlman 1st Class Kreig Newton, an instructor at Farrier. “You’re going to see a lot of people not used to that so they’re going to have to struggle through being that hot and under that amount of stress, and then going up and down the ladder wells multiple times so it’s a challenge. You gotta have a lot of endurance to be able to complete those firefighting courses.”
Granted, actually starting a fire to have it be put out is not always possible. But not every rate deals with fire on a regular basis and when the flames go up, there’s no such thing as ‘I’m not a firefighter, that’s not my rate.’
“A lot of people don’t understand that, ‘hey, you gotta be a participant too if we go down or if we can no longer fight a fire.’ So it’s very important that everybody understands their role in firefighting,” said Damage Controlman 1st Class Jessica Kreps, the field safety chief at the school.
Many of the instructors at Farrier have an obvious passion for what they do, which trickles down to the students. Their passion for teaching about this subject is just as intense as the fires they fight.
Mistakes, those can happen. Accidents, they’re sometimes unavoidable. Not knowing what to do? That’s unacceptable. But thanks to Farrier and its instructors, Sailors can now know what to do and how to manage those things when they do happen.
Anybody can have a great plan, but that’s not as important as its execution. The secret to Farrier’s success all comes down to its instructors, the plan executioners. The instructors have been through the course and because of that, they are able to get into the mind of the students and know how to teach and guide them. Because when the fires flare up, there is very little room for mistakes, especially when mistakes can cost lives.