r By Steve ParsonsrThe Payson City Fire Department has completed its annual training in the “hot house.” The Utah Fire and Rescue Academy (https://www.uvu.edu/ufra/) conducts the training all across the state. The flashover trailer they bring is meant to help emergency responders witness fire and flashover behavior. The converted shipping container reaches temperatures well over 300 degrees inside during the roughly 30-minute stay for the trainees. Flashover occurs usually between 900 and 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and is not survivable for more than a few seconds even with protective gear. That is why this type of training is so important toward the goal of saving lives. Flashover is when temperatures reach a high enough point that secondary gases and virtually the whole room suddenly are engulfed in flames.
Firefighters learn to observe and track fire conditions as the fire progresses. They also practice specific techniques to minimize and control flashover while in the trailer. Hats off to our emergency responders for putting themselves in this difficult and dangerous situation in order to further their own skills for serving us. Payson Fire Department certainly knows how to “Serve Daily.”
