FPAAC’s third quarter Technician Level Training was held at Clark County Fire District #6, where over fifty total participants from seven member agencies collaborated on a highly successful shipboard firefighting training. This was our first event at the impressive training facility located at CCFD6 Station 63 in Salmon Creek, WA and we wish to extend a sincere thank you to Clark 6 for graciously hosting.
Third quarter Technician Training is an “all tools” day, in which participating agencies bring their in-house shipboard firefighting-specific assets for fellow FPAAC member agencies to practice with in a controlled environment. Attendees were broken up into groups and rotated through several stations, including:
- A tour of Portland Fire & Rescue’s Foam Unit 24 and Heavy Squad 24
- Slice torches, simulating the breaching of decks and bulkheads
- An overview of the ICRI “Voodoo” box, which allows for interoperable communications
- Multiple evolutions of CO2 applications testing equipment and hoses from multiple agencies, allowing us to simulate the discharge of specialty extinguishing agents into a compartment with a working fire
Since it is uncommon to have large quantities of CO2 available for use in training, this was an invaluable opportunity for FPAAC. In the maritime environment, the ability to respond swiftly and effectively is critical and CO2, as an extinguishing agent, plays a crucial role in suppressing fires in confined spaces.
Thank you again to Clark County Fire District #6 for hosting this incredible training, and to all FPAAC members for their continued support of the program.
This was the final training evolution for FPAAC Program Manager Mason Sullivan, who has moved on to a new job. MFSA and FPAAC would like to thank Mason for all the hard work he put into FPAAC for the last four years.
Anyone interested in learning about the FPAAC training program should contact FPAAC Program Manager Anthony O’Reilly, oreilly@pdxmex.com
