Originally Posted by
FootLoose
Hi Jack, I was not an official firefighter in any sense although I have had some experience. The instruction I referred to was an element of a mining engineering course I did (must be 40 years ago now). Learning the names of equipment and its purpose, different types of fire (wood, coal, oil, chemical, electrical) and how to combat them, what types of fire are likely to be found at particular sites u/g and relating to particular machinery/apparatus (transformers, isolators, feeders, belts etc); as well as strategies for fighting fires u/g.
We had tours of the local fire station, and they lit a fire for us to extinguish. Also went to the rescue station - which is like a huge oven - and lit that up and took us inside to experience a 'real' fire (Hot, bloody hot!).
A couple of years later I joined the fire team at work, and once a fortnight we trained by extinguishing a large fire in a safe area on the surface. I was glad I never had to put that training into practice with a real fire u/g.
But all my practical experience was in fighting bushfires (wildfires) in the area where I lived. We were just a group of neighbours with a 3 ton flat top truck that we tied a 500gal water tank onto and connected a 4hp honda engine and about 20m of hose. One guy drove the truck, another stayed on the back of it to keep the pump going and manage the hose, and I manned the business end of the hose on the ground. We weren't official in any sense, but the local bush fire brigade would call on us during the fire season so maybe we were some kind of adjunct.
My only connection these days is when I accompany the fire inspector on periodical inspections of the equipment in the complex where I live.
I think most of the country fire brigades are volunteers but they come under the command of the Fire Authority when there is a serious outbreak. There is not much government funding for them, and they rely on fund-raisers and donations.