Gore Associates do a fitness-for-use test in the fire container at FeuReX.
For days beforehand, you could feel the excitement as some Gore Associates were about to venture into a specially prepared test fire container at FeuReX GmbH wearing GORE-TEX CROSSTECH® PARALLON® firefighting clothing. FeuReX is a training company for aspiring firefighters. "After all, we want to know what it's like when firefighters wear our products in the field!" explains an Associate. Such similar tests are on the agenda at GORE-TEX Professional: every day, countless jackets, shoes, or gloves are put through their paces - we call it "fitness-for-use" - by various test persons around the world. It is therefore not unusual that our Associates also accepted this challenge, because what is more authentic than one's own experience? The day at FeuReX began with an introduction by Josef Ottinger. He is an authorized representative at FeuReX and it was immediately clear that he is not only our key person for the test but also an extremely experienced trainer. Josef explained the planned procedure and asked the participants if they had any health problems, as this would make firefighting in the container impossible.
The first challenge was getting dressed: the firefighting equipment is unfamiliar and caused some people to break out in a small bead of sweat while getting dressed - perhaps because of the heat in the locker room or the increasing excitement before the upcoming fire container rehearsal – it was impossible to determine. Immediately after dressing, Associates started with simple activities in the fire truck: getting in, getting out, climbing up and down again, simply feeling the firefighters' clothing in motion - was the goal of the first exercise. As it turned out, this was far more strenuous and sweatier than expected.
The next task was to walk through a completely dark container pumped full of dry ice mist using a breathing apparatus. After all, the instructors at FeuReX did not want to send the test Associates straight into the fire container. Obviously, anyone who already has difficulty orienting themselves in pitch-dark and foggy conditions, has difficulty using a breathing apparatus, or even develops claustrophobia, should not go into a fire container in the first place. Up to this point, the mood was still incredibly positive, but the excitement or perhaps the nervousness noticeably increased.
Following the dry ice fog exercise, the time had come; groups of two prepared themselves for the big moment with a FeuReX instructor each. During the last safety briefing it was explained what was coming up and in the next moment the first group had already disappeared into the darkness of the fire container. In the meantime, the container was appropriately prepared by a FeuReX instructor with a fire that generated about 600-800° Celsius (approx. 1100 – 1500° F) of heat, which represents realistic conditions during firefighting operations.
15 minutes later, the first group came out of the container. One of them was Michael Setzer, Sales Associate at GORE-TEX Professional. Still pumped with adrenaline, his words just bubbled out: "Everything was dark, I had to move slowly in a crouch or crawl and pass-through narrow places. For a short time, I got a little claustrophobic - although in retrospect it was more harmless than I thought and not dangerous, especially since we had an experienced instructor with us. In the second room it was much hotter, and we had to feel a doll in the dark room and simulate a rescue. And finally, in the third room was the fire, which was more like an ember, but extremely hot. Here we simulated how incorrect extinguishing increases the heat and creates an almost unbearable roll of steam." Michael’s team partner, also exhausted, added, "When I went out, I immediately wanted to take off my mask and breathe fresh air. But we were instructed not to do that because the helmet had to come off first."
Vivienne Hildebrandt is a Technical Application Engineer at GORE-TEX Professional. Among other things, she is responsible for selecting product technologies that meet technically required specifications and provides them with corresponding certificates. She was quick to stop at nothing, especially when it came to product testing. Her focus during the test in the fire container was on the properties of GORE-TEX CROSSTECH® PARALLON® garments and she was not disappointed. "I was thinking, 'Awesome - I'm about to face the big heat.' Let's see what happens... but the heat of the fire only rose slowly in the clothing, which made me feel safe, and it wasn't even necessary to give a signal to the instructor. But the remarkable thing was the immediate cooling effect I felt as soon as I took a step back from the heat source. This is one of the great properties this product has. I just wanted to feel and experience this myself. I did the compressing of the garment consciously, without any problem. I felt totally safe and didn't feel like I was sweating afterwards because the moisture was quickly distributed through the layers of the clothing. That totally convinced me." As to why compression is necessary, Vivienne adds, "Compression is important in terms of danger from burns, for example, as soon as you get garments closer to your body. That would be the case at the wrist with gloves and sleeves. Or when leaning over. If you sweat a lot in a garment, the sweat tends to stay inside. GORE-TEX CROSSTECH® PARALLON® technology disperses sweat to get it through the interlayer. It significantly reduces the effect of burning."
Johannes Krieg, Gore product specialist for firefighting and police boots, on the other hand, wanted to see not only the clothing but also how the boots would prove themselves inside the container. "The rooms were full of fog and at the time it was important not to be overcome by panic. Sometimes the instructor would briefly light the room with a flashlight and then you had to try to memorize the room, feel objects and get your bearings. It's so immediate how quickly you lose your bearings." And after he was out of the container, he adds, "I'm still full of adrenaline, I can feel my whole body, but it's a good feeling." On a side note, Johannes tested a prototype firefighting boot and drew a positive conclusion: "The boot fit was great and protected me, so I'm very satisfied." Of course, he gained some valuable insights for his footwear product development, he revealed these to me afterwards, but in the strictest confidence - which I hereby honor.
Russell Brill, product specialist for gloves for firefighters, among others, put his personal focus on GORE-TEX CROSSTECH® glove technology during the fire container test. "I just wanted to see how the gloves would perform in extreme conditions. It was very hot in the third room, so I was able to rely completely on the gloves' protection while still having enough tactility in my fingers to perform all the important tasks - just as intended. This experience in the container was incredible for me, I have the utmost respect for the job the firefighters do!"
After all these statements by Gore Associates, I was personally interested to hear what one of the accompanying instructors who is also managing director of FeuReX, Karl Perr, had to say about the exercises in the container and the importance of the garment: "Our instructors go into the fire container about 50-60 times a year. First and foremost, we need 100% protection from heat and flames. The clothing is central for us because it has to withstand this extreme load every time and this is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. That's why we only work with your products!"
