Thick, curling smoke cut visibility to zero for the 12 people in the room before it caught fire.
Flames flashed overhead as temperature soared to 600 degrees. Despite the help of a 25-pound air tank, taking a breath took focus.
This was just a drill for firefighters from the DeKalb Fire Department, who took part in flashover training last week in Rotary Park. The specialized training was part of a professional development fire science program hosted by Sauk Valley Community College, designed to allow firefighters to observe the stages of a completely engulfed structure fire – from the inside.
“We do in the neighborhood of six to 10 trainings like this a year,” said Nick Dinges, who led the course and owns the Illinois Fire Store, a specialty store that sells firefighter gear. “This is a mobile simulator, one of three in the United States. … It’s pretty exciting, but very safe as well.”
The mobile unit allows firefighters to observe the signs and symptoms of a flashover from a vantage point below floor level, as well as see how things such as different airflows, ventilation and water impact the flame ignition and trajectory.
The group crowded into the burned metal trailer before the training, which began with Dinges igniting plywood set up on a platform.
“What I want you to recognize is the condition around us,” he told the group of firefighters, his voice muffled by a haz-mat airmask. “What are we seeing up here, and the smoke condition above our heads. At some point, you may have fire around your head, but don’t panic. It will only last for a second or so.”
Trainings that incorporate live burns are important because it’s a rare opportunity to learn, Dinges said.
“Our job today is tactical,” he said. “We get in there. We put the fire out.”
And that’s just when a fire actually is involved.