Members of Recruit School 149 are learning about, and increasing familiarity with, Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) this week. SCBA provides firefighters clean air to breathe when in hazardous environments. As well, they are working on donning and doffing their fire gear. #FCFRD | Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department

Donning our facepiece in Fire 1 is called the 30 second drill for a reason. It should take us less than 30 seconds! Glove on, Glove off why ANYBODY cares I have no idea. I’ve been way under 30 seconds with gloves off since 1997 with an Elephant trunk and meanwhile there’s FFs with gloves on with a jump rope as a chin strap clogging the door because they scroll their phone too much instead of going out in their Engine bay and actually perfecting their basic skills. Preference is Preference is we

SCBA Training for our new FF Trainees VCFD Academy 61 performed SCBA training this week. This evolution was designed to prepare trainees for the challenges of locating and rescuing victims in limited visibility situations, such as a building charged with smoke. Instructors overseeing the evolution demonstrate how the use of a Thermal Imaging Camera dramatically assists with visibility in a smoke-filled environment. This evolution also highlights the physical demands and teamwork required to perf