Firefighters get ‘eye-opening experience’ with flashover fires
A firefighter watches a “flashover” fire during training Friday morning at the Washington County fire grounds in Chartiers Township.
Within a confined compartment, heat continues to build at a rate higher than what the compartment can ventilate. A flashover occurs when all of the combustible materials in a room or compartment reach their ignition temperatures at the same time. Although not all fuels in a room have the same ignition temperature, the heat is rising so rapidly that the temperatures are all reached during this period of rapid heat buildup. The heat that normally accumulates at the upper level in the compartment cannot absorb heat as fast as it is being created. This causes the heat to be pushed back down onto the lower level and any fuels at any level in the compartment.
Firefighters participate in “flashover” training Friday morning inside a trailer at the Washington County fire grounds in Chartiers Township
WESTLAND – Firefighters from across Western Pennsylvania got an “eye-opening experience” when they learned first-hand how to predict and protect themselves from “flashover” fires.
The elaborate training Friday with more sessions planned today attracted about 130 firefighters and allowed them to experience a flashover in a simulated environment, while also practicing with thermal-imaging equipment to locate a fire in smoky conditions.
“It’s definitely a good experience for me being a captain that will hopefully help keep my guys safe and save lives,” West Alexander fire Capt. Shawn Scherich said. “It was an eye-opening experience.”
A flashover occurs in a confined space as heat from a fire continues to build at a rate higher than what the compartment can ventilate. A flashover occurs when all of the combustible materials in a room or compartment reach their ignition temperatures at the same time, according to the website Fire Engineering. The heat that normally accumulates at the upper level in the compartment and cannot be absorbed as fast as it is being created. This causes the heat to be pushed back down onto the lower level and any fuels at any level in the compartment.
Dominic Sicchitano, a Claysville firefighter, called it the “ultimate training” seeing the flashover in person, something he never experienced while fighting fires.
Sicchitano expected the training will help him should he ever encounter a situation in the future.
“You go through training and read it in the books,” he said, “but to feel it first-hand is something every (firefighter) should experience.”
That was the point of the training exercises sponsored by Draeger Safety Inc. and its traveling safety team, which included firefighters from Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis, using two trailers to simulate flashovers and how to predict them.
About a dozen firefighters piled into each trailer with their certified trainer and waited inside as a burn barrel was ignited and smoked filled the container for about 15 minutes. The conditions then caused a flash over the firefighters as they sat inside the trailer.
“Recognizing those conditions that might occur when you’re in the simulator, that’s a big deal if they encounter it (fighting a fire),” said Ron Sicchitano, deputy director of the county’s Department of Public Safety. “It’s great hands-on training. It’s as safe as an environment you can get while working with a live fire.
The Washington County Firemen’s Association and county Department of Public Safety organized the two-day training at the fire training grounds in Chartiers Township and invited dozens of departments from around the area, including Ohio and West Virginia, and as far away as Baltimore. Crews also learned how to use specialized thermal-imaging cameras to help them locate fires or hot spots when working through thick smoke. Each training session lasted for about two hours.
“It’s important training for these guys,” said Brad Cignetti, who is Draeger’s director of product marketing in Findlay Township.