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Lessons of a life-saving baptism of fire
It's hot, noisy, scary and adrenaline-sapping. Andrew Robinson joined West Yorkshire's firefighters for a day of basic training.
OF the 1,400 people who applied to be a West Yorkshire firefighter this year, only 70 were selected for the 13-week training course and even some of those were deemed unsuitable.
After a few hours at their training centre in Birkenshaw, Bradford, it's clear why few have what it takes to make the grade.
As well as being quick-thinking, unflappable and fit, firefighters have to learn the science behind combustion, become competent field medics, experts in vehicle manufacturing practices and, of course, be able to rescue people from all kinds of disasters and dangers.
In fact, the job title "firefighter" is a bit of a misnomer because for every two people rescued from fires, 15 are cut free from vehicles.
For each of 1,700 full and part-time firefighters, their career in the service begins in the training centre classroom where the science behind the art of fighting fire is explained with a little experiment involving a bunsen burner and some sawdust in a glass flask. The idea is to prove that smoke is basically unburned fuel from a fire and can itself ignite and burn, sometimes with a force that resembles an explosion.
It's a small scale demonstration of the dangers of backdraught and flashover, two feared phenomena which fire crews try to predict before they happen. The trainer, experienced firefighter Dave Cookson, says that backdraught is a "ventilation driven event" that can occur when a fire is starved of oxygen.
Though combustion may have ceased, gases and smoke in a room remain and are very hot. If oxygen gets back into the room – by opening a door or smashing a window – combustion can restart and the result is a "whoosh" of near-explosive force as the gases heat and expand.
"This is something people don't understand," he says. "It is a big danger for firefighters who must try to predict what is happening in a burning building.
"If a firefighter enters a room and disturbs some embers he can end up in the middle of that violent reaction."
An equally violent event is the flashover – the point when everything combustible in an enclosed area suddenly bursts into flames.
In a house this occurs at about 500C, when surfaces become so hot they give off flammable gases that suddenly and violently ignite
and when it does a firefighter wearing even the best protective clothing and breathing apparatus might only have a couple of seconds to get out of the room.
To hammer the message home, trainee firefighters are shown a series of videos culled from shows like World's Scariest Explosions, which reveal disastrous attempts by firefighters to deal with building blazes.
One shows tell-tale "cauliflower" smoke – dense and cauliflower shaped – billowing from a varnish and paints factory and some hapless South American firemen just feet away when the smoke and vapours ignite with awful consequences.
Footage shot in Bradford's Grattan Road in April follows and is proof that training has saved lives. Videoed by Bradford man Graham Tyler, who has his own website (www.firewestyorkshire. com) – the "unofficial enthusiasts' site" – the footage shows a backdraught incident that could easily have killed someone.
The first fireman on the scene that day was one of the 200 retained (part-time) firefighters who noticed smoke had bottled up in the building and retreated. Crews were at a safe distance when a huge ball of flames erupted from doors and windows.
A further cautionary tale comes courtesy of a device nicknamed the "bang box", which simulates explosive conditions in confined spaces. Fill it with propane for 60 seconds, introduce a spark and watch the trainees jump off their seats and the windows shake in their frames.
For those who haven't already decided that a career in the fireservice isn't for them, trying on the breathing apparatus plus the heavy boots, oversized helmet, gloves, hood, jacket, trousers, communication radio and earpiece, can prove the final straw.
It's at this point some would-be firefighters realise the kit is terrifyingly claustrophobic and drop out, although the trainers insist that those who've been Scuba diving or potholing should be all right.
While experienced firemen take just a minute or two to get ready, 20 minutes later I was still struggling with my kit and the air bottle on my back was weighing heavily on my 13 stone frame as I entered the "smoke house", a building where they set alight a pile of pallets and cardboard and then shut all the doors.
The heat was intense as our instructors demonstrated the dangers of backdraught and the speed at which events can go from dramatic to disastrous in moments.
After a few minutes in the smoke house we emerged sooty and sweltering but there was little time for a rest before we were in the hands of Mick Brennan and Tommy Burgess, experts in removing casualties from car wrecks.
Tommy has been a West Yorkshire firefighter for 34 years and Mick started in 1982 when they used little more than hacksaws and crowbars and had limited medical skills.
The last decade has seen a revolution in both "extrication" skills and life-saving training, with West Yorkshire leading the way.
Mick recalls the days of Ford Capris and Opel Mantas in the 1980s when drink-drinking was considered a wheeze, few bothered with seatbelts and children enjoyed sliding around unfettered on the back seat as dad took a sharp corner.
Crash victims back then were "virtually dragged out" of their vehicles by firemen who were thankful when the paramedics arrived, he says.
"We didn't have the medical skills that we have now," he recalls. "Our cutting equipment was very primitive – crowbars and a large hacksaw."
Today, they use ultra-powerful cutting and lifting tools and are always seeking upgrades because cars are getting stronger – some are virtually impregnable – and kit like explosive air bags makes it dangerous to pull a car apart.
Improved firefighter training means that casualties are often removed from cars in 25 minutes, a drop from the 44-minute average in the mid 1980s, and once out they get attention from advanced first-aiders.
"All firefighters in West Yorkshire are trained in first aid care and can use a defibrilator, fit a neck collar, give oxygen and analgesics," adds Mick.
That training, along with safer roads and cars, has seen the number of deaths on Britain's roads fall from nearly 6,000 in 1980 to 3,172 last year.
To bring those deaths down, and reduce the numbers killed and injured in fires, the service is also turning to education – and that's where journalists come in.
One fireman tells me that the media should be more hard-hitting in bringing home the consequences of drink-driving, speeding and showing off.
He says bluntly: "You are always going to get idiots causing carnage, but we still need to get through to young people and parents. We have had too many deaths of sixth formers whose parents have bought them something like a Porsche."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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