The company you work for, the village or city you live in: you know your way around. But would you know that same environment just as well when smoke limits your visibility, your usual route is no longer accessible, and every decision has to be made under time pressure? During an incident, a familiar location can suddenly feel completely unfamiliar. That is exactly why your own surroundings may be the most valuable training ground you have.
Realism Is Found in Both the Big and Small Details
This philosophy lies at the heart of FireWare. We believe that people are better prepared when they train in realistic conditions.
Realism can be found in simulated fires, smoke effects, casualties, smells, and sounds. But the environment itself also needs to feel right. After all, if you want participants to experience what evacuating a residential care facility truly demands of them, you wouldn’t practise it in an industrial warehouse.
The details matter too. Training equipment left in plain sight or a simulated fire in a place where nothing could realistically catch fire can be enough to give the exercise away. Participants immediately realise that it is “just” an exercise.
Your Own Environment Adds Something Extra
What we talk about less often is how much additional value there is when the training environment is actually your own. For an emergency response officer, that means the company where you work. For the fire service, it means their own response area.
With the right training equipment and sufficient expertise, you can quickly transform an ordinary location into a realistic training environment. At your workplace, the local pub, the supermarket, or the community centre. Afterwards, you simply pack everything up and leave the building without causing any damage.
Participants not only practise procedures and practical skills, but also learn to see their familiar surroundings from a completely different perspective.
Does It Work the Way It Does on Paper?
For an emergency response officer, this raises practical questions. Are entrances and emergency exits really as accessible as they appear on paper? Do escape routes remain clear? Are fire extinguishers and other firefighting equipment easy to find? Does the assembly point work when everyone evacuates at the same time? And can the right information be passed on to the fire service?
For the fire service, the entire response area becomes one large training ground. You arrive at the premises of a familiar company and discover that the designated staging area is full of parked cars. The fire hydrant is marked on the map, but turns out to be behind a fence or blocked by a truck. Chemicals are stored in the warehouse, but does the crew know exactly what they are and where they are kept?
Where can the gas and electricity supplies be shut off? Can a roller shutter still be opened from the inside during a power outage? Are floor plans and emergency plans up to date, and can they still be found when the site manager is not there?
On paper, everything may seem to be in order. A training exercise reveals whether it actually works in practice. And that becomes especially clear when the pressure increases, visibility disappears, and participants are faced with unexpected dilemmas.
Training Together, Better Prepared
Emergency response officers and the fire service view the same location from different perspectives. Emergency response officers know the people on site, the company’s processes, and its day-to-day operations. The fire service focuses on accessibility, water supply, potential hazards, and the options for a safe and effective response.
When they train together, these two worlds come together. Emergency response officers learn what information the fire service needs, while the fire service discovers what knowledge and expertise are available within the company. At the same time, it becomes clear where agreements are missing or expectations differ.
Participants learn where hazards and potential pitfalls lie, what information they need, and what to look out for during an incident. They have not only practised procedures and practical skills, but have also learned to see their familiar surroundings from a different perspective.
Start with the Learning Objective
Realism is never a goal in itself. A good training exercise starts by asking what participants need to learn, experience, or discover.
Do you want to practise an evacuation? Improve the handover between emergency response officers and the fire service? Test the water supply? Or do you want participants to experience how they respond when visibility is limited, time is running out, and information is incomplete?
Only then should you choose the location, scenario, and training equipment. More smoke, noise, or casualties do not automatically make an exercise better. Use only what is needed to present participants with the right decisions and challenges.
Get Started Yourself
FireWare can support you with both equipment and expertise. The Fire Simulation Kit V4(opens in new tab) provides a solid foundation for any exercise leader or instructor. With our CBRNe Training kit(opens in new tab), you can stage hazardous materials incidents. The Simulation sets Small(opens in new tab), Medium(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab), and Large(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab) are designed for more complex and dynamic scenarios. We have also developed suitable training sets(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab) for firefighting exercises and wildfire scenarios.
In our online Simulation Academy(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab), we show you how to create an effective training exercise using professional simulation equipment alongside simple, everyday materials. Would you rather work on this together with your colleagues? We also offer training courses. You can find all the options on our website.(opens in new tab)
Your own environment is already there. With a clear learning objective, the right equipment, and effective staging, you can temporarily transform it into a realistic training ground. Without causing damage, but with lasting value!
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