Simple Circular Saw Firefighter Training Evolution

Cpt Jon McKeon

Firefighter Craftsmanship

It can sometimes be a challenge to come up with relevant and effective drills that can be performed at the station. At our department there are times where we have to remain in service and ready to respond in our district rather than go to our training center. That doesn’t mean we don’t drill that day, we just get creative.

One of the tools on the truck we have a hard time getting good reps on is the K-12. It’s pretty easy to find some steel or rebar to cut on but finding a way to replicate a garage door or metal-walled building evolution was something we wanted to do.

Here’s a solution that cost us nothing, and though it had its limitations, the guys got some good saw time in.

We acquired 2 pallets and three sheets of metal roofing sheets.

For the first evolution we simply laid a pallet on the ground and screwed a metal sheet to it to mimic a flat roof.

For evolutions 2 and 3 we stacked the pallets vertically and attached them to our door prop using ratchet straps.

For evolution 2 a sheet of decking was attached and the crew worked on vertical cuts.

For evolution 3 the sheet of decking was attached and horizontal cuts were performed.

Though not a complex drill, the crew was able to work on running the saw at awkward heights, cutting both directions relying on both dominant and non-dominants hands, and simply get some time making cuts, which was the goal for the day.