College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Fire Service Technology program went on the road, Dec. 1 and 2, to Renaissance High School in Meridian for two days of outside of the classroom live, fire-behavior training to support the Renaissance Fire Services programs and their new dual credit offering through CWI, FIRE 120 – Principles of Emergency Services.
CWI’s Director of Public Safety programs, Kevin Platts, and Director of Fire Service Technology, Darrin Raskopf, provided a live demonstration in fire behavior using a recently purchased Fire Dynamics Training Prop providing students with a hands-on experience learning real fire behavior. Producing plenty of smoke, the fire prop simulates a real fire in a simulated room to illustrate how fast fire temperatures can rise and how fire travels from room to room or can “flashover” to a fire in a room without flames present when doors or windows are open or closed. The room also has vents that can open and closed to simulate a firefighter cutting a hole in a hole in the roof of a structure to ventilate the building which could endanger firefighters in the building with smoke or a “flashover” by introducing fresh oxygen to the existing fire in the building.
Renaissance Fire Services students enjoyed the live fire training and seeing real flames in a simulated building, which their teacher said they had not been exposed to prior.
“We hope to see some of these students bridge over from the Renaissance High School Fire Services programs to the CWI Fire Service Technology program to earn an associate degree or basic technical certificate,” commented Platts. “The dual credit fire classes will give them a leg up on reaching their goals of becoming firefighters using their Fast Forward funds for dual credit while in high school.”
