Al Ju'aymah Advanced Fire Training Center

Proud to be a Saudi Aramco Fire Fighter !

Following the 2008 Fire Technology Conference organized by the SFPE Saudi Chapter, during which SPK Engineering, in association with LNE, presented a paper on fire tank modelling, it was a priviledge to visit this best in class training center, which allows Saudi Aramco to train its personnel in the most realistic conditions. The AFTC is located approximately 1 hour drive away from Dammam, close to a production site.

The AFTC was designed to fulfill the following criteria :

1. Provide realistic scenarios which could be actually encountered by crews in a large-scale industrial emergency

2. Provide scenarios which correspond to the full breadth of the assets the Fire Department is required to protect

3. Offrer a curriculum certified by an internationally recognized agency

The AFTC now offers 21 different courses, including :

. Industrial fire fighting such as refining, petrochemical, manufacturing, warehouse, storage, and pipeline facilities.

• Marine fire fighting on ships, barges, dry-docks and offshore platforms.
• Flammable liquid storage tank fire fighting that includes process and storage tank fire fighting.
• Structural and municipal fire fighting, including residences, stores, offices and smaller commercial occupancies.
• Special occupancies including high-rise, schools, hospitals and large warehouses.
• Industrial rescue including confined spaces and entrapment/entanglement in machinery.
• Drilling rig fires including fires in accommodations, galleys, generators, support equipment and well heads.

Some photos of the facility are given below, which only give a glimpse of its impressive size and of the range of possible fire scenarios.

We would like to thank for their kind attentions Mr Ali Mokhtar, Head of the Fire Protection Department of Saudi Aramco, Mr Hamed Rashed Al Rashed, Head of the Fire Training Center, and the SFPE SAC Chapter members who organized the Fire Technology conference, thanks to whom this visit was made possible. Let us hope this is a prelude to future cooperation bewteen the French and the Saudi Chapters of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers for the development of fire science.