Firefighters’ simulator first of its kind in U.S.

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.

Responding to a house fire with his lights and sirens blazing, Clark County fire training instructor Mike Johnson looks to his left and pulls out onto a road, when suddenly he is caught in a heavy, foggy downpour.

As he struggles to see, the rain gives way to snow.

Then, without warning, the sky turns dark, the bright orange glow of the fire dramatically lighting up the night in the distance.

Johnson had almost reached his destination when a tire on his truck blew out. He wrestled control of the 76,000-pound vehicle, then soldiered on.

He perilously crossed a rickety-looking one-lane bridge -- a car coming in the opposite direction did not yield -- before finally arriving at the burning house.

Johnson was glad this wasn't a real emergency. It was a virtual one on the L-3 Driving Simulator, a sophisticated system that uses detailed computer animation to mimic 35 different obstacles that fire department engineers could encounter: inclement weather, motorists who ignore lights and sirens, drunk drivers, heavy traffic, equipment malfunctions, hazmat scenarios.

"By creating safer drivers, it reduces costs and saves lives," Johnson said.

The simulator is the first of its kind in the nation, Fire Engineer Troy Jepson said. The $100,300 cost of the unit was covered by a Fire Act grant from the federal government.

Although the department obtained the system with no particular collision in mind, the hopes is to avoid anything like the rollover that paralyzed Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Capt. Theo Adams in 2003.

Adams was riding in a fire engine when the vehicle rolled while exiting U.S. 95 at Rainbow Boulevard.

An investigation showed that the driver, firefighter John DeLucchi, was going about 20 mph above the speed limit. DeLucchi was convicted in December of driving too fast for conditions, a misdemeanor, and fined $250.

All of Clark County Fire Department's 290 personnel who drive fire engines, ladder trucks and rescue vehicles have used the simulator since the department received it last month, and any new personnel who are learning to drive the vehicles will be trained using the system.

Fire department officials began looking for a fire-focused driving simulator about a year ago, wanting to upgrade how they do training for emergency driving.

They had been showing videos and overhead transparencies, then saying "good luck" and having the new drivers hone their skills while on the job.

"We thought 'there's got to be something out there that's more hands-on,' " Jepson said.

They found police driving simulators, but none for fire departments.

The department contacted L-3 Communications, which develops systems for intelligence collection, imagery processing and satellite communications for clients such as the the Department of Defense and the aerospace industry.

The system, which took L-3 nearly a year to develop, resembles a race car driving game found in a video arcade.

The company built the system to the fire department's specifications, re-creating the humming vibration of the fire engine, dashboard and controls, gauges, steering wheel and foot pedals.

Flat LCD screens give the driver a view through the windshield and both side mirrors and windows.

After turning the key, putting the system in drive, releasing the emergency brake, the driver begins racing through the streets of Salt Lake City to a number of possible emergencies -- a fire or plane crash, for example.

One of L-3's western branches is located in Salt Lake City, so it was easier for the company to use that city instead of Clark County, plus it would have cost an extra $100,000 to customize the simulation.

The training instructor sits at a computer next to the simulator that shows an overhead view of the vehicle as it moves through the city.

Every move the driver makes is recorded and can be replayed from several different angles.

If the driver loses control or hits something, a cracked windshield and the word "COLLISION" fills the screen.

A small steering wheel is attached to the instructor's system, and the instructor can make a distracting rogue driver appear on the simulator.

"For our purposes, we just use it to harass people," Jepson said as he deftly crossed the civilian SUV in front of the fire engine and whipped past it on the shoulder.

"One thing it doesn't have are drivers who can flip us off," he said, laughing.