-all track information provided by the instructors-

Track 1: Brothers in Battle: Searching For Them.

Firefighters have been attacking fires from the interior for at least 200 years. The reason? It puts you in the best position to apply water directly to the seat of the fire and it puts you in position to occupy the areas of the structure where victims are found. We will use experience, data (from actual documented rescues), tempo, fire behavior and building construction knowledge to prepare ourselves to put THEM first. Performing searches should not be an afterthought, it should be regarded as our highest mission on the fire ground…We will focus on performing a flanked approach with an engine search, inside team oriented & split searches and outside teams VES.

Track 2: Irons and Ladders: Two Day FE and Ground Ladders.

Forcible Entry: This is a full day forcible entry class beginning with a morning classroom session designed primarily for door size up. Students will view videos and pictures regarding residential and commercial forcible entry, through the lock forcible entry and other forcible entry techniques followed by a hands on through the lock class where participants practice manipulating every common lock found on the market today. The remainder of the day is hands on forcible entry. Students will rotate through four stations and will force inward and outward swinging doors numerous times using one and two person techniques. Participants will also defeat carriage bolts and drop bars using the irons and practice numerous saw techniques to disable security devices. Other evolutions include forcing security screen doors, commercial saw work and window security bars. Participants will also discuss garage door tactics and cover padlock forcible entry.

Practical Ground Ladders: This is a full day adders class beginning with a morning classroom session designed to help participants determine ladder priorities, ladder types, placement, ladder packages, unusual ladder throws and ladder size up for different types of buildings. Participants will be shown practical and proven ways to carry and throw ladders, ladder packages, shooting ladders, vertical carries and carrying ladders with tools. This class will be above and beyond the industry standard that is currently taught in most academy based ladder classes. Students will leave this class with an understanding of how to decide from the tailboard what ladder will work on different types of buildings and be confident in sizing up the proper length ladder for the target. This class provides plenty of repetition for fine tuning technique and will make throwing ladders second nature.

Tracks 3: Pressler/McCormack/Kraus and When Good Things Go Bad: First Due Truck and Unconventional Ground Ladders.

First Due Truck: There are a lot of different theories on Truck company operations and duties of the 1st to arrive ladder company at working fires. Some believe throwing portable ladders is the most important aspect of truck work. Others feel vertical ventilation is paramount. This class will focus on our true mission; getting Firefighters into available areas of a burning building in an attempt to save lives. The class will focus on Forcible Entry, and Search, both via the interior and from the exterior. The class hammers home the “Basics” to ensure safe and efficient operations that give civilians the greatest chance of survival.

Unconventional Ground Ladders: There can never be enough second means of egress to make our fire scenes safer and provide for a more productive work place. In this 8-hour course, we will train on conventional and unconventional ground ladder skills in its entirety. Starting with ladder facts we quickly proceed to: multiple ladder raises including; marquee and shoot raise, ally raise, upside down balcony raise, rope butt, chicken wing, etc. Moving on to; ground ladder victim removals from windows and roofs, hoisting, climbing techniques, alternative leg and arm locks, and more. All sections will conclude in various micro-scenarios to allow the student the ability to apply learned material in realistic time sensitive situations. After this course you will feel free of “ladder intimidation” and will find yourself throwing more ground ladders than ever before thus creating a safer fire scene for you and your members.

Tracks 4: Lead Stretch Advance and McGrail Fire Ops: More hose! and Standpipe Operations.

Concepts for Street Smart Residential Fire Attack. More Hose!!: How many times have you said these words at a fire? Today’s fire ground requires us to place water on the fire as fast as possible to protect lives and save property. This makes the ability to effectively advance the first hand-line the single most important task on the fireground. This dynamic hands-on course will center on the concept of “segmenting” the advancement of the 1¾” hand-line in single and multi-family occupancies. Students will learn street-level methods to correctly estimate stretches, manage hand-lines, and flow water in realistic environments. Students will rotate through dynamic skill stations and will put it all together with Box Alarm Drills

McGrail Fire Ops: The engine company standpipe operation is arguably one of the most important functions the engine company will perform. There must be a pre-established standard operating procedure for this low frequency operation, and there must be an ongoing and continuous program of hands on training. This hands on training program will give attendees a comprehensive understanding of the essential appliances, equipment, and tools necessary for successful standpipe operations. Coupled with the appropriate equipment, attendees will be given a solid foundation of operational procedures that can be utilized for their most frequently encountered fire attack situations in high-rise and other standpipe equipped buildings.

Track 5: Tactics on Tap: Short a Mucker Extrication.

Tactics on Tap is stepping away from the brew house to bring you a two day Hand on Training. Whether you are a harden extrication expert or a rookie; from the rural county roads to highway to the city, Tactics on Tap instructors have techniques you will use on your next pinned victim. This HOT class will cover how to maximize your firefighters while using the best methods for getting victims out faster. It will include Engine and Truck company operations including b-post removal, vehicle on its side, victim under a vehicle, impalements in a vehicle and a wide array of dash lifts. By the end, you will have the confidence to be “Short a Mucker” while giving the next victim the best chance for survival.

Track 6: Rescue 4 Operations: Big Rig Rescue.

In this class you will get an intro into the heavy rescue world, you will get to lift and move heavy semi trucks , dump trucks, and tankers. You will cut semi tractors, and learn the tricks of the trade. In this class we will do load calculations on struts and potential weights. Along with learning the anatomy of a big rig, you will lower suspensions and deal with air brake systems as well as air ride and learn how to use a big rig to help you make the rescue without fancy gear. This class is the down and dirty of big rig rescue, You will be taught the arrival methodology and systematic approach. Rescue 4 operations is a cadre of instructors that are engaged in the rescue world of the fire service, rescue 4 operations will be bringing the big rig cadre to the mile high fire conference. Come join rescue 4 operations in the second annual “BIG RIG RESCUE CLASS”

Track 7: Brian Brush and Scott Thompson: Bottom Up and Top Down Leadership Development.

This two-day program focuses the training and leadership principles and practices necessary for positioning firefighters and fire companies for success and survival. An emphasis will be placed on creating an organizational culture that supports training, and getting training done in the battalion and at the fire company levee. Topics that will be discusses include developing and implementing company level training, the value of performance standards, measuring the effectiveness of training, cultivating learning cultures, and training and development roles and responsibilities.

Track 8: PL Vulcan and Kevin Fields and Co: Man vs Machine and Elevator Rescue.

Man vs Machinery: Students are instructed on methods they can use to disentangle victims from various forms of machinery. Basic techniques for removing rings are addressed. Evolutions progress in complexity as operations come to involve auger entrapments, impalements on fencing, persons trapped under a vehicle, and hands stuck in machinery (meat grinders). The focus is on finding the least complicated method of performing such rescues instead of overthinking the situation. For ALL Levels.

Elevator Rescue: This is one of the most common call types that fire departments respond to in the technical rescue realm. However, elevator rescue is one of the least understood disciplines in tech rescue. This may be due to lack of guiding documents and the availability of elevator rescue courses. This 8-hour operations level course is a combination of lecture and hands on. In the lecture you will go over elevator history, terminology, types, components of elevator systems and the recall and rescue sequences. During the hands on portion, you will get to practice recall and rescue techniques. These will include a step-by-step process to restore the elevator to normal operations. You will also have the opportunity to practice picking, poling, car-top rescue and drifting a hydraulic elevator. Finally, Phase I and Phase II operations will be addressed.