Toledo fire department receives grant for simulator

2/10/2005

The Toledo Fire Department yesterday received an $84,000 federal Homeland Security grant to buy a simulator to help firefighters throughout the region identify and avoid a fire phenomenon called flashover.

Flashover is the temperature at which the heat in an area is high enough to ignite all flammable material at the same time.

When a flashover occurs, firefighters in full gear have only seconds to escape the area, Battalion Fire Chief Greg Locher said.

He said the grant required a 30 percent match, or $25,200, which is being funded by Owens Community College.

The simulator, which should arrive this year, will be housed at the new Fire and Police Training Center for Homeland Security at Owens and will be available to firefighters throughout the region, Chief Locher said.