Created in 1974, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and its delivery arm, the National Fire Academy (NFA) have been conducting specialized training at the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) for approximately 20 years. NFA's approach to training has been evolving for many years, from the original strictly on-campus/resident delivery of training courses to the inception of regional/off-campus deliveries and now the capability of providing training through the utilization of a wide area network (WAN) and the World Wide Web (WWW) in accordance with distance learning initiatives. The development of a computer-based training (CBT) network enables the NFA to use innovative instructional technology to reach sectors of the fire and emergency response community that were previously unable to benefit from the Academy's training and education programs due to space, budget, and time limitations. The NFA program to develop a significant extension of its

training capabilities through network distribution of information and instruction is consistent with the National Information Infrastructure. The distance learning initiative will range from single student CBT courses to multi-user WAN-based simulations/CBT Training. The goals of this initiative are to make training available to emergency response personnel via the Internet and other innovative means and to provide additional training based on national trends.


In 2000, NFA selected Dynamic Animation Systems (DAS) as prime contractor to provide all services and incidental material and equipment necessary to support the continued development and maintenance of the National Fire Academy's on-campus Simulation Laboratory (SimLab) and the national simulation and training network. The primary objective of this contract is to maintain and provide enhancements to a fully integrated, computer based simulation and training network. DAS will ensure the simulation and training network will be capable of distributing and installing various training systems to other Government approved locations throughout the United States. The regional site systems will be designed to communicate/interface with the main network to access the training exercises by various means that include intranet/internet. This access shall be in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) information technology policy. The system is scalable and capable of capturing changes associated with hardware and software technology evolution, thus affording the NFA to take advantage of any cost-effective technology changes.


Computer Based Training (CBT) modules developed under this contract are made available to first responders by the National Fire Academy's Distance Learning Program. The CBT modules can be accessed through www.nfaonline.dhs.gov

In response to needs, DAS created a particle system smoke simulation in Apex, DAS's own state of the art graphics and simulation engine. This tool is fully configurable by the user so that instructors can adjust smoke characteristics to provide various visual cues in response to student need. This simulation is the first of its kind to run on a PC. Future enhancements include adding a particle system fire simulation. DAS looks forward to continuing to bring innovative technologies and techniques to NFA. Prior to DAS priming the contract, the simulations were developed for high-end Silicon Graphics workstations. DAS has since converted these simulations and made them available on much cheaper PC platforms. All new simulations will now be developed under the state of the art simulation developed on top of Apex.

The simulation environment consists of two networked applications capable of supporting distributed training. The first application is the instructor's workstation which provides complete control over the progression of the simulation and the environment. Fires and other effects can be introduced simply by pointing and clicking on the desired location. Once configured (e.g. the color, density and size of the smoke), the new changes to the environment are immediately communicated to each student.

The second application is the student's workstation. Theoretically any number of student workstations can communicate with the instructor workstation, and can reside anywhere in the world providing neither application is operating on a closed network. The student workstation provides a static view into the dynamically changing simulation world. Based on the visual cues the student notices, they must make the proper decisions to effectively fight the incident. The student application can also be used by students to become familiar with the environment by allowing them to freely roam through a clean (e.g. having no indication of the incident) scene. Finally it can be used by innocent bystanders to view a simulation in progress. In this mode, the user can freely move about the scene and aren't constrained by a static view as the students are.


A third application is being developed to allow course designers to easily construct and develop simulation scenarios to accompany and enhance their training objectives. The scenario editor allows the user to start with a base scene and embellish it with scenario specific add-ons (e.g. the location of fire hydrants, flammable materials such as boxes, and other visual cues such as gasoline cans). The scenario editor also allows the user to define the environmental conditions such as wind and visual obscurants like fog.

Once the scene has been constructed the designer can define animations and operations which can be applied to objects in the scene. For example, a common technique used to vent a smoke filled region is to use a pike or other device to break a hole in a wall, ceiling, or roof. The designer can easily add this by selecting the type of vent visual to use and pointing and clicking on the region for the vent. More complex operations ranging from creating animations for opening windows and doors to complete walkthroughs of the environment can also be created. Finally, the scenario designer can pre-define the various roles and their view of the scene. As students connect to a simulation the instructor can choose which role (and hence what they can see) each student will play on a student-by-student basis.