Retty, Absolutely right, but as an instructor taking even very experienced hands through live fire wears,I can tell you that the number of times I have had to get down low on the floor quickly to avoid being steamed would surprise you. The amount of steam generated should indeed be minimal but branch operators often get a bit "trigger happy" when they see the hot stuff and can forget to think about what they are doing to anyone in the compartment. Not a serious problem during training wears but one which needs to be addressed to ensure that wearers are thinking about the effects of their actions.
Lawman, Dont mean to be patronising but have you thought about nominating an experienced hand as watch BAi (even if it is only an informal title) and getting him/her to do your research and keep the watch up to speed on procedures. I would think that your brigade has made all the necessary info available on their IT system. In my brigade those on station have in a lot of cases got tired of waiting for the brigade to get to grips with BA refreshers and are taking matters into their own hands (I am not advocating that people make stuff up localy but I can understand their frustration). To give the brigade credit we are now doing good BA refresher courses which are being well recieved but it will take time to get everyone through. I think in our case the reinstatement of Watch BAIs would be a step forward but only if they are given adequate training and support. I think a big problem is that 1/97 is too woolley and has gone too far in allowing brigades to vary procedures for local needs. It could do with describing in more detail the procedures to be followed in some areas i.e. how do you search a room, open a fire compartment door, how do you actually lay a guideline properly etc.
