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Airbags in the Dark

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How often do you practice with these?

So, we all have these on some piece of our fleet. Most places will have a set of  these on every truck.

The questions that I want to pose are these: How often do you drill with them? What are the instances that you would use them? Do you every practice with gloves and low/zero visibility?

I know that where I am we don’t use these very often but the potential certainly is there.  I have seen many drills where they get aired up and then put away.  It is also important to understand where they are useful other than vehicle rescues.

The main area I am pointing to here is RIT or FAST activities.  If you include this in your RIT cache, do you regularly drill in zero or low visibility. Let  me tell you, it is a totally different experience.

You must understand leverage points and counter points or balances. Whatever terminology you want to use, if you lift from one side, you have to expect the opposite to move as well.

So, when you drill for these, lift something, anything, like pallets with full visibility. Watch what happens to the opposite side of the lift and make notes. When you get into the dark you will have to crib, raise, and lower all by feel. Oh, and up on red and down on blue is difficult at best.

After training, let us know how you identify the difference and how you communicate those instructions.

Keep up the good work and train hard.

Posted by dc802 on August 30, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, mayday, rescues, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Which Way is Out?

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This may seem a bit simplistic, but I am always surprised when I ask someone to close their eyes and hand this prop to them. After I hand them the hose I ask which way they would go to get out of a building?

Follow the Male Lugs Out

This is typically with no gloves on and they are just standing or sitting there, so they are not stressed or in a tough situation. But, most get it wrong.  Why?

Well, I say it is because of the lack of fundamentals and not enough training on the simple stuff.  In this instance it is basics of hose, in my humble opinion anyway.

If you are well versed in hose operations and how the hose is deployed and which end of an attack line is at the truck and which end is inside the building, you should have no problem with this “pop quiz.”

Take the time to learn about your hose.  More on hose lays later, but this little drill that can be done anywhere and any time is valuable and a good discussion starter.

By the way, when they tell you which way they would follow, make them tell you “why” so that you know they aren’t just guessing and watch them squirm.

Remember the fundamentals and stay safe.

Posted by dc802 on August 27, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, mayday, search, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

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Elevator Windows

I recently was in downtown St. Louis with my family for a day with the kids before school started.  We were across the street from the building in the picture.

What you see in this picture is just a row of windows, right?  Well, they are labeled, which is nice because if they weren’t there could be big problems.

You can see in the second picture that the labels identify this as an elevator shaft.  This is a heads up move for the building department and/or fire department for requiring this labeling.

Just imagine trying to make entry or counting dwelling/unit windows for RIT or emergency escape and finding out about this later.

This is just another example of knowing your area and the unique construction methods that are used.

Get in your buildings and be familiar. Had these not been labeled and a significant fire broke out here, this could have caused some serious problems.

Just for fun, what kinds of problems can we identify as a result of these windows not being labeled?  I look forward to hearing some great ideas.

Stay safe and be careful.

Notice the labels?

 

Posted by dc802 on August 21, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, buildling construction, elevators, fire codes, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, rescues, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

Standpipe or Not?

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Not typical for stairway standpipes

We were recently going through a large senior residential occupancy. This occupancy has 7 wings and several different stairwells.

Not all of the stairwells have standpipes in them.  Most were typical connections with a valve and 2 1/2 inch connection. As you can see in this picture, this one was not a typical seen in a stairwell.

At the left of riser you can see the standpipe connection.  They basically put the sprinkler room in the stairwell.

If you weren’t familiar with this, a person might just start turning valves or just think that there is not a standpipe connection at all.

The point here is that not all standpipe connections are created the same. Nor are all sprinkler rooms in a closet.

Get to know your buildings and the systems that operate in them. You never know when you will need to use them.

Posted by dc802 on August 10, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire codes, fire sprinklers, firefighter-safety-health, inspections, situational awareness • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

What Do You See?

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I am a big fan of companies getting out and scoping out their response area. Just when you think you have seen it all, something catches your eye that you missed the other 100 times you passed it by.  We all know what I am talking about.

Look at the picture above. As a fire service leader, what do you see?  What have you learned from your years of experience and training about these types of buildings?

What is of significance?

What is of significance that you see right away but the new guy might not have a clue about?

As an officer that will be making the initial decisions on this building you have a great responsibility to know as much about this structure as you can.  It will certainly help you to make the best possible decision about your tactics.

Take the time to sit with your crews and look at the features of this building. What type of construction is it?  What type of occupancy is it?  Why are both so important?  It just might mean the difference of saving the occupants and yourself.

Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on July 28, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, command-leadership, engineered lumber, fire codes, fire stopping, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, i joists, rescues, residential sprinklers, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Changes in Building Features

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Changes in building features.

These pictures show how buildings are altered over the years and with change of ownership and/or occupancy type.

You can see that what used to be windows are now bricked in.

This is very common on older buildings that had numerous windows and in some cases they are not very efficient.  Owners will frame or brick them in just to eliminate the problem all together.

The problem is we don’t know what the inside sill and frame-out of the inside of the window is like.

This is important to note when your doing your 360 or pre-planning.

When firefighters become lost or disoriented we are taught to find a window or door on an outside wall.  The inside of this building may feel like windows to the gloved hand, but in reality it has been blocked up.

A firefighter may spend a great deal of time and energy trying to get out the “window” and not move on to an actual egress point.

Keep these things in mind and get to know your area. We probably all have these buildings with these feature changes in our area and we have an obligation to point these out to our newer firefighters.  Stay prudent and be involved in your jurisdiction’s building construction and occupancy types.

Stay safe and keep cool.

Posted by dc802 on July 24, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, buildling construction, command-leadership, exits, fire codes, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, mayday, search, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics, vacant building fires • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Adapting–The Rest of the Story

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First, let thank you all for the comments.  There are no right or wrong answers, just great thoughts and ideas for us to all think about and learn from.  Now, the rest of the story.

The rest of the story.

There is nothing earth shattering here, but I learned two valuable lessons on this fire.

When we pulled up on this fire, the first arriving engines were all two man cabs. We didn’t have jump seats in any of our trucks at the time. I did some digging and found out that this fire was in 1997.

The drive was narrow and we got hung up in the ditch, blocking the drive right off the bat.  Luckily we had multiple trucks rolling at the dispatch and we had adequate personnel.

The first crew stretched a 1 3/4 inch line in through the side B door in the kitchen and advanced up the stairs.  The first floor had no smoke or fire at this time.  It became apparent fairly quickly that the initial attack was not making any progress.

We advanced a second line, a 2 1/2 inch stretch up the same stairs and made a very fast knock down.  The importance of this is that we did this with less than 1000 gallons of water.  Why do I stress this?

I have had debates about using large lines when water supplies are limited or late in developing.  When asked about using a larger line the response is that they would not use one because they will run out of water too fast.  My rebuttal is always that they may just get enough gpm on the fire to put it out before you run out of water.  That is exactly what we did.  Oh, and two guys handled the hose!

So, lesson 1 is big fire equals big water. If the fire is advanced enough that you will run out of water, it wont make any difference what size your line is. But, the larger line will put out more fire in that short amount of time.

While we were up stairs fighting fire, there was a crew in the living room doing some work. They had started salvage operations in the unaffected part of the house.  Understand that we didn’t need extensive ventilation and we had adequate manpower.  But, they stacked and covered everything in the living room and did the same in other rooms that were appropriate.

This ended up paying off big with the homeowner. As happy as they were about us putting out their fire, they were just as happy, or even more so, that we protected what had not been damaged by fire but would have been by the water.  When they were interviewed by the paper they went on and on about our efforts to protect all of their property.

So, lesson number 2 is to take the time to perform salvage operations if manpower and conditions permit. It is something that is too often overlooked.

By the way, there was no basement here, but all of you are correct in assuming this until you know for sure.  All of the responses were great and I really appreciate the time that you took to share.

Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on July 22, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

Removal Up Stairs–Video

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This is a video we did for a company drill. I know that everyone has their favorite method and some will not like using webbing for this. This is just an additional option you have. It really does give a little assistance with lifting. We have found we have a bit more leverage using the webbing.

However, you have to practice and practice with webbing in order to be proficient, otherwise it takes too long.

Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on July 20, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, mayday, rescues, search, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , ,

Residential or Commercial Alarm?

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Residential or commercial?

Even in this downturn in the economy, there are still very large homes being built.  In many cases these homes are over 5,000 square feet of total living area.

This creates a significant problem for many fire departments, especially smaller, more rural ones, in regards to tactics.

We are fighting these fires with traditional methods and resources. In many cases it just isn’t enough.  Add to the those issues that these are all built using light-weight construction, we have a recipe for disaster, as we have seen across our country.

Firefighters are falling through floors immediately after entering.  Roofs are collapsing much earlier than before.  Contents are causing fires to burn faster and reach untenable temperatures much earlier in the fire.  The larger area requires the firefighters to search longer and further into a building than in the past.

We need to look at these structures a little differently when confronted with a working fire in them.  Here are some considerations that should not be overlooked on these fires:

1. Your going to need more water, get it rolling fast.

2. A 360 is a must. You don’t know what you might have on the back side. 4 stories, victims hanging out windows, location of the fire, etc.

3. A larger line. It may be very prudent to pull a 2 1/2 as your first line of attack.

4. More manpower may be needed due to the multiple functions needed because of the size.  You may treat this alarm like a commercial alarm.

5. Search lines. In these very large homes, it is not out of the question to use a search line.

These are the primary items that you can’t discount. You may need to think differently on these larger home fires to have a positive outcome. I have seen departments burn these houses down because they were using tactics for an 1100 square foot building on a 5500 square foot house.

With the open floor plans and the light weight building materials, fire develops very fast in these homes. Anticipate that and plan for it. Adjust and have back up plans.  Never be afraid to regroup to get it right.

Feel free to add to the concerns, I encourage you to contribute. After all, that is what makes this so much fun.

Stay safe and stay low. Don’t forget to hydrate all day in this heat. Carry around some water and sip on it all day.

Posted by dc802 on July 16, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, buildling construction, command-leadership, engineered lumber, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, i joists, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , ,

Bailout Anchoring Techniques

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Here is another video from our friend Dale Pekel. In this video he shows some techniques to anchor for a bailout. You may not agree with all of these methods, but it is good information.

I recommend trying these and modifying them as you play around with them. There is nothing like practicing and trying new methods when it comes to firefighter operations and drills.

As always, stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on July 10, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, rescues, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Elevator Operations

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This is a good video on operating a typical elevator. I understand that there are many different types of elevators and different operating methods, but most are very similar to this. You can have different types of keys but the systems should be pretty standard.

Now some of the older elevators can have less options and safety features, so get familiar with the elevators in your jurisdiction. This is something I have seen firefighters struggle with, believe it or not, because they have never had any hands on experience with them.

Get out and use some of these and no how to use them before you have to.

When this pulls up on YouTube, you can subscribe to the creator, dieselducy, and he has additional videos of different elevators. Pretty interesting stuff.

Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on July 9, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, elevators, fire codes, fire service recall, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

My Visit to Houston Fire Department

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Houston House 8

My family and I recently took a trip to Houston and Galveston Beach.  Well, like most firefighters, I like to stop in and see the local firefighters and to talk a little shop and to see what they have in the way of equipment.

We didn’t get to a Galveston station, but we did stop by Houston FD Station 8 in downtown Houston.

First, let me say that the men that were on duty that day were very nice and treated my family and me very well.  My kids, being used to the firehouse setting, ran crazy and were all over the trucks; with adult supervision of course.  Thanks to all of the guys on that day, you know who you are.

No matter where I go, I always learn something new and interesting about that particular department. Whether it be about the house we are visiting, the equipment, operations or historical information, each place has it’s own story and way of doing things.

Two person pike pole.

This picture shows a two person pike pole that HFD has mounted to the front of this engine.  It was explained that it is used on buildings that have some very “tough” walls, like double plaster and lathe that back up to each other.  This pole allows two firefighters on each side to double the force of the pole.  I had never seen one of these and was very interesting.

Firefighters, as we know, are all very creative in one way or another.  The next picture shows a hood that HFD wears.  I had never seen one of these either, but a HFD firefighter came up with this concept and is now produced by gear manufacturers.  It is a hood that is made of the same material as the coat and pants.  It is lined the same and is quite a bit thicker than the traditional nomex hood.

Inventive hood style.

They didn’t seem to mind the hoods too much and indicated that it really keeps the heat off of your ears.  They also explained and were aware of the ability to get deeper into buildings and the associated hazards when we are so well insulated.

Another piece of equipment they have is an old reserve pumper that has been converted into a ceremonial truck.  This truck is used only for funerals and the honor guard mans this vehicle along with an SUV that accompanies it.

This truck is designed to hold a casket and the pall bearers.  As you can see, they have placed axes on each side and is a very attractive apparatus.  They use this for LODD, active that pass away off duty and for retirees.  It is a great tribute to our fallen Brothers and Sisters.

Honor Guard Apparatus

The trip was fantastic and I can’t say enough about the guys who spent the time to talk to us and show us around.  If you ever get to Houston, stop in and see the men at the 8′s.

Stay safe and take care.

Posted by dc802 on July 3, 2010 • Filed under: firefighter-safety-health, forceable entry, fun stuff, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Repair Bay Hazards

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Car lifts.

Although we all have these in our areas, we need to occasionally take a look at these occupancies and discuss and prepare for the hazards contained in these buildings.

As we can see in this picture, the car lift is holding a vehicle in the air. We know that when they close, these cars remain elevated.

Most of the time this is not an issue, but when a fire happens or if the area fills with smoke, it can be dangerous for firefighters entering the building.

Floor level hazards.

There are also floor level and pit hazards that need to be identified and planned for.  These should be identified during inspections and pre-planning surveys.

Be aware and stay familiar with your area and the buildings that you will be responding to.

Stay safe and look at these buildings before they burn.

Posted by dc802 on June 30, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire codes, fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, inspections • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Officers, Take a Look Around You!

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What do you see that makes you say, Hmmmm?

Take a look at this picture and tell me what you see?

It isn’t the operations, necessarily, that I want you to see here.

This is why the officer/s need to be aware and not get tunnel vision.

Too many times I have seen new and veteran officers take the nozzle from the back stepper and go barreling in without any regard for what is going on around him.  His days on the nozzle are over for the most part. His job now is to see the conditions and to take a look at the big picture.

So, what do you see?

Stay safe and be careful out there.

Posted by dc802 on June 24, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, administration-leadership, buildling construction, command-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, i joists, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Apply the Lessons Learned

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With the fire service and others taking this day and weekend to remember the Charleston 9, along with other high profile LODD, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to look at how we can specifically apply the recommendations that were listed in the report on the Charleston Super Sofa Fire.

I am going to do this just one at a time and I will likely take several weeks to cover them all.  It is very likely that some will intermingle with others, and will be covered together.

Today I want to look at pre-incident planning.  For me, this starts with when the building is being built.   In reality, it is a combination of both, during construction and visits and regular intervals.

conduct pre-incident planning inspections of buildings within their jurisdictions to facilitate development of safe fireground strategies and tactics

Light weight, engineered floor joists.

Today, we stopped in on a new restaurant.  As you can see from the photo it is all light weight, engineered construction.

The comment was made that we need not enter this building if it burns.  Well, in an ideal world that is correct.

The fact is is that we just don’t know what we will be tasked with doing if this building catches fire.  We can’t predict what time of day or who will or will not be in it.  What we can do, however, is know what this building is made of and the hazards associated with those materials and products of construction.

We also must be prudent in our tactics when arriving, like lifting ceiling tiles before we get too far in the building, looking for fire running above us.

This visit provided some great information aside from the type of construction and those hazards associated with them.  First, the building is completely sprinklered.  That is a plus.  We located the FDC and the nearest hydrant.  Both good things.

Concealed spaces over the booths.

We found that this concealed space had sprinklers dropped down to the ceiling level, but none were in the space or immediately above it.  An easy place for fire to spread quickly.

As we discussed earlier in the post, most would say we don’t need to enter this building.  In theory I agree, but we never know what we are facing when we arrive.

Something that we learned was that there is an area on the east side of this building, Side D, that is built with dimensional lumber and is sprinklered as well. The roof construction is not truss and the walls are all dimensional studs.  What can we take away from this?

Side D construction was different than the rest of the building.

We discussed that if there needed to be an attempt to make entry, it would be best to try to take a stand from this area. It is not part of the rest of the roof system and will likely hold up a little longer with the dimensional lumber.

Another idea was that RIT would be staged near this entrance if there would happen to be interior crews making a rescue or knocking down what was perceived as a small fire.  They know that there is a straight shot to the middle of the building through a more secure type of construction.

With all that being said, accessibility to the building needs to be looked at; where will multiple units be staged?  Where will you place ladders and are there overhead dangers?

It is important to look at all of these factors to make a good decision based on prior knowledge.  We also understand that Plan A doesn’t always work so have a Plan B ready based on the planning you did on the building.

There are many other components about pre-incident planning that I didn’t mention, but hopefully you get the point.  Get out and visit these sites.  Be involved and have discussions about how you would perform at a fire here.

Above all, don’t let the lives lost at any LODD be lives lost in vain.  Learn from their mistakes, but don’t be critical, we have all screwed up and been lucky enough to get away with it.  Be constructive and train on the recommendations so that you don’t repeat history.

Stay safe and please, never forget those lost in the line of duty.  We owe them our promise to train hard and to learn from them.

Posted by dc802 on June 18, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, administration-leadership, buildling construction, command-leadership, engineered lumber, fire codes, fire sprinklers, fire stopping, fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, i joists, in-the-line-of-duty, inspections, line-of-duty, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

NFFF Memorial Weekend

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Please visit this site regularly.

Over the next days and weeks you may see this banner on many of the blog sites that you visit to get your emergency services fix.

We have been asked to support this initiative to bring honor to those that have fallen and for the families that have been left without their loved ones.

Starting this Friday, there will be a feature of one of the 105 fallen firefighters that will be honored and remembered at this years memorial service. Dave Statter writes, “The feature will include a link to something else that is new this year, a virtual version of the Remembrance Banner. The Remembrance Banner is normally available for family and friends to sign while in Emmitsburg for Memorial Weekend. Now there is a way for those who can’t make the trip to be a part of the tribute.”

Please take the time to visit this site and to tell your friends and co-workers about the tribute.  We must never forget these brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Thanks and stay safe.  Never forget.

Posted by dc802 on June 15, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, administration-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, mayday • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

What’s In Your Pockets?

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Since day one in the fire service, we have each had that one thing that we always carry in our gear.  A screw driver, pliers, wire cutters, rope or webbing.  Over the years we might accumulate more or downsize to just what we need.

What do you carry on your person?

I am always curious when I hear some state that they don’t want any extra weight on them, that their gear is heavy enough.

As you can see, we recently were issued the external harnesses.  We had members that complained about the weight and extra attention that needed to be paid to getting into the gear. I personally have not had any problems and I will post on these harnesses another time.

The matter at hand is “what’s in your pockets?”  I have things that I always carry with me no matter what and there are some items that I would like to add and just haven’t done it yet.

I keep a 30 foot piece of webbing, two cords, wire cutters, (need new ones), regular pliers, screw drivers, a  center punch and I wear a flash light on my coat.  There are some items that I need to add, but for now this is what I have.  For example, I would like to add a 25 and 50 foot section of 8mm rope, wooden wedges and a new pair of spring loaded wire cutters.

Flash light on the coat.

What do you carry and why?  Do you have any great stories of needing any of your tools and were glad you had them?

Share your input and give us your recommendations and suggestions on what to carry and why.

Stay safe and be careful out there.

Posted by dc802 on June 15, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, fires, forcible entry, rescues, scba, search, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Lapel Mics vs. No Lapel Mics

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This post comes on the heels of some discussion and training scenarios that we had at work.  We have had the lapel microphones for our radios for a few years now, but it was a bit of a joke.  Depending on who you relieved in the morning depended on whether the lapel mic was on that particular radio or not.

I had some Captains that hated them and would take them off as soon as they got on the truck and others did the exact opposite.  Which, in turn happened with everyone else on the truck and we lost mics and so on an so on.

I personally like the lapel mics for the simple reason that you can get to it and get your “voice” closer to the mic when geared up and on air.  Once you place your radio in a pocket and put your SCBA on, it can be almost impossible to get it out and talk on it.

Of course the argument from our dissenters is that the mic cord gets tangled up and it is a pain in the butt when you don’t need it.  It is also difficult to re-clip the mic onto your coat or SCBA with gloves on.

I maintain that you have a better chance getting to the mic if you get into trouble as compared to the radio in a pocket.

What is the rest of the country and world doing?

Let us know your opinions and experiences.

Stay safe and thanks for reading.

Posted by dc802 on June 10, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, mayday • Tagged: , , , , , ,

How Do You Operate?

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How are you assigned? Or are you?

This is more of a poll question that I would really like a lot of input on.

How are you assigned?

Do you run separate engine, truck and rescue companies?

Do you run with predetermined assignments based on your arrival order?

Are your people assigned tasks by seating?

Or, do you arrive and wait for an assignment from the IC?

These questions came up in a recent conversation with several people on multiple occasions.  I am really interested to know how the rest of the country is doing “it” and what trends are being followed.

This is especially interesting with the unfortunate budget cuts and reductions in staffing in some jurisdictions.

Let us know what is going on out there, we really look forward to your feedback.

Posted by dc802 on June 4, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, funding-staffing, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

What Is Above You?

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If you pulled up on this store front or one like it, what is your first course of action?

With a fire or just a haze, one of the first things that needs to be done, with an attack line ready, is to start looking above the drop ceiling.  Even if it is drywall, you have to see what is above you in these occupancies.

These types of occupancies are found in fast food establishments, sit down restaurants and strip mall type buildings.  Most of these new commercial buildings are all light weight, truss, engineered lumber construction.

By lifting the tiles and breaching the ceiling, we know how far the fire has advanced before committing people into these buildings.  The concealed spaces are important for initial fire attack in these situations.  It might indicate that the front door is as far as you go.

You have to consider, however, that the overhang outside the front door could be compromised if fire is found in the void spaces of the ceiling.  Fire could be racing through the soffit of the overhang out front.  Additional weight of signs will also cause early failure of these building features.

Remember to think on your feet and be sound in your decisions.  These decisions come from experience and training.  So, train hard and often.

Stay safe and be careful.

Photo from the Fillmore Gazette

Posted by dc802 on June 3, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, buildling construction, engineered lumber, fire stopping, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, i joists, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Great Article-Important Information

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Check out this article by Lance Peeples from the Webster Groves Fire Department in St. Louis County.  I know Lance very well and he is a great fire service leader and carries the torch for increased training on the basics and for firefighter safety.

Tell Lance how much you like his article on his Fire Engineering page and give feed back about it.  I know he would appreciate it.

Photo by Lance Peeples from Fire Engineering.

Posted by dc802 on June 1, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, mayday • Tagged: , , , ,

Special Tribute to FDNY and All Firefighters

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In addition to remembering our fallen troops, I thought it would be fitting to add a special post to remember our fallen Brothers and Sisters in the fire service.

Stay safe.

Posted by dc802 on May 30, 2010 • Filed under: firefighter-safety-health, in-the-line-of-duty, line-of-duty, mayday, news • Tagged: , , , , ,

Since We’re Talking Ventilation…..

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Since posting the video on PPV, I have been sent links to many other videos on PPV, ventilation and flashover. Some were good and some not so good. This one I thought was a good video to sit down and take a look at with your crew.

There are some things that can be learned from this video. We weren’t there from the onset, but valuable information can be taken away from this video.

If you have links for videos or your own that you think would be beneficial, pass them on to us and we will take a look and post them if appropriate.

Take care, stay safe and stay low.

Posted by dc802 on May 28, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , ,

Be Careful Using PPV–Good Video

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This is a video I found on The Bravest Online. This website has some great content and very current fire related videos that can be used for information and training ideas.

This video is from the Salt Lake City area and shows what can happen when you have hidden fire and use a positive pressure fan with crews inside the building.


Find more videos like this on firevideo.net

There are many thoughts on this tactic and you should follow your local SOP or guideline.

Posted by dc802 on May 26, 2010 • Filed under: RIT, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, mayday, rescues, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

For Those That Missed It…

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A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to and honor to be a guest on Firefighter Netcast hosted by Rhett Fleitz of The Fire Critic and John Mitchell from Fire Daily.  It truly was a great experience and I want to thank John and Rhett (the most interesting man in the world!) for the opportunity.

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The two of them were great hosts and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.  I just hope I met their expectations and the ratings didn’t drop too bad.

Anyway, if you haven’t taken a look and a listen to what John and Rhett are doing, you are missing out.  They are having conversations with guests from all spectrums of the fire service.  This is going to set the standard for fire service podcasts, in my opinion.

I after three weeks, I just now listened to the webcast that I did with John and Rhett.  I had a great deal of trepidation to listen to myself. I had no hesitations in doing the show, but I don’t like to listen to myself, it just seems weird.  To my surprise, John edited the show in a manner that was first class and actually made me sound okay.  Not great and you may have a different opinion, but it was tolerable.

A Firefighter’s Own Worst Enemy-Firefighter Netcast

I am providing you the link to the show and please go back and listen to all of their past shows.  You can also catch Art Chief Reason with his new show, The Voice of Reason, which debuted last week and was a huge success.  Stay tuned because Tiger Schmittendorf will debut his new show, too.  And, to make it real easy, you can catch them on iTunes Podcasts and download to your iPod or iPhone.

I have met all of these guys with the exception of Chief Art, and they are all first class.  I have talked to Art and he doesn’t lack in the area of class.  Here is the thing; tune in to when these shows are live.  Get on the chat rooms and call in. These guests and the hosts want your input, suggestions and questions.  This is here for you, the firefighter and emergency worker.  These people are here to provide you with information and they really care about what you need and the questions that you have.

So, check them out and thanks for all of the support thus far.  Give us feedback and feel free to send in your ideas and suggestions.  If you have material you want to have posted, send it in and we’ll get it up with credit to you.

As always, take care and stay safe out there.

Posted by dc802 on May 25, 2010 • Filed under: administration-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fun stuff, special-operations, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,