New tool for fire training arrives

It is a case of “good things come to those who wait” in regard to Lake Havasu City Fire Department being selected to receive a $5,000 grant for a new fire extinguisher training tool.

The BullEx ITS Live Fire Extinguisher Training System has been on the department’s wish list for about two years, according to fire officials.

“We have looked at (the training system) in the past, but due to the economy, we simply didn’t have the money to purchase it,” said Fire Inspector Scott Hartman.

The department’s former Fire Inspector Mike Kemp spearheaded the initial interest in the apparatus. It was Kemp who arranged for a representative of BullEx to travel to Havasu to demonstrate the tool at that time, Hartman explained.

Since that time, Kemp has been transferred to an engine company as a result of budget reorganization measures in the fire department earlier this year. Before Kemp left for his new post, he passed the information about the training system to Hartman.

Hartman, who acts as a grant writer for the fire department, learned in mid-December the department had been recommended for an Allianz Heritage Rewards grant for the very training system on the department’s wish list.

“We were contacted by a gentleman out of a California-based Allianz insurance agency who was aware of the grant. Apparently, there wasn’t much interest in the grant and the opportunity came to us,” Hartman said.

The insurance agent had an unknown tie to Havasu and suggested the city’s fire department as a candidate, the fire inspector said.

The grant was processed in about a week, Hartman explained. Even though the check passing is scheduled Jan. 5 at Fire Station No. 1, the BullEx training system arrived in Havasu about a week ago.

Hartman said he contacted the company that had previously traveled to town to demonstrate the system and informed them Lake Havasu City Fire Department was a recipient of a grant for the device. The company shipped it on good faith and the grant money will pay the bill for it, Hartman explained.

“The fire extinguisher training prop is a device designed to teach how to operate and efficiently use a fire extinguisher. It really shows people what it takes to put a fire out,” Hartman said.

In the past, training of this type was always held at the department’s training location at Station No. 2. The previous training consisted of burning diesel fuel, which created a lot of smoke, the fire inspector said.

The new apparatus is portable and can be easily taken directly to a business and set up in the parking lot for training sessions, Hartman said.

The system is hooked up to a standard 20-pound propane cylinder just like the one used for a barbecue grill and is equipped with a handheld controller. The controller has four different fire settings to challenge trainees, a flare-up button to further challenge the trainee as well as a kill-switch to immediately extinguish the burn, according to a BullEx ITS operational DVD.

The training extinguishers themselves are filled with pressurized water and free of the chemical agents usually found in standard extinguishers.

The fire prop has the capability to grow the flame if the trainee is failing to sweep the extinguisher correctly or failing to appropriately target the base of the fire. The technology is achieved though a series of sensors nestled in the design of the system.

The power source for the entire system is generated through the cigarette lighter of a vehicle, the fire inspector said.

“It increases safety and the amount of how many (people) we can train,” Hartman said.

Allainz staff members who could answer questions about the Havasu grant were out of the office until January.

Lake Havasu City Fire Marshal Chip Shilosky did not immediately return calls about how much public training fees surrounding the new system will be.

The department will get its feet wet this week when its members test the new system.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.