Beginning with becoming a firefighter in the U.S. Air Force to launching a national podcast on the importance of safe fire training, Jake Barnes is traveling a unique career path. Before finding his home in New Albany, Indiana in 2004, he served as a firefighter in Texas, Saudi Arabia and Kentucky. Now with more than 30 years of service, Barnes is pushing forward on every level with what’s important to him: preparing firefighters for their daily challenges.
An instructor for the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), Barnes uses his personal time off to travel the country and educate other firefighters. He specializes in Fixed Facility, Live Fire Basement Fire and NFPA 1700 classes, and teaches upwards of 15 classes a year.
We caught up with the Battalion Chief of Training for the New Albany Fire Department in Sellersburg, Indiana between his travels to talk about fire training and his national podcasts.
Fire Facilities (FF): You’re off to Prescott Valley, Arizona soon to teach NFPA 1700. That’s an intense, comprehensive firefighting training class. How many firefighters are participating?
Jake Barnes (Barnes): We’ll have anywhere from 30-40 firefighters in the class. It’s a 2-day class for the students, and a 3-day class for the instructors.
FF: You’ve conducted training in Prescott Valley before. It has the four-story Lieutenant model from Fire Facilities. What’s it like training on that structure?
Barnes: Yes, I’ve taught there before. Prescott Valley is amazing. The firefighters are all top tier and the training grounds are large and very impressive. Honestly, their Fire Facilities structure is amazing and works on so many levels. Now that I think about it, all Fire Facilities towers have always been more scalable and versatile for training compared to other structures. They seem like real residential and commercial buildings, and therefore allow firefighters to have a more realistic sense of training. I challenge any instructor to go into a non-Fire Facilities tower and then go into a Fire Facilities tower and tell me you don’t have more ideas for training, and a better overall training experience.
FF: What have been the reactions from firefighters to the Fire Facilities structures during training?
Barnes: Firefighters are very picky when it comes to training. That’s good and bad. I have trained in so many Fire Facilities towers that I feel I have a unique experience. I always talk to the students on breaks about the training grounds and specifically, the Fire Facilities towers. I get great feedback.
Fire Facilities towers are built for firefighters, by firefighters. They’re very flexible. Firefighters I’ve worked with really like the buildings because they can be used for so many different types of evolutions. You can’t have your firefighters bored during training. Boredom equals not learning. Fire Facilities towers can be whatever your imagination will allow. It’s the LEGO®s of the fire service.
FF: Burns rooms are particularly important for training. Tell us your training experiences in Fire Facilities burn rooms … and competitor structure burn rooms.
Barnes: Most training towers are set up for certain areas to burn in. I have been in Fire Facilities towers where you can let the fire actually go down halls and into rooms you wouldn’t think were possible. The Westec® lining is hands down the best you can get. The burn room insulation system is designed to provide the best overall performance possible for burn room conditions in fire training structures.
FF: We understand your passion is teaching for ISFSI. However, during the past several years you’ve expanded that passion.
Barnes: That’s true. Back in 2020 I wanted to contribute more to the national conversation about firefighter safety and training. That’s when I created the 3 Point Firefighter podcast. I interview really smart people in our firefighting industry. These people come on the show and share their stories and insights on three key points of “Pride, Training and Physical Fitness.” We usually go down so many rabbit holes it is almost silly to try to stick to just three points!
FF: And the podcasts have really become quite popular.
Barnes: Yes … it’s something I’m proud of. You can hear them on Audible, Apple, Spotify and Google. There are also several dozen videos on YouTube. And, thanks to the team at Fire Facilities for stepping up and offering to be my first sponsor, I’m able to get the word out on the podcasts. This matters to me because Fire Facilities is dedicated to firefighter training and safety. The company designs and builds the best fire towers in the business. It’s by firefighters for firefighters!
FF: It’s our privilege to do that, Jake … and to support you, other trainers, and firefighters across the country.