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Attack this Door

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Not all doors are created equal.  Take a look at this door and decide how you would attack it’s integrity to force it open.  There is a lot that the characteristics of a door can tell you about how it is hung and secured.

Although this seems like a very simple skill and knowledge that everyone should know, I am continually surprised by how many don’t really understand how to use forcible entry tools.  I’m sure you have seen the guy just beating a door to death but not getting anywhere because he is attacking the door the wrong way.

Share your thoughts, experiences and techniques with all of us on how you would attack this door.  If you have photos, post them or send them and we will post them for you.

Stay safe and train hard.

Posted by on October 30, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire-rescue-topics, forcible entry, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , ,

Lucky Stop

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We recently had a fire in an apartment complex.  The apartments all have exterior entrances independent of each other.  They are two stories in height and the landings from the upper floor units are unprotected treated lumber.

These were built prior to my current position and I don’t remember what year they were built, but I am guessing that they are about 12 years old.  The fire started in a plastic planter that was next to the door and had what the tenant called “very old” potting soil in it.  The tenant used the planter as a receptacle for her cigarettes.

Plastic Planter

As the fire grew, it spread to the vinyl siding and got into the soffit and on into the attic. Luckily the tenant happened to wake up and noticed a glow on the porch; no smoke detectors were activated and the unit next door was vacant.

All occupants escaped with no injuries and fire crews quickly arrived and made a good find and stop.

When they started doing overhaul they noticed something a little different about the fire barrier between the two units.

As you look at the picture below, you will notice in the upper right hand side of the photo the charred truss chase that did not extend to the left due to the draft stopping.

Draft Stopping

However, this could have been worse because this should have been a continuous fire barrier between the two units.  In addition the draft stopping should be protecting both sides of the truss shown.

The problem that the builder ran into was that the truss did not line up with the separation wall and the code official at the time either missed it or let it slide.

It was a good example of how these measures work.  It was also a good opportunity to show the building manager how it worked and why it is important to do these things right.

If you get a chance to look at some of these buildings as they are going up, do so and look for these types of building components and fire stopping.  Oh, the ceiling did have the proper rating with two sheets of drywall.

Fire Stop the Breach

Also, that wire is a breach or penetration in the fire barrier/draft stop and should be fire stopped with rated, UL listed caulk.

Stay safe out there and be careful.

Posted by on October 26, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire codes, fire stopping, fire-prevention-education, fires, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Seat Belts and SCBA’s: Practice

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Since we are looking at the Denver Fire Department for some great training information in relationship to firefighter rescue and survival with the Denver Drill, let’s look at another issue that Denver has attacked. Seat belts and SCBA’s.

It is a common known fact that firefighters are killed and injured each year because they were not wearing their seat belt. I personally have heard firefighters and officers make statements that are just flat out ignorant in regards to wearing seat belts.

It takes too long to do; I can’t get it on over my gear; I can’t get packed up and put my seat belt on. There are many more, but the bottom line is that a few extra seconds allows us to arrive safely and to actually make the save or make an attack on the fire.

If we don’t arrive safely, we can’t do our job. We owe it to ourselves, the people we serve and our families to arrive to calls and back safely.

The Denver Fire Department has put together this video that shows some practical solutions and methods for putting on your seat belt over your gear and pack. Put aside you ego for a few minutes and learn something and then pass it on. Officers, make your crews watch this.

Please stay safe at all times and be careful.

Posted by on October 24, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , ,

The Reason for the Denver Drill

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I recently had the pleasure to spend some time with Chief Dave McGrail from the Denver Fire Department. Besides discussing high rise and stand pipe operations, we talked about the Denver Drill and the circumstances from which it was derived.

Most have heard the story of Mark Langvardt and the fire that took his life. The following videos show just how difficult it was for Denver firefighters to rescue firefighter Langvardt. You can see the desperation and helplessness on their faces as they work to exhaustion to save their downed Brother. They were doing everything that they could to rescue him and were met with almost impossible conditions and a situation that they were not familiar with.

This is why we need to learn the lessons that our Brothers and Sisters all over the country can teach us about training for situations like this. We must train for and be prepared for bad things to happen. We cannot take a day off from training and we have to take RIT seriously, no matter how “routine” the fire seems to be.

Please remember Mark Langvardt and the Denver Fire Department while watching these videos and all the others who have sacrificed. We owe it to them to train hard and often and to learn from those experiences.

Stay safe and be a Bulldog about training. It makes all the difference in the world.

Posted by on October 20, 2010 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, mayday, rescues, RIT, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

VES Video

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Here is a pretty good, basic video on VES (vent, enter and search).  It has good demonstration points from the beginning of the operation to the complete search of one room.  The thing I like about this video is the use of two persons for the VES.

Although this can be done with one person, you must weigh the risk vs. benefit, it is ideal to do this with two people.  However your department chooses to perform this function, you must train regularly.

One thing that is not mentioned in the video is the fact that personnel performing VES must be highly trained and experienced. Knowing how to read changing conditions, fire behavior and building construction is a must.

Keep on training and stay safe out there.

Posted by on October 19, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, enter, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, forcible entry, rescues, search, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, vent, VES, videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Passing “It” On: Part 1

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I recently taught an Instructor 1 class and one of the things that I really like to make a point to emphasize is that we need to  pay attention to those firefighters and officer who are “salty” and who have been around a while.

We know that we have to attend classes and that we must get our noses in the trade journals and worth while web sites, but do we really listen when our more senior members are “telling stories?”  If not, we really need to start paying attention.

As a disclaimer, not all senior members will share or they just have never been engaged in the fire service. But, even some of those guys have something to offer even if they don’t realize it.  Each story has a lesson and we need to recognize this and absorb all we can while they are here.

Okay, so where I am going with this?  A few days after finishing this class, we were doing the dinner dishes and the discussion came up from a couple of the younger guys about fires and training.  Some how the conversation turned to commercial buildings, more specifically strip malls and fast food restaurants.

Out of curiosity I asked one of them what the first thing they would do if they responded to one of these buildings with a slight haze, odor of smoke or even an alarm sounding?  His first response was to go to the electric panel.

Well, as most of you may know where I am going with this, we advised him that he was wrong.  He had never been taught to take a pike pole and lift a ceiling tile as soon as you walk in the door.  This is critical information and I was shocked that his captain had  not covered this at some point.  Granted, he spends a large majority of his time on an LSV, but this is something he should have known.

What we did was have a very informative training lesson while doing dishes. I am pretty sure this will stick with him for the rest of his career as we discussed some case studies on this type of fire.  It didn’t take a lot of class preparation or Powerpoint slides, just an eager firefighter and some older ones willing to share.

Talk fire and rescue.  This has to be a normal activity in the fire house.  If we can instill this in the newer generation they will pass it on also.  We owe it to them to give them every little nugget of information that we can, sometimes whether they want it or not.

What was passed on to you by someone that you worked or trained with? How did it change what you did in the fire service? Let us know your story and keep on fighting the good fight.

Stay safe and train hard.

Posted by on October 13, 2010 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, forcible entry, line-of-duty, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Multi-Tasking Training

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So many times when I see and do training, we get stuck in a rut by doing one task. For instance, when we have a guy ready to take the operators seat, we go to a parking lot, pull a cross lay and pump.  Granted, he has to hook to the hydrant, but it is pretty much a bread and butter training evolution that is done over and over again.  Not that it’s not important, but rather, can we make it more interesting?

Here is an example of what I like to call “multi-tasking” training.  The person running the truck is going to be promoted to operator within the next week or so.  Instead of just putting the stick in the air and twirling it around and flowing water out the end of it, why not make it an evolution that everyone can be a part of.

What we did here was have the new operator actually practice placing the ladder on a building with an experienced operator at his side.  This was a good time for the new operator to get familiar with and comfortable placing the stick.

This was more than just putting it up there, he really had to get it right and take into account working firefighters and water flow since we were adding to the evolution.

Next, we had three guys go to the roof as a team.  One thing that two of them had never done was connect to and work off of the stand pipe connection from the tip.  This connection is next to the nozzle with a butterfly valve.  It gave the crew an opportunity to learn the workings of shutting off the nozzle valve and opening the butterfly valve before asking for water.

The crew made their way up the ladder, one with the hose and nozzle and the other was working on the valves. The third firefighter took the roof ladder to the first two for them to place it on the peak for operations.  The line we used was a 1 3/4 inch line, but you could make it what ever you wanted.

Once the roof ladder was placed the crew advanced the line to the peak and called for water. The firefighters locked in with their personal harnesses and flowed water.

In addition, we practiced working off the roof ladder to simulate ventilation operations.  The biggest benefit of this drill was the increased confidence in the harness and the ability to know and understand the steps to use the valve on the end of the stick for simulated stand pipe operations.

The advantage of this drill was the ability accomplish more than one task in a short time. This drill took about 45 minutes to perform with one company.

The new operator was required to set up the ladder, place it and flow water to a hand line from the tip.  In addition, he got used to some noise at the turntable during operations.

The firefighters on the roof were able to get familiar with the connection at the tip in a non-stress environment and have a better understanding of how many people are really needed in these situations.

They also got not only nozzle time, but roof time as well and being comfortable handling tools and hose on and off the ladder.

We were able to accomplish a great deal in a short amount of time.  This “multi-tasking” method has worked very well for us in the past.  Learn to use your time wisely and keep things fresh.

Train hard and stay safe.

Posted by on October 7, 2010 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, ladders, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , ,

We’ve Gone Pink

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Before you think we’ve gone crazy or are remembering the days of John Hughes films, (Pretty In Pink) we wanted to let everyone know that we have “gone pink” for Breast Cancer Awareness.

Here is a request from our friend over at The Happy Medic about this great cause.  Click the link to get the entire message from Justin.

By clicking the pink ribbon to the left, you can donate to a great cause of one of our fellow bloggers, EpiJunky.  He will be walking to raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

With the help of the FireEMS Blogs network of friends and bloggers, we can contribute to the defeat of breast cancer.

Please be aware and take the time to be generous for this worthy cause.

Stay safe and be careful. And, for a while, go Pink in honor of all of those affected by breast cancer.

Posted by on October 1, 2010 • Filed under: charity, Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , ,