Fire Fighter for a day (actually for 8 months)

Palmer station has such a small population (an maximum of 47 people, of which 18 or so support personnel ) that many tasks that in McMurdo are done  by full time people, will be done by the members of the community. This also means that firefighting is done by volunteers like myself. Even though I was born with the skills to start considerable fires, I was not born with the skills to put them out. I will learn this at the Aurora Firefighter Academy.
They start us off with fitting our "bunker gear" which consists of fire retarding and heat resistant clothing combined with a face mask with respirator that is connected to our air bottle. To emphasize that every second counts, we practice putting it on as fast as possible for a few times. It is surprising how our time improves, with 1:30 being the fastest for now. Now I understand the importance of putting your gear "just right", exiting your boots and trousers in such a way as to make it appear that the person went up in smoke leaving his boots and pants.

In their effort to alternate theory and practice we moved on to the class, where they told as all about the gear, leaving the information on the behavior and characteristics of fire up to a soon to retire FireChief who clearly enjoyed the part of lighting stuff on fire (everyone knows that firefighters are all pyromaniacs ?).
Onwards to seeing a real fire. In one of the "fire buildings" (a concrete shell of a house that allows -and, by the looks of it, had already seen many- controlled fires) we sat down in our bunker gear and watched as they lit a specially prepared area on fire. Interesting fact; fire can produce a LOT of smoke and indeed it rises to the top. Soon you literally couldn't see your hand in front of your eyes. However by crouching down we were still able to see most of the room (and possible victims) and could feel that it was considerably cooler close to the floor, increasing the survival chances of victims on the floor. Of course much of this information we know already, but seeing it happen really ingrains it in your mind. The color of the smoke and the way it "dances" will also tell you a bit on what kind of material is burning and whether the fire is close to "flashing over".

The burn building.

Going into a building that's on fire will most certainly mean that the smoke obscures your vision. To train on this we put our gear on and got some smoke on our masks. Next we are brought to the beginning of a maze where we need to be on our hands and knees and follow a rope (that represents a fire hose, that colleague firefighters have already brought into the burning building). "Don't let go of the hose, because that is your life line."  It is very difficult indeed to find out about your surroundings by just feeling around with your hand. Suddenly a diagonal hole seems like a very difficult concept and passing it with a oxygen bottle on your back seems much more difficult than simply turning your bottle towards the 90 degree angle of the diagonal. We then practice this in a smoke filled building where we have to find victims by following the walls while searching as much of the room as possible. We firefighters not only curse the flammability of modern day furniture, but also the fact that there is so much of if and in unpredictable setups. Oh, and dragging a victim from a building while trying to keep your orientation is darned hard work as well.


On subsequent days we learn a lot about the fire hose ("If the hose does not advance,  we are not fighting the fire" ) and the fact that everyone has an assigned position on it. The nozzle-man having the "easiest" job and his number two being his most important buddy (bracing the nozzle man to prevent the power of the nozzle from making the hose uncontrollable) and the people further down the hose working their pants off, trying to get 50 feet of hose into the room. Moving a hose filled with water around corners and up the stairs is incredible hard work. Doing it while your are on a respirator makes you feel like your lungs are exploding.

Working the hose.

Fighting a car that's on fire is also interesting and can require your number two use the tool to break the window, so you can stick the hose in the car. However, arguably the most useful part of the training was the instruction on the portable fire extinguishers. Sure we have all been shown where they are and told how to operate them, but actually using them is a whole different cookie. If you use them correctly (the correct extinguisher for the type fuel that you are facing; not aiming at the flames, but at the base of the fire and making a sweeping motion) they are unexpectedly efficient (and fun). Unlike before the training, I now feel that in the case of a starting fire I could, and would, grab an extinguisher and actually be able to nip a fire in the bud before all the big tools are needed.

Fighting a fuel fire.

After doing a 14-week training in 5 days we learned an awful lot and are a little bit better prepared, but of course we are far from being the real thing. Let's hope that we will never have to use our skills for real.