Welcome to the Firehouse
During my sea ice training I met several friendly firefighters who invited me to take a tour of the firehouse. The firehouse was built in 1972. It is a "3 row" station, which means there are 3 doors. They respond to fires, medical emergencies and even act as a policing unit. Firefighter Mike Norris gave us a great tour of the facility.
The Antarctic Fire Department building at McMurdo Station.
Trying on the Gear
First I tried on the firefighter suit. This included steel-toed boots, pants, a jacket, a helmet and an air tank. Firefighters have to jump into their suits in less than a minute. It took me a lot longer than that to put on all the gear, and that was with help!
Michelle Brown tries on a firefighter uniform at the McMurdo Fire Department.
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The jacket and pants are made of fire-resistant material that can withstand 1000 degrees Fahrenheit for a short period of time. Other firefighter suits, like the one Mike wore as a firefighter in Iraq, can withstand 2000 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures for up to 5 minutes. There are also safety devices on the firefighter suit. If a firefighter stands still for 30 seconds, an alarm attached to his jacket goes off. The device is called a Personal Accountability Safety System (PASS) device. This is to alert others in case a firefighter has lost consciousness. There is also a panic button which sets off a very loud alarm from the firefighter's jacket. Mike mentioned that right after 9/11, you could hear many PASS and Panic alarms coming from ground zero.
The Fire Truck
There are three fire trucks at the station. The first truck that gets dispatched in a fire, called the "first do", has a water pump on it and holds 750 gallons of water. This is the truck that attacks the fire. The water pump uses the fire truck engine to provide pressure. The second truck holds 2000 gallons of water. The trucks are customized for Antarctica: the trucks and generators are insulated, automatic snow chains can be released for the tires, there are dials instead of digital monitors to read gauges and the trucks are lower and wider. The trucks are around 20 years old, however the firehouse will be receiving two new fire trucks soon.
The fire trucks sit in the garage ready to go.
Mike Norris demonstrates how to change the fire hose nozzle from a jet stream to fog, which pushes heat away from the firefighters.
Fires at McMurdo
Although the firefighters are always prepared, there are not a lot of intense fires at McMurdo. However Mike did have a story to tell when I asked him what was the most serious incident he has experienced so far. In mid-October, a boiler in one of the dorm buildings caused a fire in the floor of the building. The firefighters had to crawl through the space under the buildings to put out the fire. The area was filled with water and their gear froze while they were working.
EMT Vehicles
Not only do the firefighters put out fires, they are also first to the scene for medical emergencies. The EMT vehicle has a "Dr. Down" in it, which is a lot like a sleeping bag, but even warmer. This is for hypothermic patients. There are few cases of hypothermia--most illnesses involve stomach illnesses. One serious medical rescue occurred earlier in the season when a seal rolled over the scientist that was working on it, breaking the bones in her foot.
A Dr. Down sits on top of a stretcher in the EMT van.
Inside the firehouse
There are 22 firefighters at McMurdo in the summer season and only 10 in the winter. They are split into two groups and each works a 48-hour shift. The firemen spend most of their days at the station, but because they always have their radios with them, they are allowed to leave the firehouse for meals and to travel short distances. The station has a kitchen, a living room and even a classroom. There is also a Playstation. Mike beat "Modern Warfare 3" yesterday in 5 hours!
Firefighters sit around the kitchen table in the firehouse.
A penguin in a firefighter suit sits proudly in the firehouse.
Couches, movies and a playstation make the firehouse living room a fun place to relax.
Fire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers are everywhere in McMurdo. There are four different types of extinguishers for different types of fires. Class A extinguishers are for ordinary flammable material (paper, wood, plastics), Class B are for flammable or combustible liquids (gasoline, grease), Class C are for fires involving electrical equipment and should not be put out with water due to electrical shock, Class D are for fires that involve chemicals and combustible metals (magnesium, titanium, potassium), and Class K are for fires that involve cooking oils or appliances. The fire station has a variety of fire extinguishers, including water extinguishers for Class A fires and dry chemical extinguishers, which work on class A, B or C fires.
An array of fire extinguishers line the table in the firehouse.
The inside of a fire extinguisher has a tube for powder that is then pressurized in the larger compartment.
An example of powder that goes into the fire extinguisher for class A, B and C fire extinguishers.
Questions
The air tanks that firefighters wear are filled with air, which is comprised of only 20% of Oxygen. How is this a safety precaution?
Which class fire extinguisher would you use if your electric toaster oven caught on fire?
Which class fire extinguisher would you use if you had a chemical fire at Crary Lab?
Math Connection
If a firefighter stays at McMurdo Station for 23 weeks, how many days is he here for? How many hours is he here for? How many hours will he work for? (Hint: remember a firefighter's shift is on for 48 hours and then off for 48 hours).
How many total gallons of water do the two fire trucks hold?
Cool Careers in Antarctica
Meet Mike Norris.
Meet Mike Norris. Mike is from Fort Worth, Texas and this is his first year in Antarctica. He spent 6 years in the Air Force as a firefighter, and then spent a year and a half as an EMT in Pennsylvania before deciding to take advantage of an interesting opportunity to come to McMurdo. Mike is amazed to see an active volcano only 20 miles away (Mt. Erebus) or watch a giant aircraft land on the sea ice. As a kid, Mike wanted to be a fireman and he stuck with his dream. Mike's grandfather helped foster this by taking him to every fire station he passed near. Mike's advice for students is to "look for something that is going to make you happy, and do everything in school and your personal life to make that happen."