Do What with What?

After boot camp we were assigned to our various duty stations.
When I found out I was to be stationed on a Gator I learned that it was mandatory that I attend fire fighting school in Norfolk. I had my Boy Scout firefighting merit badge and figured I knew how do fight fires.
First day we reported to a large tank of water about 12 feet in diameter and about 4 feet tall. It was filled with water with several gallons of diesel fuel floating on top. The instructor said "today we will learn how to put out an oil fire with water". I almost raised my hand and said "excuse me but the merit badge book says use dry chemical on oil fires" but I thought better of it. One brave soul did say he thought that was not possible.
The instructor pointed out that a ship out on the ocean has lots of water to use and that is what they are going to use to put out fires.
They poured about a cup of gasoline on top of the fuel and threw in a match.
Whoooof. We now had a very hot tank of burning oil. To our amazement, he picked up a charged fire hose with standard issue navy fire nozzle and in a few seconds, he had the fire extinguished. We stood by in amazement.
For the next hour we all took turns putting it out.
The rest of the week we practiced putting out fires in engine spaces and other situations. We were cautioned that this was not a game and one mistake might cause the flames to flash back behind us and we could indeed be burned alive in the practice compartments. After that week of firefighting none of us had any facial hair or eyebrows.
Every evening we returned to the barracks totally covered in black soot and smelled so bad they used one certain bus to transport firefighting students in. With all the clean air acts, OHSA rules and regulations, I wonder if they still teach hands on firefighting this way today?
When you are a young man, experiences like this stay with you for a lifetime.