Blog 19: Independent Component 2

Content:

LITERAL
(a) I, Steven Robles, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
(b) My mentor, firefighter Cunningham, was the main source that allowed me to complete my independent component.
(c) Done.
(d) For my second independent component I continued to attend my explorers program. While continuing my attendance I was able to learn about new things about the fire service while still reviewing older knowledge in order to stay up to date. Specifically, some newer things I learned about were the different types of fire hydrants, knots, tools, the quint (vehicle that can pump water and has a ladder), and the importance of RIC crews (Rapid Intervention Crews).

INTERPRETIVE
For the majority of my second independent component I was at fire station 166 learning about different aspects of the fire service. Aside from being taught new knowledge, I also spent a little bit of time preparing for an explorer graduations and got the opportunity to attend a yearly banquet for all other county explorers. Overall, this second independent component allowed me to continue to learn about the fire service and understand the importance of being an active participant of events.

Throughout my independent component the other explorers and I were stress on the importance of looking presentable and always keeping our boots shined, we even spent part of one of our meeting learning how to shine boots.

From completing my independent component I also got the opportunity to learn a little about the different types of fire hydrant and how some are better than others depending on the surrounding environment. 

At the annual banquet the attendants received a little booklet with all of the explorer post and pictures of them.

The image above shows a part of the graduation were the audience got to see demonstrations put on by the certified explorer graduates.


More about my project could be learned from looking at my Independent Component 2 log by clicking here.

APPLIED
Everything that I did throughout my second independent component helped me understand different aspects of the fire service. For example, I got to learn about the different tools on the fire truck and the firefighters also did a good job explaining to my and the other explorers why it is vital to be aware of all the equipment and continuously checking and cleaning them for optimum results while on the fire ground. All that information provided me with a solid foundation for my second answer. Another more important part of this independent component was learning about rapid intervention crews. I learned that these crews are present at every structure fire and are there just in case any firefighter goes down. Their job is to rapidly extract the trapped firefighter. This information presented me with another possible answer to my essential question, due to the importance that ric crews have on structure fire operations. All in all, this component was
a vital source in helping me continue to learn about my topic.