What do firefighters wear?

Fire fighters wear very heavy jackets made with special material. The jackets have 7-8 layers on the inside and the outside. They are fire retardant not fire proof.

The fire fighters wear clothes that are reflective so that they glow in the dark and they are easily seen in the night. If they are trapped, a fire fighter can easily see the trapped fire fighter.

There are two types of protective gloves. One of them is for picking up very hot things. The other one is made of the same material that the heavy jacket is made of and it is fire retardant too.

They wear boots that have handles on them so they can carry them. All their gear has to be neatly lined up so if there is a fire they could run and find their name and then put their clothes on quickly.

The fire fighters wear cotton hats and they use velcro to fasten all of their gear so that it can be put on and taken off easily. They need to have no skin showing, even a tiny piece of skin, they have to cover it all. When they get into the building on fire they can only stay there for 15 minutes. It is very,very hot! The fire fighters could normally only stay half an hour inside a burning house. Their clothes weigh 6-7 kgs and their breathing apparatus weighs 18kgs!

After the hot fire the fire fighters ventilate and drink lots and lots of cold water.

The jacket costs $2000 dollars, the helmet costs $3000 dollars and the torch costs $20!

This is how they attach their torch to their helmets. It can easily be taken off and used at a fire.

By Denise