The Municipal Civil Protection Coordination of El Marqués, Mexico, developed and now uses a mixed reality extinguisher as part of its practical fire prevention and firefighting training. The simulation lets participants practise in a real physical setting without fire or chemical agents, experiencing situations similar to using a conventional extinguisher while building skills, decision-making and emergency preparedness.
The municipality received a recognition for the project at the ICLEI international congress of local governments for sustainability, according to a municipal bulletin carried by local media.
Training scale
According to the municipality, traditional practice allowed a maximum of two people per session, while the mixed reality extinguisher can include up to 30 participants. Civil Protection reports that 1,560 people were trained in one year, which it says is more than 50 percent of all people served during the previous seven years.
Resources and cost
The municipality's 2018-2025 diagnosis of traditional practice counted 377 exercises that used 377 gallons of gasoline and produced more than 3.3 tonnes of carbon monoxide emissions. Civil Protection says the simulation removes these inputs during exercises and reduces spending on fuel and extinguisher recharges. These are municipal statements; no independent measurement is cited.
