I talk with Ian about his journey and experience doing live fire training, both in fixed facilities and acquired structures. We cover training culture, safety, organization, failures and more.
West Coast Fire Training
Ian runs a live fire training company, you can follow West Coast Fire Training here or at their Facebook page.
Ian Bennett
Ian began in the fire service in 2006 when he joined the Seattle Fire Department. Always striving to push his knowledge to the next level he spent over four years as a writer and editor for Seattle Fire’s Post Incident Analysis committee and worked for three years as an instructor at the Washington State Fire Academy.
After promotion to Lieutenant, he became a recruit instructor and taught there for two years. Every Seattle recruit class conducts live fire training in an acquired structure, and it was in preparation to become a recruit instructor that Ian became obsessed with acquired structure training.
Ian founded WCFT after being asked by several outside agencies to assist with live fire training in acquired structures and realizing that there was a need to bring this specific skill set to departments without the resources to develop it on their own.
Ian is committed to continuing education for himself and others and is dedicated to providing high quality, professional, and positive training for his students.
This is the truth, or maybe not.
This conversation might not always be accurate. I am no guru and sometimes simple mistakes are made, especially if English isn’t a person’s first language. It’s just our chat – nothing more or less. Have fun!
