Safety Education

Mobile Structural Fire-Fighting Trainer

Delivered recently to the Northville Township Fire/Rescue Department is the first one of its kind locally: a mobile structural fire-fighting trainer.

From the outside the mobile fire trainer looks very much like the kind of trailer hauled by tractor trailer trucks. Inside are metal partitions that can be removed and repositioned giving course instructors the ability to redesign the inside of the trailer over and over. That, along with smoke machines, props, a simulated roof section, and flames, gives the instructors the ability to create a variety of structural, live-fire scenarios.

This is good news – not only for Northville Township Firefighters, and for the residents they protect. It’s good news for the firefighters because they will no longer have to depend upon distant facilities, or old buildings for structural fire training.

Live-fire training is one of the most important and dangerous aspects of a firefighter’s job, but also one of the hardest things to train for. Although there are trainers throughout Michigan, the combination of long distances and limited scheduling made it difficult, and often impossible, for the departments’ firefighters to get the mandatory training they needed.

Now, with the mobile trainer, firefighters can get trained at the Northville Township Fire Station, and area departments can have access to the mobile trailer for their training.

Residents of Northville Township can feel good that their firefighters are getting proficient training without having to leave the community they serve. Residents can also feel good that the live-fire burning is environmentally sound. The state-of-the-art facility uses propane to create a safe, live-fire environment.

This equipment was designed to be environmentally safe. The unit is fired with clean burning propane, which all but eliminates harmful air emissions. Propane once expended leaves no residue (ash) to contaminate run off and eventually storm water systems.

This equipment was purchased through a Grant offered by the U.S. Fire Administration part of FEMA.

Hazard House

The Northville Township Fire Department has just added the Hazard House to their public education programs. What is the Hazard House you might ask? The Hazard House is a new interactive educational tool designed to maximize learning and retention of many hazards that a home can have.

Fire is one of mankind’s tools needed in everyday life. It is unfortunately also a cause of death and destruction. One can, however, learn how to handle it: fire can be prevented. The Fire Hazard House was developed to produce an innovative and captivating teaching aid for safety-conscious communities. It makes fire hazard education more effective and stimulating for both presenters and spectators: it could actually save lives.

The Hazard House has a triple objective. First how to organize the home environment and optimally reduce the risk of fire. Second to show how to detect a fire should one occur. Last to show how to deal effectively with fire and how to evacuate the premises. A Hazard House presentation gets the audience involved not only in handling, choosing and installing various 3-D objects but also in finding numerous hazards built into the simulator. This prompts more active participation in the demonstration and facilities learning and retention. To aid in teaching, it has several realistic smoke in action displays, shivering sparking and arcing sounds, and activating smoke detectors.

The Hazard House also includes innovative neighborhood safety panels to cover the possible hazards outside the house as well.

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Northville Township
44405 Six Mile Rd.
Northville, MI. 48168
(248) 348-5800

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