The Heat is on! - Smoke Trailer Part Deux

© Dick Kramer - View his incredible artwork here!

The Heat is on!

As Fire Academy continued, the pressure and the stress began to boil down to physical exhaustion and mental fatigue. I realized that I was going to need to find ways to relieve stress, however, that is difficult with a 16-22 hour commitment on top of your regular 40 hour work week! I was missing out on my kids' school and extra curricular activities as well as time with my friends and extended family. That is very difficult since I am a very social individual.

I was also missing out on my spiritual commitment. Fire Academy nights were Tuesday, Thursday and from 8-4 on Saturday. Since I am a Seventh-day Adventist, (we go to church on Saturday, like the Jews) it was now impossible for me to worship at church even though there are 2 churches in the area. One holds a morning service and the other an afternoon service. This was very difficult for me as worship is a way for me to keep myself spiritually, emotionally, and mentally focused.

I missed concerts, plays, football games, wrestling meets, dinners, family gatherings, hanging out with friends, and so much more.

Sleep and prayer became my only sources of rest and revitalization. The company and the academy became my outlet for socialization.

Though I didn't see it at the time, this stress brought me back to where I needed to be - mentally, physically, and spiritually. It helped me focus and concentrate on what is necessary.

This focus helped me make one very quick decision that kept me from landing on my head - literally!

Smoke Trailer Part Deux

The second night we went through the smoke trailer I was settling into my role as a firefighter and a member of our company while managing the mental stress of claustrophobia in order to concentrate on the goal - finding the "victim".

This time we were split into teams of two. I was preparing my mind for the task as Wash-Out and Buffalo climbed out of the door, smoke pouring from the trailer. They had found the victim.

Our Instructor opened the door for Double-D and me and said, "Find the victim and get out. Anyway you can." I couldn't help but feel as though that was a hint to the test ahead of us.

Double-D said, "Take the lead. I'll concentrate on the path." So I took the lead and climbed into the dark.

The path was similar as it was previously but there seemed to be a couple of twists and turns that I wasn't expecting. Thankfully we did not have to crawl under another obstruction either! At one point I felt an opening to my left and forward and we chose the forward path.

The pain in my knees was telling me that I had bruised and scraped them as sweat and dirt ground in. I was feeling confused and hoping that I could remember the way back. I remembered what my wife had said about acting as if I were looking for my children. I said a silent prayer for strength, courage, and situational awareness as I tried to slow my breathing.

As we scrambled down another hallway I felt an opening ahead and barreled forward shouting to Double-D, "Straight ahea---

My words were cut short as my right arm went straight through the floor. In the moment, I instinctively stretched my left arm out straight and caught my entire body weight - with the addition of 70 pounds of gear - with the back of my left arm. It was an excruciating pain that ran through my entire core as I held all of my weight and scrambled to bring myself up out of the hole. I could feel my partner pushing me forward as I yelled back to Double-D, "Stop! Stop! There's a hole in the floor!"

I pushed back with all my might and came to a crouching position at the edge of the hole.

The bruise from catching myself. (This is a mirror image.)

"Feet first, Glenn!" yelled Double-D. So I looked into the blackness around and below me and as I watched a whisp of smoke drift past my face piece I began to second guess how I had gotten here. Not a question of why I was sitting above a hole in a dark smoke-filled trailer, but how I had mustered the courage to even get into Fire Academy and put myself through this.

In the back of my mind I felt an urge to know and understand my limits. As my arm ached from the painful full-body catch and my body-heat baked my skin in the PPE I knew this was the first time I had reached one of my mental limits. Would I be stronger than this limitation? I was about to find out.

I shuffled my legs into the hole, hoping to feel for the floor and felt nothing. I slowly lowered myself into the hole, dipping below my waste and trunk, still hoping for the floor.

"Let's go Glenn!" shouted Double-D. As I dropped down into the abyss below me I hoped there even was a floor to land on. In my surprise it was right there below me. I felt a little ashamed to be so scared as I shuffled into what felt like a corner of a small room.

I looked up as I saw the lights from Double-D's HUD shining off his face. He kicked his feet into the opening as I yelled, "Watch the drop! It's not too far down here!"

He dropped right in front of me and we both began to feel around the room we were in. "Glenn we need to move forward!"

Double-D was now barreling into the dark ahead of me as I grasped his pant-leg. I began to try to remember which direction we were going so we could get back to the hole we had dropped through. I remembered almost nothing after that point. The anxiety of being responsible for remembering which way we were going overwhelmed me. I think we a took a couple of lefts and a right and I heard Double-D shout, "I've got the victim!"

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief that we had found the victim and would now be on our way out, my low air-alarm went off.

Double-D looked me in the eyes and said, "Let's go Glenn!"

I turned around and we crawled back to the hole. I stood up and felt for the opening, grabbing the edge and jumping up into the tunnel. I felt Double-D push as I jumped, effectively throwing me into the roof of the tunnel.

After I had bounced back to the floor I turned around and reached for the "victim". I tucked the doll next to me and then reached for Double-D. As he jumped I pulled him up through the hole. I had to quickly shuffle into the tunnel to make room for him. He looked at me and shouted, "Take the lead! Let's go!"

This was as far of the path we had taken that I could remember. I was now leading us out without a clue on which way to go. I was desperately flailing my arms along the walls feeling for a direction out. I came to a junction with a 45 degree turn and a 90 degree turn and could not remember which way we had come.

© Capt. Schmoe: Check out his blog here!

"Double-D I feel 2 turns!" I shouted, hoping he would tell me which way we were going. I couldn't really hear him shouting to me over the clang of my low-air alarm. In my rush to get out I made the decision to take the 45 degree turn, heading slightly back in the opposite direction. I tucked the "victim" in my arm and hustled forward into a wall. A dead end!

I felt overwhelmed as my low-air alarm began to vibrate against my face. My mind was screaming at me to run as my teeth were buzzing. I clenched my jaw hard and grasped at the walls for an exit. "There's no way out! We're at a dead-end!" I yelled to Double-D. I thought perhaps the instructors had moved the maze to test us and the memory of the instructor who opened the door to the trailer for us flew to the forefront of my mind.

I acted instinctively and threw my shoulder against the wall and felt it give. It was nothing more than a panel fitted into a track along the wall. I grabbed the edges and mightily pushed it loose from the track! I was going to get out and be free!

A bright light shone just beyond the wall I had just removed and I felt a rush of cool wind blow directly toward me. As I reached for the light I heard, "What are you doing?! Did you just blow out my wall?! Go back the way you came!" The instructor snatched the panels from my hands and slammed the door in my face.

Somehow, over my anger and shame and vibrating low-air alarm I could hear Double-D laughing. "Let's go! This way!" He laughed as he turned around.

I grabbed his pant-leg and took a right turn and there was the exit door.

As we stepped into the cool night and took off our helmets and face-pieces the instructor snatched the "victim" from my hands saying, "I can't believe you blew out my wall! I told you go back the way you came!"

As funny as it was after the training, I realized that I had failed that test. I had panicked and may not have found the exit. However, that's why firefighters work together as a team. With the help of my partner I had handled the stress again and realized that I had the strength to make it through as long as I functioned as part of my company. I could do nothing alone, but together we would get through anything we faced.

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How do you handle stress on the fireground? How do you keep your focus on the job and off the job? Do you have a story to share about smoke trailer or confined space search and rescue?

Crawl Low Under Smoke - Education, the Smoke Trailer and Claustrophobia

I now understood that I was made for the Fire Service. I was going to be a firefighter because I chose to do so and I had the support of my family and friends. I was also beginning to see what the brotherhood was all about.

After my latest failure during PPE/SCBA drill I had decided I would practice on my own. However, it was good to know that I didn't need to practice alone. My brothers in Rescue 1 had offered to help me out during their Sunday meetings. I was also working with the Ladder 11 company. I had truly begun to understand the brotherhood.

When things get tough and someone needs help you come through for each other. I began to set my own sense of selfish pride and competition aside in order to help others and in turn I learned from them.

Education

Education is a major part of the Fire Service mission. In order to protect life and preserve property we are given the opportunity to serve the community through education. These educational opportunities may be station tours, school presentations, or doing private home surveys.

In any of these situations firefighters must be prepared to utilize their public speaking skills and vast knowledge to inform the public of ways they can avoid hazardous situations.

Everyone remembers, "Stop, Drop, and Roll." However, we learned in Fire Academy that the information you present must be tailored to the audience. High Schoolers don't care about this goofy information. Adults are worried about how to prepare their families or how their aging parents can help themselves in emergency situations.

I mentioned in a previous post that a local program called Safety Town was also one of my inspirations for becoming a firefighter. The education and information my children received was so well presented and gave me a first hand look at this amazing opportunity firefighters have to serve their community.

© Holly McQueen - The Des Moines Register

From a story by the Des Moines Register: "West Des Moines Fire Department driver/operator Paul O'Connell shows children a ladder truck and tools firefighters use for their job on a field trip to the West Des Moines Fire Station 17 during Safety Town West Des Moines June 21. West Des Moines Fire Department ladder 215's crew gave a tour of Fire Station 17. The educational program, offered by West Des Moines Community Education, meets at Phenix Elementary Early Childhood Center and covers a variety of situations and teaches skills for children entering kindergarten this fall. Topics covered at Safety Town are safety awareness around strangers, water, traffic, fire, buses and poison. Children had the opportunity to learn through experiences in the Safety Town village, a field trip to the West Des Moines Fire Station and West Des Moines Police Department and classroom activities."

One fascinating fact I learned is that Kindergartners were once taught to, "Crawl Low in Smoke!" However this isn't true. You must, "Crawl Low Under Smoke!" If there is a fire and smoke begins to fill the room you must get as low as possible so that you do not breathe any smoke. The smoke will most likely kill you before the fire does.


We were about to learn this first hand in the Smoke Trailer.

Claustrophobia

Our Fire Academy had a guest crew from the State Board of Training bring a Smoke Trailer. This trailer had a moveable maze designed for confined space search and rescue. This maze was filled with smoke to simulate a live fire situation.

© Johan Hammerby | Photojournalism BLOG

Each company entered the structure to search for a victim.

Engine 12 geared up in full PPE/SCBA and entered the trailer, crawling low into the dark tunnel. The "Wash-Out" was leading the way with "Buffalo" behind him. I was crawling in third with our Officer, "Double-D," behind me. We each crawled holding onto the pant leg of the firefighter ahead of us.

We made our way down a small corridor, not much wider than 3 feet by 3 feet, as I heard Wash-Out shout, "Stairs!" We came to a small set of stairs. These 5 stairs led up to a small opening in the ceiling above us. "Hole in the ceiling!" shouted Buffalo. We each crawled up through this hole.

As I squeezed my way up into the hole in the ceiling, sweat dripping from every pore as my body heat remained trapped within my PPE, I banged my helmet against the small opening. As I squeezed through I could feel my heart pounding in my ears as the dark smoke and the walls began to close in around my body and my mind.

I swallowed my fear and continued to crawl forward down a short hallway as the adrenaline began to kick in. I heard the shouts from Wash-Out and Buffalo ahead, "Left Turn!" As I rounded the corner I looked at the Heads Up Display within my facepiece. The two green lights that signaled my SCBA's full air pressure had now turned to a single green light, meaning I was quickly pulling air from my tank. I needed to slow my breathing and concentrate on the task. I shouted the directions to Double-D as we continued to quickly crawl.

"Low Tunnel!" screamed Buffalo as we scrambled down a small angled corridor. I felt him stop and turn over onto his back. I remembered the small tunnel I had to crawl through to pass the CPAT and thought this would be a simple dip in the ceiling. I reached into the dark with my hand to feel the low tunnel. As my gloves passed over the wall in front of me I realized this low tunnel was nothing more than a 1 foot tall by 3 foot wide gap in the wall!

I began to panic as I turned over on my back, my SCBA clanging on the floor as I reached my arms straight out. I reached through the gap as I laid my head on the floor, hoping to make myself as flat as possible to pull myself through. As I pulled myself forward, I looked up through the smoke to see the dim flashing lights from Buffalo's SCBA.

I pulled my own body weight along with the 70 pounds of gear under the small opening. My shoulder crashed into the opening as I realized that I couldn't fit through the opening. I gasped and fear began to set in. I thought to myself, "How am I going to get through this? How am I going to survive? Will I have to return through this way?" I remembered what my wife had told me just two nights before, "Think about those victims as if there were your children."

I thought about my kids being trapped, desperately hoping for rescue. I took a deep breath and yelled to Buffalo, "I'm taking my pack off, I can't fit through here!" I pushed myself back to begin turning over when Buffalo grabbed my hand and screamed, "Do NOT take off your pack! Pull yourself through one arm at a time!"

I threw one arm over head and left the other at my side. This made my shoulders just slim enough to slide through the gap. A feeling of exhilaration and pride washed over my worried mind as I peered up at the green glow from behind Buffalo's facepiece. I rolled back over and got on my hands and knees, yelling under the gap for Double-D to do the same as I had.

Once we were all through the gap we proceeded into the dark. The smoke whisping past my facepiece as the HUD changed to yellow, signifying that my air was at about 2200psi or half empty. Trust me, this was not a half-full moment for me. I knew any moment that my low-air alarm would begin. I was sucking too much air and we couldn't turn back.

Just as I finished that thought the alarm went off. In addition to the alarm a warning light on the SCBA began to flash and the HUD began to vibrate on my face. My mind was screaming to stand up and run but I knew I had a job to do and I was part of a team. "No one gets left behind and everyone goes home."

We crawled right, left, around a corner and I heard Wash-Out yell, "I've got a victim!"

"Pass the victim!" shouted Buffalo. He turned and passed me the "victim." It was an infant sized doll, heavier than I thought it would be and very awkward.

The group turned and I tucked the "victim" under my left arm. Double-D screamed, "Let's GO!" as he scrambled to lead us back the way we came.

I frantically passed him the doll under the wall. With each pass of my hand and feet across the floor I hoped that I had enough air to get out. I tried to focus on my breathing and slow down each exhale. Finally I heard Double-D exclaim, "Here's the hole in the floor! Go down feet first!" This meant we were near the exit. I excitedly dropped down the stairs and continue to rush toward the light at the end of that cramped, dark, smokey tunnel.

As I jumped out of the door the reality of what I had just done slammed into me like a freight train. It was almost unbelievable and I was almost overcome with the fear I had denied the entire time. My only defense was to erupt in a guttural exclamation, "Yeeeaaah!"

We all turned to make sure everyone had made it out and congratulated each other on our rescue.

This would not be the last time I had to face fear.


Check out this informative and funny video of what it is like to crawl through a smoke trailer.

In similar fashion to the video, I later heard that "Cap'n Brown" had not conquered his fear of confined spaces. It overwhelmed him so much that he stood up and jumped out of the trailer, crawling, climbing and running over his company and leaving them behind in the trailer.

I'm trying hard not to make fun of his struggle, but it is hilarious to hear Rescue 1 recount the story as they saw him bolt out of the trailer. Ha!
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What memories do you have of fire education? What things do you want to know about fire safety? Have you had to face danger and fear and still get the job done?

Join me for the next blog post about high angle rescue!