Fairchild and Air Force Space Command Firefighters have an Intervention

by Staff Sgt. Alexandre Montes
92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

6/18/2014 - FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- You and your best friend are blinded as your whole world comes crashing down around you. Through the haze, you hear loud sirens screaming as they speed closer. Temperatures rise higher than those in California's Death Valley and as you look around, slowly regaining your bearing, your only means of escape, oh....and the 10 flights of stairs between you and freedom, have collapsed. How do you survive?

Firefighters across the Department of Defense have begun training just like their civilian counterparts in the hope of aiding in future structural fire rescues.

These firefighters will receive Rapid Intervention Team, also known as RIT. This is a fairly new type of training for the DOD and while it's critical, it's also beneficial to the safety to responders.

Teams of two train together in buildings compiled with scenarios that help mimic the real life possibilities of being trapped, injured or lost. Some rooms were constructed with plywood tunnels filled with cables and wires to simulate fallen ceiling that responders crawl through while blind folded and wearing their protective gear.

"In 2010, the National Fire Protection Association published a new standard, NFPA 1407, which required Fire Ground Survival and Rapid Intervention training," said David Killpack, the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron fire training chief. "The Air Force adopted the standard as written, along with the process of figuring out how to meet the standard."

Over the past several years, there has been a significant increase in the death of firefighters due to structural fires. Now that there are newer and hotter fuels being produced, fires are burning faster and stronger, trapping firefighters inside buildings and sometimes killing them.

"This is one of the most critical areas in the fire department," Killpack said. "There has been a marked increase in firefighter deaths per structural fire in the past few years. It went from 1.8 victims to 3.2 victims per 100,000 fires."

It took the RIT program nearly three years in the developmental stage before it was practiced here. The program was implemented by the Air Force Space Command, with its own personnel being the first to attend RIT training.

The 92nd CES helped host RIT with 14 firefighters from seven separate departments, including Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado, Clear Air Force Station, Alaska, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, and Patrick Air Force Base, Florida.

"The course is a 'train-the-trainer' course, so our students completing the training can return to their bases and train their responders," said David Killpack. "Essentially, nearly 200 firefighters will be trained in this program this year."

The Fairchild AFB Fire Department lead the training here with two additional instructors invited from Clear AFS. The department's goal is to continue training the DOD in RIT and Fire Ground Survival. With the growing constraints on the DOD budget, KillPack said that the possibility of having Air Mobility Command Airmen train here and become instructors for their departments could be very beneficial, said David Killpack.

"It cost approximately $60,000 to train one base of firefighters," said Killpack. "This course may have been $60,000, but now we have the ability to train seven bases. That's a savings of nearly $36,000."

Keeping up the local fire stations, the 92nd CES will begin training in August on RIT and FGS with their local mutual-aid partners. These types of partnerships help ensure that every on-scene responder knows how to work with each other to save each other if needed.

"This training was literally created to keep firefighters alive so they can go home to their families," said David Killpack. "Injured and dead firefighters cannot serve the public; so ultimately, keeping them safer will keep the public safer."