Guantanamo Bay Fire Department Conducts Live Fire Structural Training

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Justin Ailes Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Public Affairs

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (NNS) -- Fire Department personnel at (NS) Guantanamo Bay, Cuba conducted Live Fire Structural training, Feb. 13-17.

The training took place in residential housing structures scheduled for demolition. The evolutions provided a realistic fire fighting training environment in a semi-controlled atmosphere.

"Live fire training in an acquired residential structure is absolutely the most realistic training environment out there," said NS Guantanamo Bay Fire Chief Eric Tucker. "This allows the firefighters to put all the individual pieces of their training together and see the results in real buildings in real time. This kind of training allows not only the firefighters to practice their skills it allows the chief officers to confirm their expectations of the performance of their crews."

Firefighters combated approximately 40 room and contents fires during the five-day training cycle at NS Guantanamo Bay's Evans Point housing subdivision.

"Training in real structures [especially ones that are representative of the other housing units on base] allows the command officers to practice implementing command elements in changing real time environments so it permitted the entire department to see where the strengths and weaknesses are from top to bottom," said Tucker. "There really is just no other way to "train like you fight" except in these live fire situations and it builds the firefighters confidence as well.

Tucker said the acquisition of the housing structures was a group effort.

"It started when base contractor company Toltest approached us about the possibility of using these structures before their scheduled demolition." said Tucker. "As the process evolved we decided that these were actually perfect for live fire training."

During the preparation for demolition, Toltest removed the majority of combustible materials and disconnected the utilities within the housing units.

"After consulting with NS Guantanamo Bay Commanding Officer Capt. Kirk Hibbert and the installation's Hospital, Housing, Public Works, Safety, Environmental, and Security departments, we were indeed given permission to burn in these structures," said Tucker. "As the process of replacing housing continues over the next few years, we are certainly looking forward to continued opportunities to train in this environment."