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Ladder Placement

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This is a good working fire and I can see mutliple hose lines going into the structure. It is unfortunate that it is a fire that is ruining someone’s Christmas. With that being said, it is good to see some ladders on this structure since it appears there are crews upstairs.

To the left of the picture I can see a ladder on the porch and another one on the “D” side next to the third story window. Now, there are a couple things that I would like to point out. First, as a first arriving company officer, you have to take a walk around this building. Look for building characteristics, fire and smoke conditions and the possibility of victims hanging out rear windows on upper floors.

Second, look at the ladder on side “D”, could we have placed it in a better location? Not being there, I don’t know what there plans were, but the ladder may be better served for crews inside by being placed just below the sill of the top floor window. This would better allow crews to exit safely and quickly onto the ladder if conditions change and it will assist in the lowering of a victim if one is found.

Remember, if the ladder tip is too far into the window space, it takes up room that could be used by a firefighter to exit. Keep that tip below the sill giving all of the window space to the crews inside.  Stay safe and train hard.

Posted by on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, rescues, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

LODD FDNY 1998 On This Day

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On this day, December 18, 1998, 3 FDNY Firefighters  were killed in the Line of Duty at a high rise fire. Lt. Joseph Cavalieri, FF Chris Bopp and FF Jimmy Bohan died on the 10th floor of a labeled ”fireproof” multiple dwelling whose sprinklers had been shut off.

The three firefighters from L170 arrived and had the assignment of searching the fire floor and ascended 10 flights of stairs to rescue the resident in apartment 10-D, who was reported trapped. She escaped previously, but that was not known at the time. When the occupant left she left the apartment door open allowing air to feed the fire.  Although the building and hallways were equipped with sprinklers, they were functional and the fire spread rapidly.  It is believed that a change in wind direction created a wind of approximately 29MPH into the fire apartment and blew a superheated fireball into the hallway, taking the lives of the three FDNY firefighters.

For those of you that have not seen the NIST video on wind driven fires, take some time to watch it. Here is a link to find out more information on the tests done with Chicago FD and FDNY on wind driven fires.

http://www.fire.gov/WDF/index.htm

Posted by on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Combustible Liquids

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This is a repair shop that is not sprinklered, it was built prior to the code, and that also does fabricating.  They have added on without permits for several years and now is a dangerous place to be.  They have taken some measures to meet the inspection requirements, but, as you can see, there are still a number of hazards present.

These drums contain parts cleaners, oil and automotive fluids.  It is required to meet code requirements for quantities of flammable and combustible liquids and how they are stored. In addition, with the fabricating they use welders that can obviously cause an ignition of vapors.  Ensure that “hot” operations are an appropriate distance from the storage and use of flammable and combustible liquids.  Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

1964 Indiana Nursing Home Fire

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On this day in 1964, a nursing in Fountaintown, Indiana caught fire around 3:00AM.  A nurse reportedly saw the fire in the kitchen and hall way and started screaming for everyone to get out.

The first state troopers on the scene stated that the fire moved very fast throughout the first floor and that although there were 10 people upstairs that were ambulatory, they never had a chance to get out.  The fire chief at the time stated that the facility had been carefully inspected, but it is uncertain from media exactly what codes were established for the inspections.  At least 20 people died and others were transported for burns.

Nursing facilities and assisted living facilities have great potential for loss of life from fire for the simple fact that the residents, atlhough maybe mobile, they are slow to react and cannot move with speed.  Under stressful situations they also get easily flustered and confused.  Make sure you inspect these facilities and make sure safety violations are corrected.

Posted by on December 18, 2009 • Filed under: fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, fires, historic fires, major-incidents, mass-casualty-incident, rescues • Tagged: , , , ,