Our classes and instructors are top of the list. MAFFC brings both the classes and the instructors together in an interactive setting. MAFFC attendees can exchange ideas while networking with firefighters from around the country. We have sessions available in strategies, tactics, and best practices. MAFFC 2012 offers you many options for instructor-led training with experienced professionals. Our conference allows our instructors to equip you with the information you need to succeed in the fire service. When you leave MAFFC 2012 you'll be ready! Ready to fight fire! Ready to save lives! Ready to lead and teach others! You will be ready to do the job we all love.
MAFFC 2012 Classroom Description and Times (Printable Document)
This class is a review of the Phase II Report commissioned by the Charleston Fire Department and the City of Charleston. Bringing different sections of the report together, the student is presented with a minute by minute account of where units and personnel are believed to have been during the critical first forty minutes of the fire. Armed with this understanding, the students are then presented through lecture and guided discussion with the report’s suggestions of other choices that could have changed the outcome of this fire. Note: Many assume that most of the blame for Charleston lies at Command’s feet and there were certainly poor Command decisions made, but this is not a Command Class. This class is for the firefighter. Most students enter this class believing Charleston was foolish. “The Turn” is a gradual one. The goal of this class is to illustrate to the student that every one of us is making many of the same bad choices on our fire scenes, and the responsibility to correct them are at the individual’s level.
Instructors: Battalion Chief William Voorhies – Dekalb Fire
Course Dates: May 20,2012
Part 1 at 1300
Part 2 at 1500
Who are the leaders in your department? Firefighters and seat riders are making the tough decisions on scene and at the station. This program will provide a four step approach and the motivation for firefighters to become informal leaders. A two-sided mentoring approach developed with Chief David Rhodes will be discussed for officers. 1) Provide a four step process for the students to consider and take away that will enable them to develop as an informal leader. 2) Discuss the importance of mentoring and how to be a mentor and mentee. 3) Discuss and provide the motivation to overcome challenges such as adversity.
Instructors: Brian Ward - Chief of Emergency Operations for Georgia Pacific – Madison (GA)
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1000
This is an intense class that deals with Modern Construction, New Style Building Materials and their direct relation to rapid fire progress. We’ll discuss the importance of bringing big water on the first attack line, BTU’S versus GPM’s, and why we’re dying today. This class will discuss a wide range of building construction topics and how they relate to firefighting. We will discuss different types of construction from the 1930’s through present day, engineered lumber versus legacy, and the effects of modern furnishings. We’ll also discuss new construction and what building green really means to you as an Engine Co.
Instructors: Mac McGarry – L & M Training Consultants LLC
Mark Lighthill – Asst. Chief of Operations Brevard County Fire
Course Dates: May 19,2012
Part 1 at 1300
Part 2 at 1500
May 20,2012
Part 1 at 0800
Part 2 at 1000
Company Training on the Go is designed to help company officers of all levels of experience find ways of communicating meaningful training that will reap stronger crew intrigue and cohesion. The class uses forms that spark training topics on a shift by shift basis. The class also gives the company officer quick ways to teach on location that are meaningful to their crew. Students will learn to be more effective using the tools and skills they and their crew have in their tool box to the fullest.
Instructors:Battalion Commander Clint Murphy – Peachtree City Fire
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 0800
This class will provide an overview of a counseling system that is designed to cover all types of fire service counseling. Counseling sessions can now be grouped under two categories, event-oriented and performance/professional growth. Event-oriented counseling involves a specific situation or event. It may precede events, such as going to a promotion board or attending a school; or it may follow events, such as noteworthy duty performance, a problem with performance or mission accomplishment, or personal problem. Performance counseling involves conducting a review of a subordinate’s duty performance during a certain period – this counseling is usually tied to an annual or quarterly evaluation. Professional growth counseling includes planning for the accomplishment of individual and professional goals. This future oriented counseling establishes short and long-term goals and objectives. This counseling might look beyond the subordinate’s current job and focus more towards future assignments, special programs and staying on the job requirements.
Instructors: Assistant Chief Eddie Robinson – Cherokee Fire
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1300
In this interactive round table discussion facilitated by Division Chief William Tanks of Cobb Fire and Emergency Services, we'll ask a few of Metro Atlanta's Deputy Chiefs of Operations to share their insight and experience regarding fireground operations. Come and listen to chiefs expound on such subjects as engine and truck company operations, incident command, staffing, strategy and tactics, trends and best practices. Find out what the Ops Chiefs are doing to enhance emergency response around Metro Atlanta.
Instructors: Chief William Tanks – Cobb County (GA) Fire
Metro Atlanta Operations Chiefs
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1500
Lt. McCormack outlines the twelve most common errors made by Engine Companies on the fire ground and how to recognize their development, how to correct them and ultimately how to avoid them. The engine company is everyone's safety net on the fire ground. Error elimination from the rookie to the incident commander is the goal.
Instructors: Lieutenant Ray McCormack – FDNY
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 0800
Fire behavior or fire dynamics is based on the fundamental relationship between fuel, oxygen and heat, i.e. the fire triangle. The type of fuel, the geometry of the fuel, building construction and ventilation can have a significant effect on the speed of fire growth and spread. Ventilating the structure can provide cooling by removing heat. But ventilating a “fuel rich” room may cause a flashover, by allowing fresh air into the structure. It is important to remember that smoke is fuel. Ventilation does not always equal cooling. Understanding ventilation will lead to improved tactical decisions. Another ventilation consideration is wind. Wind driven conditions can lead to flashovers or intensify the flashover conditions and spread the flames throughout a flow path in the structure. The capabilities and limitations of PPE will also be discussed. Fire behavior will be described using a combination of videos and data to characterize the thermal environment that firefighters may be exposed to. Attendees will get an inside view of the fire progression through structures to compare with what they may see on the outside during size-up. This presentation will provide some insight on how changes in residential fuel loads and building construction have changed fire development.
Instructors: Dan Madrzykowski – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Course Dates: May 19,2012
Part 1 at 1300
Part 2 at 1500
A career pathway is a series of connected higher education programs, state and national certifications, integrated work experience, on-the-job training, and support services. It enables firefighters to combine school and work experience and advance over time to higher rank and higher levels of education and training. Career pathways are designed to create educational “stepping stones” for advancement of firefighters in the fire service and beyond. There is no second step without taking the first step.
Instructors: Chattahoochee Technical College Fire Science Program Director – Patrick McKay
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1000
It has been said that company officers make or break the incident. When all the company officer prerequisite promotional training has been completed, the next step is ensuring the company officer has developed sound risk assessment and decision making skills for the incident environment. This presentation offers an engaging discussion for company officers to recognize, observe, and implement initial company operations based on their risk assessment factors and subsequent tactical decisions. Join in on this interactive session and build or enhance the assessment and decision making framework used for initial operations.
Instructor: Battalion Chief Jennie L. Collins – Prince William County (VA) Department of Fire & Rescue
Fire Chief Richie Bowers – Montgomery County (MD) Fire Department
Course Dates: May 19,2012
Part 1 at 0800
Part 2 at 1000
May 20,2012
Part 1 at 1300
Part 2 at 1500
The focus is on exceeding fire flow needs and still managing water during the crucial initial hose-line advancement in an interior offensive attack. Learn why it is necessary to think in terms of gallons per second at this time. Strategies are presented for managing the booster tank supply until a sustainable water supply has been established. The class is especially relevant for engine companies that commonly engage with the booster tank and deploy suburban fire tactics.
Instructors: Chief of Special Operations Curt Isakson – Escambia County Fire (FL)
Course Dates: May 19,2012
Part 1 at 0800
Part 2 at 1000
You’re working on the third floor of an apartment building when suddenly conditions become untenable. How do you escape? It’s true that today’s firefighters are better equipped than ever. Our turnout gear is state of the art. We have tools that allow us quicker entry into buildings, lighter hose lines that put out more GPMs, and thermal imaging cameras that put us deeper into buildings. However, despite all these advancements, today’s fires move faster and burn hotter than ever before. In these increasingly dangerous situations, it’s imperative that fire departments ask themselves if they have done everything they can to help their firefighters get out quickly when things go badly.
Firefighters equipped with a personal escape device—or bail out system—can quickly and safely exit a burning structure within seconds.
These devices are like having a ladder at every window.
Proper implementation of these devices requires training. In our class, we will provide that training by addressing bunker gear concerns, harness requirements, descent devices, and a variety of other issues to ensure your firefighters are properly equipped and can correctly deploy the system when the moment is critical. Additionally, we will guide you through the many grants available to assist you with your purchase of these life saving devices.
Instructors:Firefighter Chris Minichiello, FDNY
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 0800
This class is a discussion on the importance of how strong leadership and sound tactics are so important in an ever changing industry. Some points of discussion will be: How do these two subjects compliment each other in the station and on the emergency scene? How do we use leadership and tactics when trying to develop succession planning for our stations or departments? This class is not entirely lecture, but a more open guided discussion.
Instructors: Lieutenant Chuck Barnwell – Gwinnett County (GA) Fire
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 0800
Explore the three things that you must understand to provide and receive good leadership. It’s really not that hard to talk about leadership but it can be difficult to apply it to all different personality types that we encounter. There is leadership theory and then there is doctrine. Doctrine is the act of doing what your theory states. We will compare this to real life, street smart, fire house leadership that you have experienced. This fast paced course is designed to get you to think about your leadership style, the evolution of a firefighter, understand why there are disconnects between headquarters and the fire stations, and how thermodynamics explains leadership. Do we really love our members? Yes, we will dare to go there! This course will make you laugh (mostly at yourself), cry, and most importantly realize that you are not alone in your struggles with the Death Star – Headquarters.
Instructors: Battalion Chief David Rhodes, Atlanta (GA) Fire Rescue
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1500
Most of us can pull up to a room and contents fire and begin to make assignments in a logical manner. However, all of us on occasion, pull up in front of a strip mall, apartment building or restaurant heavily involved in fire. These instances immediately provide stress on even the most seasoned fire commander. This presentation will look at these ever-present fires that every officer can and will face and pulls commonality and differences from the six or seven occupancy types that can turn into major fires. Risk Assessment, construction features, staffing concerns, accountability, safety and strategic concepts will be discussed for apartment, strip mall, restaurant, nursing homes, hotel, vacant commercial and auto repair shops will be discussed. Case studies and fire simulations will be used by the instructor to illustrate points and define actions.
Instructors: John (Skip) Coleman, Asst. Chief (Retired) Toledo (OH) Fire and Rescue Department
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1000
This class will include videos, a PowerPoint, and a roundtable discussion on the strategy and tactics of mobile and modular homes. This class will discuss the hidden dangers and the complexity of fighting fires in mobile homes, it will improve your size up techniques as well as incident command perspectives for these incidents
Instructors: Lieutenant Keith Schneider - Cobb Fire
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1000
This is an interactive presentation that deals with leading in today’s fire service culture. Students will be provided with scenarios and strategies to become better leaders now and in the future.
Instructors: Battalion Chief Todd Edwards – Atlanta Fire
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1500
This presentation follows the chapters in Chief Colemans’ text Searching Smarter, Published by Pennwell/Fire Engineering in 2011. The presentation will look at the different methods of search utilized by fire departments today. Pro’s and Con’s of each will be discussed. The presentation will then look at conducting searches in specific occupancy types that could be encountered by today’s firefighters.
Instructors: John (Skip) Coleman, Asst. Chief (Retired), Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1000
This program will focus on real life ventilation in private dwellings. Most departments today do not staff their truck companies or even have a dedicated truck company with a four or five member crew. This presentation will discuss real life tactical considerations for those members in order to complete their job safely and effectively when it’s their turn on the roof. I will present tactical considerations and helpful “tricks” to perform ventilation on today’s private dwelling fires. The program will provide them with real life embedded videos from the PennWell and Fire Engineering’s Tactical Perspectives of Ventilation DVD in which I co-authored. The embedded video will demonstrate what happens when ventilation is completely incorrectly, as well as when completed the proper way.
Instructors: Deputy Chief/Training Officer P.J. Norwood – East Haven (CT) Fire
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1300
With the advent of the Incident Command System, almost any firefighter can be put in the position of Incident Commander, at least initially at an incident. It is not an easy task, that of running a fire, but with some logical and common sense steps, this daunting task can be made simpler. There is a logical approach to managing fires and similar emergency incidents. This presentation will provide the participant with a safe and effective approach to managing incidents. The major focus will be on running residential fires but major incidents and other emergency responses will be looked at. This is not an Incident Command class but rather a step by step approach on how to prioritize assignments and then control the scene. Risk assessment, incident priorities, safety, accountability and communications that enhance the scene will be looked at.
Instructors: John (Skip) Coleman, Asst. Chief (Retired) Toledo (OH) Fire and Rescue Department
Course Dates: May 19,2012 at 1300
Often, smoke issuing from a building is the only clue available to predict fire behavior and the likelihood of a flashover or rapid fire spread. First-arriving officers, Incident Commanders, and Safety Officers MUST know how to rapidly read smoke – this class explains the reading-smoke process and gives participants practice using actual fire-ground video.
Instructors: Battalion Chief (Ret.) David Dodson, Response Solutions, LLC
Course Dates: May 19,2012
Part 1 at 1300
Part 2 at 1500
May 20,2012
Part 1 at 0800
Part 2 at 1000
So many firefighters are being injured and even killed because they have failed to listen to what the fire was telling them. Our goal is to give firefighters a better understanding of fire behavior in a compartment to reduce the amount of injuries and deaths. This class will discuss the stages of fire, hostile fire events and their warning signs that take place during different stages of a fire, and ways to manage and control these events.
Instructors: Captain Bryan Altman - Georgia Fire Academy
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1000
This presentation is a firsthand description of the conditions, actions taken, and lessons learned of 3 firefighters involved in a close call while operating at a residential structure fire in Cherokee County, Ga. We will be emphasizing the importance of crew integrity and training in your fire house. Each firefighter will talk about how the event has effected them personally and professionally. This case study is proof of how the decisions you make today will impact the outcome of tomorrow.
Instructors: Sergeant Alec Adams – Cherokee Fire
Sergeant Jason Williams – Cherokee Fire
FAO Mark Alexander – Cherokee Fire
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1300
This presentation will feature videos and data from a series of fire experiments conducted in acquired structures to examine the impact of ventilation on fire development. The structures were loaded with similar furnishings and ignited with an open flame. The fire response to differences in ventilation was recorded. Suppression was initiated from outside the townhouse to look for evidence of pushing fire or creating additional hazards. Line of Duty Death and fire fighter injury incidents, where the fire conditions changed dramatically due to changes in ventilation, will be discussed. In each of these cases, the victims were in the exhaust portion of the flow path of the fire. In other words, they were between the fire and where the fire wanted to go due to the ventilation openings. Ventilating a fuel rich fire can lead to increased energy generation - more heat. The additional oxygen mixed with hot, fuel rich combustion products resulted in flames and hot gases spreading through the structure. For every kilogram of oxygen consumed, 13 Megajoules of heat are released. This is counter to the notion that ventilation equals cooling in the structure.
Instructors: Dan Madrzykowski – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1300
With a tongue in cheek approach, students will be presented with how each sense can be used on the fire ground to improve effectiveness and also how each sense can lead to disaster if not understood. Using case studies and interactive discussion, the presentation reaches to all ranks and disciplines of the fire service.
Instructors: Engineer David Bullard, Martinez-Columbia (GA) Fire Rescue
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 0800
Wind speeds as low as 10 mph can turn a routine room and contents fire into a floor to ceiling fire storm. NIST, in conjunction with the Chicago Fire Department, the Fire Department of New York City, the Fire Protection Research Foundation, NYU Polytechnic Institute and the U.S. Fire Administration, has completed a study on wind driven fires. The study consisted of live fire experiments, in both the NIST Large Fire Laboratory and high rise structures, in an effort to better understand this phenomenon and to develop strategies and tactics that will enable firefighters to survive and fight fires under wind driven conditions. Tactics examined included the use of positive pressure ventilation (PPV), wind control devices (WCD) and external hose streams. Through the use of videos and data, this presentation will show how wind can impact the thermal environment within a structure. Wind driven LODDs in high-rises and in single family homes will be discussed. Many of the strategies for fighting wind driven fires have application to all residential structure fires.
Instructors: Dan Madrzykowski – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Course Dates: May 20,2012 at 1500