I’ve been reading quite a few articles on several fire service web sites and have noticed a few more news coverages on the television about firefighters injured or killed after accidents involving fires in basements. At school, I learned quite a great deal about the special circumstances and tactics that need to be employed while fighting basement fires simply because it’s a very special situation.

As it stands right now, I have a presentation of 40 slides outlining cautions, dangers, strategies & tactics, visual discussion exercises and a live burn session. The outline of the course is complete and I’m curtailing it to a 16-hour weekend course. Hopefully, if all goes well, it’ll be the quality that some other instructors would agree to and I will have the opportunity to present it, in full, to the staff at the state fire academy for approval.

I don’t expect to change the world, but if I’ve gained some knowledge about basement fire tactics, I really think it needs to be shared and hopefully, some one else will learn.... and live.