Firehouse Expo’s New HOT Sessions

You asked, and we answered! The hands-on training (HOT) program at the 2021 edition of Firehouse Expo comprises sessions that you told us were important to you, and Firehouse Expo is fortunate to work with the staffs of the Columbus Division of Fire and the Ohio Fire Academy to provide those eight-hour classes, so that you will walk away better prepared to do your job.

From Columbus to you

Three of the HOT classes that will convene at Firehouse Expo 2021 will be led by members of the Columbus Division of Fire.

Steve Robertson’s “Stretching for Success” program is designed to help you to expeditiously get hoselines off of the rig and stretched to get water on fire quickly. Robertson and his cadre will have you pulling lines from pre-connect and bulk hosebeds, moving hoselines vertically and horizontally and learning each step of getting the critical first line into place.

Join Columbus’ Lt. Jeff Cordle for “Saving Our Own: Techniques to Save Yourself and Fellow Firefighters,” to run through a variety of scenarios, including the Polaski and Pittsburgh Drills. Bringing it home, you will go through the Nance Drill, which was developed after the tragic loss of Columbus Firefighter John Nance, who died after falling into the burning basement at a downtown business. This class will teach you new self-survival tips and reinforce lessons that you learned through your time in the fire service.

Capt. Sexton Towns will have attendees throwing portable ladders in “Taking Your Ground Laddering to the Next Level.” You’ll leave the training confident in your ability to position multiple ladders quickly and effectively and smarter about how to empty your rig’s ladder bed.

Debut trainings

In the never-before-offered live fire class, “Irons, Fires and Saws: The Art and Soul of the Modern Truck,” Capt. Thomas Anderson and the Insights Training team will dig into a variety of truck company skills. From search and thermal imaging to ventilation, you will sharpen your abilities during this intense eight-hour program.

“Performance Under Pressure: Primary Search” will be Lt. Rob Blasetti’s debut class at Firehouse Expo. It will focus on developing a tempo during the high-stress search operations on the fireground. Attendees will search in various scenarios while instructors share tips and tricks.

To provide effective training for the reality of today’s fire service under live fire conditions, Lt. John Lewis and Chief Robert Moran developed “Live Fire: Tactics for Success with Limited Staffing.” The new program will help you to focus on completing first- and second-due engine and truck tasks with three- and four-person crews in residential and commercial environments.

Because school buses are on the road in every community, but departments rarely have the chance to train with them, we’re thrilled to offer “School Bus Extrication.” Chief Paul Hasenmeier and his group will instruct on vehicle access techniques from the roof, floor, sidewalls and other points, plus patient removal and other skills.

On Wednesday only, increase your rope rescue skills with the unique “Personal Rope Skills: Ascending, Rappelling & Mid-Height Rescue” class, which will be led by Dalan Zartman and other members of the Rescue Methods team. The class will take you to a gorge, where you will learn ascending and descending and how to perform mid-height rescue sequences.

We’re excited to have Robert “RJ” James and Cameron Peek return to help you to navigate the challenging world of forcible entry. As part of the class, you will review various locks that you can encounter on the fireground and how to force entry through a variety of scenarios during “Down & Dirty Forcible Entry.”

Visit FirehouseExpo.com for the latest on Firehouse Expo’s program and exhibitors. In the pull-down “Conference” menu, the “Conference” menu item will take you to the “Hands-On Training” tab, where you can find more details about these classes, the PPE that you will need to bring, and the waiver and agreement that you must complete before class.