About
West Coast Fire Training is dedicated to providing high quality professional live-fire training. While anyone can build a campfire in a corner, designing and providing high quality, realistic live-fire training that is also safe is quite challenging. The truth is that most live fire training is not actually training on fire, it is the performance of a skill set with fire somewhere in the area. This results in the fire simply being part of the prop. The realism of the fire behavior and the student’s appropriate reaction to it are put to the side in favor of completing an evolution.
At WCFT the fire is not a prop it’s the point. We believe the only way students can truly be expected to perform well at a real fire is to have them witness realistic conditions and respond to them appropriately. Our training focusses on normalizing the live-fire environment by allowing students to observe all stages of fire growth and attack.
We have developed strong policies and procedures, on top of NFPA 1403, that allow us to conduct realistic fire training safely and effectively.
Mission
Providing high quality, positive training so that firefighters can operate more effectively, efficiently and safely.
Values
Humility
Positivity
Hard Work
Safety
Ian Bennett
Owner Operator
Ian Bennett 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.