Ray Bradbury notwithstanding, Fireblast 451 has nothing to do with book burning and mind control.  Rather, it provides an outstanding mobile training platform for the Navy’s firefighters.  At Naval Station Everett it is also proving to be an excellent tool for reaching out and partnering with the community.

On Feb. 27 the Naval Station Everett fire crew hosted the City of Everett Fire Department in a training event that used the relatively new Navy Region Northwest fire training simulator.  NAVSTA Everett and the city have a mutual aid agreement for firefighting support.

Travelling from base to base, the simulator gives firemen realistic training for a number of common firefighting scenarios such as roof ventilation, ground laddering and search and rescue.

Flexibility is the key to using the simulator most effectively.  It provides live fire training locally without the need for firemen to travel.  It provides safe training for small numbers and for different experience levels.  Additionally, it works as an educational and fireman recruiting tool.

“Fireblast 451 simulates many of the real-life challenges firefighters face in the course of their work,” said Michael Kazikiewicz, “A” Shift Captain at Naval Station Everett. 

“It uses propane to create a level of heat that crews would normally encounter in a real structural fire. Today we are simulating going into a basement dwelling fire, including cutting a hole in the roof to allow heat and smoke to escape,” Kazikiewicz added.

“Training together is a really important part of our mutual aid agreement,” said Jeff Edmonds, Battalion Chief for the Everett Fire Department. “To effectively support one another in a real-life situation you have to train that way.”

“It has been great working with the Everett Fire Department,” Kazikiewicz said.  “There are only four of us on the station fire crew, so the mutual aid agreement expands our capabilities considerably. It’s great that we are able to bring a piece of equipment like Fireblast into our partnership.”

The mutual aid agreement with the City of Everett is not just a piece of paper.  In early January the naval station fire crew responded to a serious structural fire in downtown Everett, supporting a city crew that was becoming overtaxed. 

“Our mutual support really works,” said Kazikiewicz. “With the four of us we can feel pretty much on our own here and it feels really good to have the city of Everett crews so close by.”