Firefighters learn how to react in flashovers

Paper itself doesn’t burn. Neither does wood. But the gasses they emit when heated are what burn, and when they get hot enough, they can erupt in a super-hot, super-fast fire called a flashover. Predicting a flashover is difficult, and when one happens, a firefighter has about two seconds to get out of the room.

Many firefighters go their entire careers without encountering a flashover. Jefferson City Firefighter Mark Earls survived one, but not in the field. The 13-year veteran’s first encounter came Thursday while training at the 72nd annual Summer Fire School, a five-day event ending Sunday in Jefferson City. Flashover Survival is one of 15 new classes being taught at the school.

“The entire purpose is to give them a chance to see the signs and learn how to react,” said Kevin Zumwalt, special projects manager for the MU Extension Fire and Rescue Training Institute which sponsors the school. “A picture is worth a thousand words, but experience in the moment is priceless.”

More than 1,100 emergency responders from 16 states and the Dominican Republic are attending classes, said Carmen Stanton, a member of the command team that organizes the events. Participants will be taught the latest techniques in emergency response. Course prices range from $15 to $350. Some of the classes are required for certification or attaining higher rank as a firefighter, but many students participate for other reasons.

“I took this class because it was live fire training,” said Earls, who escaped the flashover unharmed.

Tim Lurkins, a firefighter and paramedic with the Lake Ozark Fire Protection District, is participating in the school for the first time. He is taking Fire Service Instructor I, a course meant to equip him to teach fire safety.

“It’s required for the next rank, but that’s not why I’m taking it,” Lurkins said. “It’s because I enjoy what I do.”

The fire school is being run concurrently with the Midwest Wildfire Training Academy sponsored by the Big River Forest Fire Management Compact.

The wildfire academy teaches a system of command that can be used in any emergency situation, said Garry Blackwell, who helps coordinate the academy.

“Even if only two people with a hand-pump respond to a small fire, there is still a chain of command and the different positions have to be filled,” Blackwell said. “Our purpose is to train local firefighters to be part of national mobilization.”

According to the Fire and Rescue Training Institute, each year in Missouri about 3,700 wildfires occur that burn 55,000 acres of forest and grassland.