Firefighters in a flash

Inside most fire stations is a room lined with a row of cushy recliners positioned strategically in front of a big screen. But good luck catching a firefighter snoozing in front of the TV.

The Hollywood image of firefighters may be of burly men, who, while not fighting demonic back drafts, are barbecuing and playing outrageous pranks on each other.

Sure, those things go on, but what people don’t see is how much time the men and women of Newport-Mesa’s fire departments spend training ? for everything.

They train to rescue people from small spaces, to put out flammable-gas blazes, to provide emergency medicine, to make cliff rescues and a whole lot of everything else.

“It’s important for firefighters to constantly train because we never know what we may be confronted with,” Costa Mesa Fire Chief Jim Ellis said.

When firefighters aren’t responding to emergency calls, the first priority is training, Newport Beach Fire Chief Tim Riley said.

“The breadth of knowledge and skills that we have to carry in our arsenal every day is probably unsurpassed,” Riley said.

Constant training is of particular importance because of the recent turnover in the fire service, Ellis said. Fire agencies are reaching the end of a 30-year cycle: Many firefighters are retiring, and new ones are being recruited to take their places, Ellis said.

Most of all, firefighters train for the situations they hope to never encounter.

“A lot of the things we don’t see a lot; that’s why we train,” said Newport Firefighter Paramedic Steve Martin, who is learning to become a training officer.

One of those things is flashover.

A flashover occurs when a fire is so hot that everything in the room releases a gas. When the gases catch fire at the same time, the fire flashes and engulfs the entire room, Martin said.

Of all the fire situations, flashover is one of the most dangerous, said Al Marland, a fire technician at the Central Net fire training center in Huntington Beach.

The point of flashover training isn’t to learn how to put the fire out; it’s to teach firefighters how to recognize the signs and get out alive, Marland said.

Thick black smoke combined with heat buildup are indications that a fire is about to flash, Martin said.

If you notice the signs, you have to get out, Martin told a group of firefighters before heading into a nighttime flashover training session at Central Net.

Because it is a training exercise, the firefighters are not on the same level as the fire. They train in the “burn box,” two containers stair-stepped on one another, creating a three-foot difference between the levels.

This allows the firefighters to see a live flashover without putting themselves in danger.

“This is a situation where you get to see what you don’t want to see,” said Newport Beach Firefighter Erin Brown, who’s never seen a real flashover.

Before going into the burn box, firefighters check each other over, carefully making sure the gear and face masks cover every inch of skin.

The temperature at the ceiling of the container during the flashover hits an estimated 1,100 degrees, Martin said.

Once everyone’s inside, Marland ignites the fire in the forward container. Firefighters line the perimeter of the lower container, crouching and watching as the fire gathers speed.

Every second the fire burns, a dark ceiling of smoke falls lower and lower, until the fire’s red flames are barely visible.

Then the fire starts to roll.

It’s alive. Its arms reach toward the back of the container. One by one, firefighters scoot forward, grab a hose and douse the fire with water.

The firefighters have been trained how to use the hose in a flashover ? if it isn’t used correctly, flames can spread and put the firefighters in danger, Marland said.

To prevent the fire from reaching the back of the container, Marland pulls down a safety flap to stop the flames.

That night, the flashover scenario was repeated several times, until each firefighter got the chance to put the hose on it.

The Newport Beach Fire Department does flashover training at the Huntington Beach facility because Newport doesn’t have a training station. For some training, Newport firefighters go the Costa Mesa Fire training facility.

When Newport’s Santa Ana Heights fire station is completedlive burns will not be allowed because of smoke concerns for nearby John Wayne Airport, Chief Riley said.

“This new training center will ? provide a venue for us to do training and education and skills maintenance for our people in our own city,” Riley said.dpt.09-sunday-5-CPhotoInfoIE1PPJ2D20060409ixf7ixncNo Captiondpt.09-sunday-3-BPhotoInfoIE1PPJ0620060409ixf7jyncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)dpt.09-sunday-4-CPhotoInfoIE1PPJ2420060409ixf7jlncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)dpt.09-sunday-6-CPhotoInfoIE1PPJ3420060409ixf7ijncdpt.09-sunday-cover-2-CPhotoInfoIE1PPHHM20060409ixf7htncPHOTOS BY DOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Above, a firefighter pulls a cord to create a flashover fire. Below, Newport Firefighter Paramedic Steve Martin explains how to fight the dangerous blaze. dpt.09-sunday-cover-1-CPhotoInfoIE1PPHH820060409ixf7i4ncPHOTOS BY DOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)