Firefighters exchange knowledge, experience

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. William Farrow
  • Joint Task Force-Bravo Public Affairs
SOTO CANO AIR BASE, Honduras (AFPN) --  More than 30 Honduran military and civilian firefighters converged at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, Feb. 19 to 22 for a subject matter expert exchange allowing both nation's firefighters to pass along experiences, knowledge and the latest in firefighting tactics, techniques and procedures .

The exchange is a learning exposition for all the firefighters involved, and hundreds of firefighters from fire departments across Honduras have participated over the last two years. 

The exchange exponentially increases the capabilities of fire departments throughout Honduras, said Honduran 2nd Lt. Arturo Sevilla, an officer with Tegucigalpa's Fire Department.

"The exchange enhances our (Honduran fire department) capabilities and is informative for our firefighters because most of the 20 civilian firemen attending the exchange are in-house trainers at their fire departments," Lieutenant Sevilla said. "New procedures or experiences picked up during this exchange are passed on to hundreds of other firefighters throughout the country."

Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Graver, a JTF-Bravo firefighter and the exchange coordinator, said since most of the Honduran firemen attending are primarily structural firefighters, expanding their scope of capabilities is important for their growth as firefighters.

"We exchange information concerning structural firefighting, but we also get into rescue operation, land navigation and wildland firefighting operations too," Sergeant Graver said.

The practical land navigation portion, instructed by a combination of U.S. and Honduran military search and rescue teams, takes place throughout the mountainous countryside, he said.

"Because most of the wild land fires in Honduras are in remote locations, the fire fighters must hike to get to the fire. The SAR team members help firefighters read maps, use compasses and operate hand-held global positioning satellite systems," he said. 

While wildfires are prevalent in Honduras, just as they are in the United States during the dry season, an even level of significance is directed toward each portion of the exchange, Sergeant Graver said

"For structural fires, the emphasis is on self preservation, saving lives and understanding structural integrities of burning buildings. In fighting aircraft fires we're really concerned with personnel extraction and fuel sources and running-fuel fires, which can spread fire extremely fast," Sergeant Graver said.

The exchange culminated with a controlled fire at the "burn house," a two-level training structure constructed of concrete and metal. To make the experience of entering a burning building as realistic as possible, firefighters start a controlled fire burning inside which provides a smoky atmosphere and temperatures of 900 degrees at the fire's base and 1,400 at the ceiling. Firefighters enter the structure two at a time and put water on the fire using a high pressure fire hose. Firefighters also climb stairs to the second level and retrieve a human-sized dummy weighing more than 150 pounds.
"This is the first experience I've ever had in a burn house," said La Paz firefighter Edulman Coliadres. "I'm impressed with how realistic the environment is and I hope to go back to La Paz and find a way to get a burn house built there, because operating in realistic conditions like that would provide excellent training to our new firefighters."

The learning exposition was the 10th week-long exchange to have occurred in the last two years. More are scheduled for March, June, August and October. 

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