Here's what a FireFighter Wears

Structural Turnouts

Also referred to as "Bunker Gear", this is the usual protective clothing worn by a firefighter when fighting building fires, or performing rescues. The heavily insulated turnouts can be uncomfortably hot to wear, but keep the extreme temperatures of a fire away from the firefighter's body. Turnouts consist of a coat, pants and suspenders, leather or rubber waterproof boots, a hood, a strong helmet with eye protection, gloves, a belt, and SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus).

Rubber or leather waterproof steel-toed boots protect the firefighter's feet. The rubber boots, often stored within the bunker pants, and zippers in the leather station boots make for quick changing when the alarm goes off.

A fire-retardant hood covers the firefighter's head and neck, protecting ears and other parts that would be exposed under a helmet. When properly worn, no part of the firefighter's skin is exposed or unprotected. The helmet has built-in eye protection, which can be flipped down when needed.

Name labels are important for several reasons. Besides identify equipment's department and owner, it is important on the fireground, because with everyone suited up and wearing a mask, it is almost impossible to recognize or identify someone without reading their name.

Firefighting gloves are well insulated, but don't flex very well. For rescues (such as vehicle extrication), where fire isn't a concern, a pair of lighter weight, more flexible rescue gloves can be worn. A hands-free flashlight is often hooked to the front of the jacket, and some firefighters also wear a smaller flashlight attached to the side of their helmet.

SCBA gear consists of a high-pressure air tank, a mask, and a PASS (Personal Alert Safety System) device. Unlike underwater SCUBA gear, these tanks are worn with the regulator valve facing down, not up, in order to protect it from being bashed while the wearer is working in a tight area, or crawling along a floor. Also unlike SCUBA gear, the firefighter's mask covers the entire face, with no mouthpiece. This mask uses a positive pressure flow, not the on-demand flow that underwater gear uses. This means that air is always being pushed into the mask as the firefighter breaths, keeping the pressure inside the mask slightly higher than the outside air pressure. This ensures that any gaps in the mask won't allow smoke or toxic gasses inside. The airtanks carried by the Santa Clara County Fire Department are 4500psi (650KPa) high pressure fiberglass-wrapped aluminum tanks, which will, under optimum conditions, provide 60 minutes of air. In reality, they supply 30-45 minutes, depending upon how hard the firefighter is working and exercising.

The PASS (Personal Alert Safety System) device, also known as a PAD (Personal Alert Device), is worn by firefighters in case they get injured or knocked unconcious. Once activated, the PASS device will set off a loud alarm and flashing light if it senses that the firefighter is completely motionless for some period of time, (around 30 seconds). This helps others locate and rescue the downed firefighter.

A rechargable flashlight is often clipped to a hook on the front of the coat. Often, an additional small flashlight is mounted to the brim of the helmet. Some firefighters also wear a tool belt to tuck additional tools off into, such as pry bars or axes . When all suited up, a firefighter is carrying around about 40lbs (20kg) of protective clothing and gear.

Hazmat Gear

There are several kinds of Hazmat (Hazardous Materials) gear (or "bunny suits", as they are sometimes called), giving varying levels of protection, depending upon what material is being dealt with. There are two levels of protection, Level A and Level B. Level A suits give a higher level of protection, from a greater variety of chemicals, for a longer period of time. This gear allows specially trained firefighters to deal with substances which may be radioactive, poisonous, very caustic, etc., which their normal turnout gear and SCBA may not be sufficient to protect them from.

Hazmat gear will usually be worn in several layers, making it even less comfortable to wear. Hazmat gear consists of an air- and water-proof oversuit, booties, gloves, and a hood. These pieces are often taped up, at the ankle and wrist, so that there are no gaps for nasty things to enter. After using this equipment in a hazardous environment, firefighters will have to be decontaminated (washed off) before they can remove the protective clothing.

The first layer is either station wear (uniform) or a one-piece Nomex jumpsuit. The jumpsuit seals snuggly at the ankles, wrists, and neck, giving good protection from fire. The back of the jumpsuit has a large patch identifying the wearer.

The next layer of defense is a Tyvek suit. This disposable suit provides a layer that is impermeable to most chemicals. In addition, the firefighter wears an SCBA, and carries a voice-actuated radio, because once sealed inside the outer suit, there is no way to reach any of this equipment. Tyvek booties cover boots, and an inner pair of Silver-Shield chemical protective gloves is put on over latex surgical gloves. At this point, "Level B" protection is in place. An optional cooling vest, which holds ice packs, can be worn to keep the wearer cool. Some firefighters also carry a knife, in the event that they have to get out of the suit quickly in an emergency. The suit is too heavy to punch through, and would have to be cut from the inside.

The outer layer is a completely sealed, "Level A" full encapsulation suit. The suit has a one way (exhaust) pressure bleed valve. This is required because as the wearer exhales, the used air must go somewhere. Even with this valve, the suits tend to blow up like balloons. When sealed up, the wearer is completely isolated from the outside atmosphere. Nothing (hopefully) can get in, and, unfortunately, almost nothing (including body heat and sweat) can get out.

Normally, another pair of protective gloves would be worn on top of these, providing four layers of protection for the hands. The gloves shown here are permanently attached to the sleeves of the suit, so that, in combination with the integral booties, no taping is required to seal the wrists and ankles, which is often necessary with other suits.

Rank hath it's privileges; these photos were taken on a 90°F (32°C) day, which is why the Captain, modeling the cooling vest and Tyvek above, isn't the same person in the full encapsulation suit!

And, if all that isn't enough, there is one more layer which can be worn if necessary, on top of everything else. This is a flash suit, worn to protect the wearer from fire and explosions. This outer layer would be worn in the unlikely event that a firefighter had to enter an explosive atmosphere, for example to rescue a victim inside. This is a situation which would normally be avoided at all cost, except when human life is in danger.

Note that in this photo, the flash suit is being held up from behind, and not being worn.

If everything is being worn, the wearer has five layers of hand protection, five layers of foot protection, and is looking through three layers of protective windows. Needless to say, this isn't comfortable, and one doesn't move quickly.

A more complete inventory of the protective clothing carried by Hazmat 2 is available.

Personal Tools

Many firefighters carry around personal tools with them when on the job. These small tools stay on their belts or pockets, rather than being carried on the truck. That way, the tool is always available when needed. Some of these tools are: