69A-37.404. Requirements for Live Fire Training for Certified Personnel

(1) The Instructor in Charge (IIC) and the Safety Officer (SO) must each be certified as a Live Fire Training Instructor.

(2) Any other person identified as actually leading a crew inside a structure or in the immediate proximity of an exterior prop and immediately supervising such training operations must be a Certified “Live Fire Adjunct Trainer.”

(3) Any person operating a backup hoseline is not required to be any kind of a certified instructor or certified trainer.

(4) Each firefighter, regardless of tenure, shall be trained to constantly identify hazards and alternative escape routes during interior fire suppression operations, inclusive of training exercises.

(5) Live fire training in any structure must include instruction of the student in planning for a secondary means of egress or escape in case of an unexpected fire condition change. Prior to live fire training drills, each firefighter must identify two means of egress or escape from each area. No fire room shall be used when there are not at least two separate means of egress or escape available.

(6) Any room with limited access shall not be used for live fire training instruction.

(7) Live fire used in training must not block the main or planned secondary exit of firefighters.

(8) Emergency ventilation must be planned to limit fire spread and improve habitability. Neither the primary nor secondary egress point is permitted to be used for normal room venting.

(9) Each window used as a secondary means of egress shall have clear access, with the glass and impedances such as frame cross members removed. Windows are permitted to be loosely boarded to allow ventilation and to be easily removed without tools from the inside or outside. No exterior obstruction shall impede egress.

(10) A safety team with a hoseline having sufficient flow, but with not less than a minimum of 95 GPM, to extinguish a fire involving the entire fire room must be in place to monitor the fire and the training personnel. The safety team shall at all times monitor the progress of the crew being trained.

(11) Training mannequins must be readily identifiable as such and shall not be dressed in structural firefighter protective clothing that is possible to confuse with the clothing of an actual firefighter.

(12) Thermal imaging equipment should be used to monitor fire conditions and the location of firefighters during fire training. Thermal imaging is a valuable tool for firefighter safety, for more rapid victim search and rescue, and for fire suppression operations in hostile structural fires.

(13) Every pumper or other unit equipped with a pump supplying hoselines during interior fire operations shall have an assigned qualified pump operator present at that unit in case immediate operational changes are necessary.

(14) All internal crews and command staff shall have working two way radio communications throughout the entire structure or hot zone prior to beginning any evolution. Operations shall be conducted on a dedicated radio channel that shall not be a channel used for dispatching or for any other use during live fire evolutions.

(15) The “two-in - two-out” rule shall at all times be in effect during any live fire training.

(a) A minimum of two individuals shall be located outside the immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH) atmosphere prepared to immediately make entry for the purpose of locating and rescuing a student or other person.

(b) The two-out personnel may each be assigned an additional role for the purpose of training fires that does not take him or her away from the immediate location or diminish his or her ability to immediately react; and such role shall not jeopardize the safety or health of anyone onsite by abandoning that other assignment.

(c) The Instructor In Charge, Safety Officer, and primary pump operator are not permitted to serve as members of the “two-out” personnel.

(16) The local emergency medical services (EMS) provider shall be apprised of the location and time of the evolution. Basic Life Support shall be provided on the scene and whenever possible Advance Life Support care and transport is recommended to be on scene. Planning shall include a landing zone for air transport, such as an emergency medical service helicopter.

(17)(a) The following portions of the 2012 edition of the National Fire Protection Association, Inc., Publication 1402, “Guide to Building Fire Service Training Centers,” are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference:

1. 1402-7.1 Working with an Architect/Engineer (A/E);

2. 1402-8.15 Emergency Care;

3. 1402-8.16 Building Maintenance;

4. 1402-10.4 Thermal Linings; and,

5. 1402-11.3 Safety.

(b) The codes and standards published by the National Fire Protection Association may be obtained by writing to the NFPA at: 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269-9101. All standards adopted and incorporated by reference in these rules are also available for public inspection during regular business hours at the Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, Division of State Fire Marshal, 11655 Northwest Gainesville Road, Ocala, Florida 33482-1486.

(18)(a) The 2012 edition of the National Fire Protection Association, Inc., Publication 1403, “Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions,” is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference, excluding, however, any chapter entitled “Referenced Publications.”

(b) The codes and standards published by the National Fire Protection Association may be obtained by writing to the NFPA at: 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, Massachusetts 02269-9101. All standards adopted and incorporated by reference in these rules are also available for public inspection during regular business hours at the Bureau of Fire Standards and Training, Division of State Fire Marshal, 11655 Northwest Gainesville Road, Ocala, Florida 33482-1486.

Rulemaking Authority 633.418(1), 633.128(1), (2)(a), 633.508(6) FS. Law Implemented 633.128(1), 633.418(1), 633.508 FS. History‒New 10-5-06, Amended 8-3-15.