This morning, several RVFD members participated in a live fire flashover simulation, hosted by Bay District VFD (BDVFD). The flashover simulator allows instructors to demonstrate fire behavior from incipient stage to flashover, helping firefighters learn to recognize the signs of a pending flashover event. This enables training in the recognition of rollover conditions (i.e., predecessor to a flashover event), thermal layering, smoke reading, and more.

Flashover occurs during a fire when combustible materials reach the point that everything in the room becomes engulfed in flames. The fires our firefighters are seeing today burn hotter and faster than fires in the past due to the makeup of the materials in today’s homes. Because of this, flashover is more common and is extremely dangerous for occupants and firefighters. This simulator training event allowed our firefighters to witness the development of a flashover from a safe position so they could recognize the danger. Providing this training to our firefighters ensures their safety and a better understanding of fire behavior.

We’d like to thank Instructors Tyler Wentworth, Mike Donaldson, and Daniel Reed for their time and training. We’d also like to thank BDVFD for the use of their simulator. And, lastly, thanks to Brianna Post for the incredible pictures.