Firefighters learn how to fight a raging heater treater fire common in the chemical
and petroleum industries.
Fire It Up!
The firefighters at the 61 st
annual Texas Firemen’s Training
School know they have an important
job to do and looks of determination
show in their eyes.
Firefighters from around the world
are at Brayton Fire Field on the Texas
A&M campus training to combat
flames. Their training continues until
the end of the day.
Exxon fire brigade firefighter Darrell Du-
hon splashes his suit down to stay cool.
These men and women are the
creme de la creme, chosen to partici
pate by members of their respective
fire departments, said Ricky Lummus
of Bloomberg.
“Everybody wants to come,” he
said. “But not everybody can.”
The work is strenuous and despite
the sweltering summer heat and flick
ering flames, firefighters give it their
all.
Their commitment is impressive. In
fact, many volunteer firefighters are
using their vacation time to train.
Training procedures are taught
through a combination of classroom
and practical instruction.
In the classroom, the techniques for
extinguishing the fire are discussed
and immediately afterward, the fire
fighters put their knowledge to use.
Fires of all types, from small auto
mobile fires to iaig;e-scaie industrial
fires, are set in different situations all
over the 60-plus acres of Brayton
field.
Third-year veteran Tom Beesley, a
volunteer firefighter from Mineola,
said it is a great learning experience.
“ET
everybody wants to
come. But not everybody
can”
— Ricky Lummus,
firefighter
“You get to do exotic things under
controlled circumstances,” he said.
Firefighters practice extinguishing
fires 9o times each week, and the
summer heat makes them particularly
susceptible to heat exhaustion.
Their firefighting gear is made of
several layers of insulation, plus a
flame-retardant outer covering.
It protects firefighters from the in
tense heat of the fire, but at the same
time, it traps body heat, which can
build up in a short time.
Jeffrey McNeel of the Beaumont
Fire Department compared it to play
ing football on a summer afternoon
wearing a sweater, coat, boots, gloves
and a hat.
But that’s still cooler than without
protection, he said.
After a long day of firefighting,
many firefighters enjoy an evening
out on the town to unwind.
(Above and clockwise) After the fires are put
out, firefighters wrap their heads in wet towels
to prevent heat exhaustion. Field Training In
structor Butch Derr explains to students how
firefighters stay together when entering a
dark, smokey structure, one of the most impor
tant lessons taught at the school. Akzo Chem
ical’s fire brigade attacks a raging deep-spill
diesel fire. Duhon smears Desitin ointment on
his face to protect it from spiattering hot diesel
fuel.
Photos by Mihc C. Mwlvoy Story by Isselle McAlister