The training facility must ensure that all equipment necessary for practice of performance skills identified in the commission's Curriculum Manual or Curriculum Skills Manual is available in sufficient quantity for use by trainees. The minimum equipment required for conducting training is identified in the Equipment List found in each discipline chapter within the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (TCFP) Curriculum Manual.
  (1) All Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) that will be used during the course of instruction for a commission approved fire protection personnel training program shall comply with §435.3 of this title (relating to Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). This rule applies whether the SCBA is provided by the academy or the trainee. If instruction in the use of self-contained breathing apparatus is a part of the training, then self-contained breathing apparatus in sufficient numbers shall be provided to enable each trainee to wear the equipment for at least the life of one breathing air tank during the training. If a trainee will be subjected to a hazardous atmosphere or where the atmosphere is unknown, the trainee shall be provided with a self-contained breathing apparatus. (Note: All self-contained breathing apparatus used by a certified training facility and the air used in self-contained breathing apparatus must comply with §435.3 of this title (relating to Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus). This rule applies whether the self-contained breathing apparatus is provided by the academy or the trainee. All students, instructors, safety personnel, and other personnel participating in any evolution or operation of fire suppression during the live fire training shall breathe from an SCBA air supply whenever operating under one or more of the following conditions:
    (A) in any atmosphere that is oxygen deficient or contaminated by products of combustion, or both;
    (B) in any atmosphere that is suspected of being oxygen deficient or contaminated by products of combustion, or both;
    (C) in any atmosphere that can become oxygen deficient or contaminated, or both; and/or
    (D) below ground level;
  (2) standard classroom equipment to include appropriate instructional aids and the use of cutaways, models, flip charts, and other visual aids are recommended to enhance effectiveness of the instruction; and
  (3) other equipment, which may include training simulators, training aids, clothing and tools required by the applicable training program.

Source Note: The provisions of this §427.9 adopted to be effective November 1, 1998, 23 TexReg 10895; amended to be effective October 11, 2000, 25 TexReg 10187; amended to be effective January 27, 2002, 27 TexReg 481; amended to be effective May 26, 2005, 30 TexReg 3033; amended to be effective May 20, 2018, 43 TexReg 3103; amended to be effective April 23, 2023, 48 TexReg 1962