Shelter of Last Resort
Many firefighter fatalities that have occurred in France in the last 10 years have resulted from being trapped while trying to escape a fire. While firefighters are supposed to have their own individual fire shelters with them, this is not always the case, especially with reinforcement firefighters coming from far-north provinces.
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Firefighters normally remain close to the engine or the water line. This is a major fire rule. Airborne commandos transported via helicopter use soft tanks and small relay-water pumps. They protect themselves with a long-distance water line, equipped with emergency taps every 300 feet and supplied by a flat tank fed by the helicopter in a glade. Firefighters who set up long-distance water lines are protected by suitable T connectors. Nevertheless, accidents have occurred, especially in situations where there are sudden ignitions, engine and/or pump breakdown or even unexpected lack of water.
In 2002, the Ministry of Interior called for a report on firefighting safety. Commonly referred to as "Pourny's Report," it is a complete study of the many potential risks to any metropolitan or wildland firefighter. This major work, issued in December 2003, took into account research by the local fire departments and indicated "the fire engine must provide a safer shelter for the protection and the survival of the firefighters." Additional research looked into upgrading the standard to a comprehensive concept of safety including collective firefighters protection against fire entrapment.
Most regional fire and rescue departments are involved in wildland firefighting. In France, both metro and wildland firefighters are assigned in the same station. Foresters do not have the means to fight large wildland fires. Although true forest fires can be encountered only in a few specific areas in Southern France, most fire stations across the country are equipped with one or several forest-fire engines. FFEs are used for shrub fires, floods, snow falls and forest-fire reinforcements.
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These four-wheel-drive, medium-sized trucks are very efficient in the interface, as they can be easily refilled from a water hydrant or a tanker. Their mobility is an asset and, depending on size, they can carry from 600 to 1,600 gallons of water. The 280-gpm pump can be an inboard motor pump powered by the main engine or a self-powered pump.
These engines don't respond to fires alone. Planning sections group engines from several stations into platoons, squadrons or fire columns. Team leaders have all-terrain command cars at their disposal. There is one command car for every four FFEs. These groups of engines are specifically used to set up defensive operations for an on-coming fire front or to implement protection drills around threatened homes in the interface. Each unit is staffed by a crew of two to four.
Every FFE sold in France must meet National Standard Safety Regulation 61-518. These standards are designed to prevent the cabin from crushing, burning and smoke penetration; keep the window panes from breaking and the hydraulic system from overheating; and provide the crew with shelter and breathing air inside the cabin.
The standard defines both active and passive safety measures. Active safety systems use FFE design to both avoid and minimize the effects of a crash or fire. On the other hand, passive safety aims to reduce the consequences of an accident.
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