Smithfield Fire Dept. Gets Big Grant for Advanced Mobile Training Simulator

At first glance, it looks like a tractor trailer. But inside, firefighters can experience an explosion, cave-in, smoke and fire in a variety of conditions, simulated in a controlled and safe environment.

Move over Optimus Prime.

It’s an advanced mobile fire training simulator and one is coming to the Smithfield Fire Department thanks to a $248,000 federal grant.

U.S. Sens Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse along with Congressman David Cicilline announced Sunday that the department was awarded the grant through the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to the benefit of several fire departments in northern Rhode Island.

Fire Departments in Smithfield, North Smithfield, Cumberland, Woonsocket and the Albion Fire District will utilize the simulator for specialized training in more than 200 possible disaster scenarios.

The districts are all members of the the Greater Woonsocket Fire Chiefs Mutual Aid Association, which helps coordinate mutual aid runs, plans joint training drills, and responds to firefighter and EMS safety concerns. Together the departments identified a need to provide specialized training to help their firefighters master all the skills they are required to maintain while servicing the diverse communities of northern Rhode Island. The AFG grant will allow the group to purchase a mobile training simulator unit that is easily transported to each of the participating departments, according to a news release from Reed’s office.

Smithfield Fire Chief Robert Seltzer noted that the simulator will help nearby districts in Massachusetts as well,, including the Blackstone Fire Department and the Bellingham Fire Department.

“[We] will now have the tools necessary to train our firefighters to deal with all the technical rescue situations that we encounter these days. Having a mobile simulator will allow each department to train personnel in their local communities as well as allow the flexibility to train all together as a group at convenient regional locations,” Seltzer said. “We are all grateful to have the opportunity to receive and implement this grant as it will better prepare us to protect our citizens during the unique situations that the fire service is faced with in today’s world of emergency response.”

The Smithfield Fire Department will host the simulator, perform the maintenance and inspections after each use, and develop an annual training calendar for use of the equipment. The AFG grant will also help cover initial, formal training on the simulator so the equipment is fully operational upon delivery. Last month, Smithfield firefighters received an additional $20,182 AFG grant to purchase a new personal protective equipment washer/extractor and dryer to support maintenance of their firefighters’ protective gear.

Together the seven fire departments of the Greater Woonsocket Fire Chiefs Mutual Aid Association respond to 28,418 emergency runs per year throughout the region and protect a population of 138,882 people, covering an area of 122 square miles.

“This new training unit is a smart investment in public safety. It is a great regional resource that will help firefighters across several departments enhance their rescue capabilities. I am proud to have helped secure these federal funds and commend all the fire departments collaborating in this regional effort,” said Senator Reed, who supported the group’s application for the grant funding. Senator Reed leads an annual fire grant workshop to help fire departments across the state apply for similar competitive federal assistance.

The 50+ foot mobile training simulator resembles a tractor trailer and has built-in propane burners, smoke generators, and water pipes throughout its adjustable sections. It will enable firefighters to receive training for a variety of emergency scenarios they may encounter on the job -- ranging from explosions to cave-ins to different types of fires -- all experienced as real-life situations in a controlled, safe environment. The simulator is able to re-create 200 disaster scenarios, including exercises that will train firefighters to crawl through two levels of a simulated pancaked building, and develop experience in firefighter search and survival, rescue of trapped victims, victim searches, packaging of victims under total darkness with and without smoke, downed firefighter rescue, buddy breathing, search and rescue, collapsed building with hazardous materials, window rescues, repelling wall, concrete breaching, and a sewage/drain pipe confined space rescue, among other scenarios.

Photo: An example of a mobile fire training simulator, not the actual simulator to be purchased by the Smithfield Fire Department. Photo courtesy: Fireblast Global