The Observer, July 2005

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Symposium teaches tactics in shipboard firefighting

By RHONDA WILLIAMS
Citizens’ council project manager

In early May, land-based firefighters from Alaska coastal communities gathered in Valdez for marine firefighting training sponsored by the citizens’ council. Fighting a fire on a vessel is very different from firefighting on land. Vessel fires pose risks often not present in land based fires. Yet, most firefighters in Alaska are not trained to fight fires on vessels, although many of the state’s communities have small boat harbors and receive visits from larger vessels.

Upper left, a trainee is silhouetted against a doorway on the Emerald Island. Upper right, trainees and instructors beside the Endeavour. Bottom left, trainees pull fire hose during the symposium. Bottom right, Captain John Taylor, one of the instructors. Photos by Tom Kuckertz and Rhonda Williams.

One goal of the symposium is to offer hands-on exercises with a variety of vessels. With a great deal of in-kind sponsorship this year, the symposium was able to offer a live shipboard drill in an oil tanker. ConocoPhillips’ shipping unit for North Slope crude, Polar Tankers, provided the Polar Endeavour for an afternoon of training.

Students were divided into engine companies, each with its own instructor and vessel crew member. Captain Kevin Garnier and his crew on the Polar Endeavour were outstanding in their enthusiasm and participation in this drill. The scenario was a fire in an air purifier room.

Also participating in the exercise were the tugs Stalwart, Alert and Tan’erliq. During the exercise these tugs practiced their roles for water supply and boundary cooling. These tugs are equipped to assist in firefighting by providing the vessel with an additional water supply for the hose teams and cooling the metal of the areas in close proximity to the location of the fire.

Once again the South West Alaska Pilots Association donated the use of its boat, the Emerald Island, for training. Students practiced search and rescue and finding the source of the fire. The Coast Guard participated by stationing inflatable boats nearby for such activities as rescue in case a firefighter or crew member fell overboard during the training.

The symposium, the fourth the council has offered in the past few years, also had classroom sessions on such topics such as initial engine company actions, small-boat and marina fires, understanding fire plans, and vessel familiarization.

The symposium receives support from many organizations. The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management once again provided funding to cover the travel, room and board expenses of firefighters from small coastal departments. The city of Valdez, Valdez Fire Department, Alyeska, the Coast Guard, Crowley Marine, the pilots association, and Polar Tankers all made generous in-kind donations.

Most important was the participation of the firefighters. Without their interest and enthusiasm there would be no symposium. Many attendees are volunteers for small fire departments who take vacation time from their paid jobs to train at the symposium.