What began as an innocent conversation about the many experienced fire officers on their way to retirement led to a more ominous discussion of quick promotions that put young, inexperienced officers in command of a fire scene. Will these officers admit that they are unsure of themselves? Will they ask for help? How do they get much-needed fireground training if fire calls are down?

One solution is live-fire training. But recently I became aware of a problem; at the Fire Department Safety Officer Association's Annual Safety Forum, a refractory engineer raised concerns about deteriorating concrete in live-fire training structures. “In concrete structures, thermal shock characteristics precipitated within high-temperature training environments create irreversible loss of structural integrity,” he explained. The changes in pressure when water streams are introduced in training evolutions cause irreversible damage and harm to structures by creating linear and peripheral internal hair-line cracking, which eventually destroys a burn building's infrastructure and structural integrity. Damage can eventually be seen on the building's exterior with cracks, interior spalling and exposed rebar.

David Wall, executive director of the Georgia Fire Academy, mentioned to me last year that his 25-year-old concrete burn structure was unsafe and needed to be replaced. Staff members had noticed cracks and after further inspection found structural problems. Subsequently, the burn building could no longer be used for live-fire training.

Wall was lucky. His state legislature recently agreed to a $1.7 million bond to replace the burn building. The new burn building will be 4,500 square feet with 10 to 12 rooms and be able to simulate a multitude of training situations, including family dwelling fires. But since the bonds need to be sold first, Wall anticipates it will be two to three years before the new facility is ready. In the meantime, Wall received permission to construct two 12- by 12-foot pods to continue training.

There are no codes or standards in North America that relate to structural integrity and steam-laden air in live-fire concrete structures. But according to Mark Liebman, a senior forensic investigator with Krazan & Associates, live-fire structures are at risk. Liebman supports structural safety considerations and hopes that the fire-training community will adopt higher safety codes in the design/rehabilitation of live-fire training structures.

“Based on the facilities trying to accommodate that type of thermal shock, if you use a traditional concrete structure, it can't handle the exposure anywhere they allow temperatures of 800° to 1,200° and above,” Liebman said. “Departments try to protect the sides of the structure with monolithic coatings and the problem is the building cannot accommodate the thermal movement [of the structure], just like a substructure.”

Most of these old live-fire training simulators need to be replaced, but fire departments don't have the funds. Thermal extremes are a major factor in live-fire training and must be addressed. Anybody looking to remedy the problem has to understand concrete and thermal movement.

It's time to take a serious look at fire training facilities. Ask training officers what temperatures are reached during live-fire evolutions. One manufacturer told me he was asked to build a facility to withstand 1,500°. “That's not a training facility,” he said, “That's a crematorium.”

Perhaps it's time for a national effort to compile a complete database of live-fire training simulators, organize a national conference to discuss all aspects of live-fire training structures, establish a list of geotechnical scientific and thermal-structural engineers who can conduct structural surveys of live-fire training facilities, enlist NIOSH or Underwriters' Laboratories to assist in developing these criteria, and review and develop new classes on structural safety technology and live-fire training structures for training personnel and safety officers.

Computer simulators play a role in training, but nothing can replace live-fire experience. And that environment must be as safe as possible.