Fire training
Hands-on training to find and fight fires on board — galley, lavatory, lithium battery — using extinguishers and a smoke hood.
Definition
Fire training is the practical element of SEP in which crew fight real or simulated fires in a cabin mock-up filled with smoke, using halon or water extinguishers and a protective breathing equipment hood. It covers galley oven and lavatory fires, hidden fires behind panels and, increasingly, lithium-battery fires in personal electronics. Under EASA it uses real fire and smoke every three years; the annual recurrent refreshes the procedures.
What it means for you
An in-flight fire is the emergency crew fear most, because there is nowhere to go and minutes to act. The training teaches a specific sequence — locate, communicate, fight, and never open a hot lavatory door fully — and you will be tested on which extinguisher to use on what. Knowing your aircraft's extinguisher locations from memory is a briefing question you will be asked for the rest of your career.
In practice
In a smoke-filled 737 mock-up at the training centre, a crew member dons a PBE, locates a burning waste bin in the aft lavatory and discharges the halon extinguisher through the door gap while a colleague alerts the flight deck.
Related terms
4 terms- SEPSafety & trainingSafety and Emergency Procedures — the core safety syllabus every cabin crew member is trained and re-examined on.
- Recurrent trainingSafety & trainingThe mandatory yearly refresher and check that keeps your SEP, first-aid and type qualifications valid.
- Dangerous goodsSafety & trainingItems that can endanger an aircraft — from lithium batteries to aerosols — and the rules on what passengers may carry and crew must handle.
- LavatoryAircraft & cabinThe aircraft toilet — a fire-protected, smoke-detected compartment that cabin crew check, stock and secure throughout every flight.