Aim:
This presentation has been designed to assist in understanding the issues with regards wildfires and provides advice.
Module 1
The course covers the following:
- Introduction
- Wildfire facts
- Backburning
- Nature of fire
- Fuel moisture content
- How different fuels burn
- Extinguishing fire
- Slurry
Module 2
The course covers the following:
- What is a wildfire?
- Fire spread
- Protection from radiation
- Conduction
- Convection
- Fire intensity
- Moisture content
- Curing
- Flame height
- Bushfires
- Direct contact
Module 3
The course covers the following:
- Safety on the fireground
- Job safety
- Specific wildfire hazards
- Heat exhaustion
- Heat stroke
- Smoke
- Fatigue
- Disorientation
- Environmental
- Taking refuge
- Watchout
- Fire spreading
Module 4
The course covers the following:
- Bushfires in Australia
- Impact of bushfires
- Fire danger rating
- History
- Spot-fires
- Fire whirls
Module 5
The course covers the following:
- Equipment
- Bushfire PPE
- Extinguishing equipment
- Hand tools
- General rules for using tools
- Axe
- Rake hoe
- Sharpening tools
- Handling tools
- The knapsack
- Safety procedures
- Fire beaters
- Use of beaters
- Pumps
- Hose fittings
- Adaptors
- Hose types
Module 6
The course covers the following:
- Common extinguishing agents
- Wetting agents
- Earth
- Retardants
- Foams
- What is foam effective on?
- What is foam not effective on?
- A class foams
- Fire suppressant foams
- Fluorine free foams
- Long term retardants
- Protein foams
- Synthetic foams
- High expansion foams
- Foam concentrates
- Polar solvents
- Foam proportioning
Module 7
The course covers the following:
- Branches, nozzles and pump operations
- Foam pump operation
- Medium and high expansion foam generators
- Air aspirating foam nozzles
- Smooth bore nozzles
- Fog nozzles
- Discharge devices
- Class A foam application
- Class B foam application
- Sweep on or roll off methods
- Bounce off method
- Rain-down (Lobbing method)
- Foam application techniques
- Compatibility of foams
- Water supply considerations
- High expansion foam for basements
- Foam storage and shipping
- Stacking
- Foam and the environment
- Heavy equipment
- Aerial water bombing
Module 8
The course covers the following:
- Fire behaviour
- Fuel
- Categories of fire
- Hilly/mountainous areas
- Flat grasslands
- Fuel size and quantity
- Arrangement of fuel
- Dryness of fuel
- The process of curing
- Weather and wildfires
- Temperature
- Relative humidity
- Wind speed
- Effects of wind on bushfires
Module 9
The course covers the following:
- Climate change
- Carbon offset
- Carbon farming
- What is the ERF auction?
- Terrain and wildfires
- Slope angle
- Uphill
- Downhill
- Aspect
- Fire as a management tool
- Prescribed wildfires
- Forest wildfires
- Scrub wildfires
- Grass wildfires
- Types of fires
- Implications for firefighters
Module 10
The course covers the following:
- Responding to wildfire
- Plan of attack
- Preparing to respond
- Brigade activities
- Call out procedures
- Proceeding to the fire
- Initial observation
- Sizing up the fire
- Evidence of cause
- Safe route
- Locating the wildfire
- Local knowledge
- Map reading
- Indicators of fire
- Observations on route to wildfire
- Suppressing the fire
- Methods of creating a fire break
Module 11
The course covers the following:
- Removing oxygen
- Water
- Wetting agents
- Class A foam
- Class B foam
- Application of foam
- Plan of attack
- Offensive strategies
- Direct attack
- Parallel attack
- Indirect attack
- Defensive strategies
- Advantages and disadvantages of strategies
Module 12
The course covers the following:
- A control line
- Control line tips
- Control line using hand tools
- The step up method
- The one lick method
- Factors affecting the construction of a fire line
- Following the path of least resistance
- Avoiding steep slopes
- Cutting across existing fire edges
- Using existing fire breaks
- Mopping up
- Patrolling the perimeter
- Patrolling duties
- Working as part of a team
Module 13
The course covers the following:
- Fire out declaration
- Backburning
- Types of patterns
- Risks of backburning
- Disadvantages of backburning
- Blackening out
- Communication on fire-ground
- Agency liaison
- Management
- Attacking the flanks
- Impact of wildfires
- The fire danger rating
- Bushfire prone land
- Building on bush fire prone land
- The BAL rating
- Bushfire shutters
- Bushfire sprinkler
Module 14
The course covers the following:
- Surviving a wildfire when trapped in a vehicle
- Actions to take
- Surviving a wildfire on foot
- Living in wildfire/bushfire prone area
- Understanding wildfire warnings
- Advice
- All clear
- Preparing your home
- Landscaping
- How wildfires destroy houses
- Ember attack
- Radiation
- Wind
- Sheltering during a wildfire
- Actively protecting your home
- Emotional impact
- Where to go as a last resort
Module 15
The course covers the following:
- Regional management
- South Australia
- New South Wales
- Western Australia
- Seasonality
- Designated bushfire prone area
- Bushfire prone vegetation
- Bushfire attack levels
- Building standards on these lands
- Factors affecting the BAL
- Type of ventilation
- Distance to ventilation
- The slope