Fire extinguisher training

Fire! (photo by Dave Br.)
Last week, I attended fire training. We spent about an hour in the classroom before heading outside to see my first fire close up in almost a year. It was weird to see a fire that wasn't coming out of a match, lighter, or stove down here up close. It put up a huge plumes of black smoke that you could see from pretty faraway.


P.A.S.S. - Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep. (photo by Dave Br.)
The hands on training was pretty simple. Get bundled up in full bunker gear. Check your extinguisher and go PASS. We took on the fuel based fire in teams of two. I think was the first time I've ever used an extinguisher. I can't remember if I used one as a kid or not. We certainly could have used one for all the times my brother and I lit stuff on fire. The extinguisher might have been particularly useful when we let the gas can on fire, but for some reason throwing it across the lawn also seemed to do the trick. It also left some polka dot spots to remind of us the fun. It wasn't like the model rockets that just went in the garbage after they failed in flight and blew up. Perhaps, that was my early training to work at Lockheed Martin Space Systems where they still build rockets, but they don't blow nearly as many up anymore. Videos from the early years show them struggling to learn.


Tragedy averted. Fire smote. (photo by Dave Br.)
Putting the fire out definitely wasn't as much fun as making fire. Maybe, it was because we were destroying something instead of creating it. Who doesn't like building fire? Back in Colorado, we all love it, but some people love it so much they might push you out of the way to get first dibs (ahem, Allie). I can't wait to get back to camping and building a little fire. I'm tentatively looking to go camping in New Zealand before I head out for my next adventures, but everything is still up in the air.


William T in bunker gear. (photo by Dave Br.)