Courses on Intervention in Tunnels and Galleries

Applus+ TST offers specialised training courses on fires in tunnels, galleries and other underground infrastructures. These are aimed at professionals involved in the management of emergency situations, whether that’s extinguishing fires or evacuating people. Applus +TST, therefore, offers different types of courses, from basic to advanced, adapted to the needs of each group.

UNIQUE FACILITIES TO CARRY OUT PRACTICAL EXERCISES WITH REAL FIRE

Our Technological Centre is located in Siero, Asturias (Spain) and boasts specialised facilities for practical exercises and intervention manoeuvres in full-scale fire situations, as for simulation performance:

• A 600-metre long tunnel equipped with the most common systems for ventilation, passive protection, control, data acquisition and fire extinguishing.
• A 150-metre training gallery for practical exercises on extinguishing equipment and orientation, movement and search in interior galleries with fire and smoke.
   

TRAINING FOR FIRE BRIGADES AND MINE RESCUE BRIGADES

Applus+ TST has more than ten years of experience providing fire training in tunnels and underground galleries to fire brigades, rescue brigades and other emergency services. We have training programmes with different technical levels, lasting from one to five days. We can adapt each course to your specific needs, depending on the characteristics and specific risks of the facilities you are in charge of, your operational capabilities, and your firefighting equipment. During the training, both the theory necessary for understanding the factors that influence these types of fire and practical cases of intervention by the emergency teams are presented.

TYPES OF PROGRAMMES AVAILABLE EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING PROVIDED

Applus+ TST provides the following standard training courses, which can also be adapted to the needs of each group of participating professionals:

Fire courses in tunnels and galleries:

• Basic 2 and 3-day courses for firefighters
• Advanced 3 and 4-day courses for firefighters 
• 3 and 4-day courses for managers
• 4 and 5-day courses for trainers

Fire in galleries course:

• Initiation course in galleries (1 day)
• Basic course in galleries (2 days) 

Our experimental centre is a European benchmark in the training of fire brigades and rescue services. In the last years, different corps have been trained in our facilities:

• National: Spanish fire brigades from Oviedo, Asturias, Alicante, Madrid, Barcelona, Levante Almeriense, Zaragoza, AENA.
• International: Fire brigades from Portugal, Italy, Israel and Andorra. 

COURSE CONTENTS    

These courses aim to provide theoretical knowledge and practical experience of real fire situations in confined spaces and tunnels. Training exercises are carried out in real fire scenarios and the different methodologies for interventions are demonstrated. After the training, these professionals will have (controlled) experience of fire situations inside a tunnel. This knowledge will contribute to regulating their stress level in a real situation and will allow them to act more objectively in case of emergency, whether in fire control and extinguishing tasks or in the evacuation of people.

We have different training modules and while the programme and course content varies depending on the level, these are the topics which are included:

• Theoretical training: training on the evolution of fire, on extinguishing equipment, on ventilation systems; passive protection systems; configuration of a road tunnel and its emergency exits; evacuation measures in the event of fire, special and long-term breathing equipment, etc.
• Practical exercises and manoeuvres: based on demonstration, manoeuvre and simulation, covering the following aspects: smoke evolution; orientation and search for evacuation in tunnels; handling of self-contained breathing apparatus and fire extinguishing equipment.    
   

ABOUT APPLUS+ LABORATORIES

Applus+ is one of the world's leading inspection, testing and certification companies. With more than 18,700 employees, we have a network of more than 350 offices and laboratories in over 70 countries across all continents. The Applus+ fire laboratory in Barcelona (Spain) has more than 30 years of experience in the field of fire safety and is a European leader in fire testing - both in terms of recognition and the number of tests performed.