NEAFC 31st Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS
protection equipment to respOnd to at least a second alarm. The number of personnel
required for each fire brigad~ company should be sufficient to transport the wheeled
fire protection equipment assigned to it tO the fire, and use this equipment, including
1~" hose lines from interior hose connections, and 2~" hose lines from yard and
roof hydrants on the fire.
Each fire ,brigade company should be equipped with a sufficient number of wheeled
fire extinguishers to be able to cope With any fire that could not be extinguished with
hand fire extinguishers. In our opinion the wheeled fire extinguishers should includ~
50 ob. or larger size carbon-dioxide extinguishers, 150 lb. dry chemical extinguishers,
and 40 gal. foam extinguishers. In addition to the wheeled fire extinguishers, the ~re
brigade should also respond to all fires with at least one hand drawn fire equipment
truck, which should include basic equipment, such as firemen’s rubber coats andt boots,
helmets, I~"CRL hose, combination water fog and solid stream nozzles, double male
and female hose couplings, hose jacket, CO = , dry chemical, and pressurized carbontetrachloride
extinguishers, self contained breathing apparatus, salvage tarpaulins, fire
blankets, electric switch puller, sprinkler shut-off tongs, bolt cutters, first aid kit, and
other necessary equipment.
Our fire brigade training procedures are as follows:
In order to have uniform and specific procedures fo.r training the fire brigade in
all divisions of the United Aircraft ’Corporation, a comprehensive training program of
instructions and drill schedules was prepared. The N. F. P. A. Industrial Fire Brigade
Training Manual is used as the reference guide for many of these drills, and in our
opinion it is an excellent source of information on this subject.
All fire brigade training drills are arranged andl supervised by the paid Plant Protection
Fire Department, who as previously mentioned are responsible for organizing,
training, and supervising the fire brigade.
The fire brigade personnel are summoned to all training drills by the plant fire
alarm system. A fire alarm box is operated in a different location and at a different
time for each drill. The fire brigade does not know in advance whether they are
responding to a fire or a fire drill, in fact, only a few key personnel in management
receive advance notification of the fire alarm box num.ber and the time it is to be transmitted
for a fire drill.
Four fire drills are conducted each month for the fire brigade on each shift. Two
of these drills are one hour drills, conducted the first and third week of the month, and
two are ten minute drills, conducted the second and fourth week of the month.
The one hour fire drills provide the time required for training the fire brigade
in the proper use of all inside portable, and exterior roof and yard fire protection
equipment, on practice or demonstration fires of various kinds, and for lectures, moving
pictures, and instructions on fire prevention and fire protection requirements, the
chemistry or nature of fire, etc.
The ten minute drills are of value in familiarizing the fire brigade with the location
of all fire alarm boxes andl the most direct route to reach each fire alarm box in the
shortest possible time.
A rcll call of fire brigade personnel, the time period that it has taken for each
company to respond with their equipment to the fire drill£ a check of their equipment
rand the drill number that was conducted, are recorded for each drill. .. ,_~
In our opinion one of the most important .benefits of industrial fire protection
training-is that it helps fire brigade personnel to regard fire with respect instead of
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