r/Firefighting • u/LostPasswordToOther1 • 5h ago
Training/Tactics How to prepare before FF1/Hazmat?
I'll likely be doing my FF1/Hazmat in January. I don't want to waste the fall months, I'd like to get started on preparing now so I can excel in my training. Are there good textbooks I could start reading now? I've heard the hazmat portion tends to give people the most trouble. Is there a good book for starting to learn the hazmat portion now? Anything else I can be doing?
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u/PlusThreexD 15m ago
Yeah bro don't worry about it. Your instructors should teach you everything required to pass the class. Like the previous comment stated, if you want a head start then get familiar with the ERG. It's your hazardous handbook
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u/DTSaranya 5h ago edited 5h ago
Unless you anticipate having trouble, I wouldn’t worry about it now. It’s not that hard of a course, and your instructors will likely want to frame it the way they want to for your first introduction to the material.
That being said, if you really want to get ahead, the most common textbooks are probably the “essentials of fire fighting” set of books or the “fundamentals of firefighter skills.” Which one you use and the edition will depend on your class.
There are some very good exam study guides as well, but I wouldn’t recommend those unless you’re having a hard time passing the written test due solely to test-taking troubles. They tend to teach you to memorize the kinds of questions rather than think through the actual answer. We give those to the folks who are good firefighters but not good test-takers and just need a way to get through the written exam.
There’s tons of free information online as well. With hazmat especially there’s a push for the information to be publicly available so that more of the general population understands hazards.
If you want a brief head start on hazmat so that you at least don’t feel like a stranger to the concept, you can pick up an ERG (emergency response guide) book or download an app version. Googling the hazard classes might be some fun light reading as well.