Fire simulators can provide a very valuable opportunity to test and improve your firefighting skills. On the Cleveland National Forest we used to use four overhead projectors to produce images of the landscape, smoke, and fire on a rear projection screen, two 4-track reel-to-reel tape recorders and a mixing board for sound effects, and up to 10 people to run the simulation and act as role players. I have not seen the new computer-based simulator that is being used this year, but I hope it is at least as realistic as the earlier systems.
The Daily Courier in Prescot, AZ has a story about firefighters going through an exercise using a simulator and sand table.
Here is an excerpt:
Well aware that numerous agencies often come together suddenly to battle dangerous wildfires, Prescott-area agencies gather each year to brush up their skills before the traditional wildfire season begins.
“Firefighters from a variety of agencies look over a sand table model to plan their next action steps for the 1,200 acre fire they were responding to as part of the annual Basin Drill at the Prescott Fire Center. Photo courtesy of The Daily Courier, Les Stukenberg
“We’re testing ourselves to a level we’ve never tested before,” Prescott Fire Chief Darrel Willis said as he surveyed more than 50 people in the incident command center room alone. “Look at all the agencies here. There’s a comfort level when you see people you know. We know what we can expect from those people.”
Such training can save the lives of firefighters as well as citizens who live in wildfire-prone areas of the Prescott region.
“Communications are always going to be difficult,” Bentley said, so training helps immensely with smoothing out radio compatibility issues. Firefighters also learned some lessons about setting up an incident command system quickly so the span of control is clear, he said.
The sand tables are literally that – wooden tables covered with sand that firefighters mold to mimic the actual fire terrain. They add miniature trees, homes and fire trucks to the scene. They move red strings and cotton balls forward to represent an advancing wall of fire.
The Forest Service started making its computer simulator widely available just this year, Bentley said.
Fire instructors input U.S. Geological Survey computerized topographical maps into the simulator, then add as many as 20 types of homes along with local vegetation, roads, streams and even propane tanks.”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — More than 25 statewide fire agencies, fearing an active wildfire season, are taking part in a major training exercise at McDowell Mountain Regional Park in Scottsdale.
They are learning how to work together to protect the land, homes and lives when the brush fire season starts in mid-April.
Firefighters said they believe that the aggressive growth of desert grasses triggered by soaking winter rains will spell danger once the vegetation dries out in hotter weather.
“We’re expecting a pretty active desert fire season,” said Mike Guardado, one of the firefighters involving in the training. “We’re getting to know each other and getting to know each other’s equipment.”
Guardado spent four years fighting fires for the U.S. Forest Service. He said he knows the dangers and difficulties when flames meet dry brush.
“It’s pretty challenging,” he said. “It can be frightening at times, especially working with hand tools when there’s no water around.”
While crews are training to protect homes and land, they’re also learning to protect themselves.
Last year, crews across the state battled 1,926 wildfires devouring 63,908 acres, according to the Arizona State Forestry Division. That was a dramatic decrease from the 3,080 wildfires seen in 2006 that burned more than 152,000 acres.
The two-day training event, which ends Thursday, is an effort by the Scottsdale Fire Department and the Central Arizona Wildland Response Team.
The team is a consortium of approximately 15 fire agencies in central Arizona that participate in state and nationwide wildland fire response.
Senator John Kyl, a Republican from Arizona, in an article on his web site criticizes the President’s proposed budget for 2009 which reduces the funds allocated for fuel treatments.
“With almost 48 percent of the proposed budget going toward fire fighting, the Forest Service might be more appropriately called the “Fire Service.”
I believe funding for fighting fires must be complemented by adequate funding for preventing them. Proactive management of our forests not only is the best tool in combating wildfires, it is critical to restoring forest health and improving habitats for diverse species.
Typically, there are two complimentary methods of treatment: mechanical thinning of brush and smaller diameter trees, and prescribed burning. These treatments open up forests so they are less susceptible to “hot” crown fires. More importantly, reducing competition for soil nutrients, water, and sunlight immediately enhances the health of the trees, allowing them to grow bigger and fend off diseases and deadly insects like bark beetles.”
