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Learn Something

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I debated myself on whether I should post this video or not. I don’t like to be critical of fire departments and how they handled a call. I, and many others have made poor decisions on the fire ground over the years and we will likely make unintentional mistakes in the future. After all, we are human.

But, the more I thought about it the more I believe that there is just too much to learn from here. Notice the word learn? This video is being shared as a learning tool and to show how easy it is to fall into the trap of thinking it will never happen to me.  We have all been there and done that and this video will hopefully provide as a reminder of what we need to consider on the fire ground.

So, I ask you, what is to be learned here?  What lessons would you share with your crew and fellow firefighters?  Be constructive and not critical.  Remember, you never know when the camera will be on you and I know I am not perfect.

Let’s learn something that will keep us safe and make us better and thank the guy who filmed and posted the video for the experience.

Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on August 15, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, command-leadership, fire sprinklers, firefighting-operations, forcible entry, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Company Discussions: Redeployment?

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What would you do at this point?

What would you do at this point?

There is a lot already taking place here.  A hose crew is at the door or inside.  A guy is taking out a window or something to that effect on the D side.  And someone is on a ladder.

There is some nasty smoke pushing out of this structure.  It definitely is under pressure.

Time is running out for keeping this in check and an interior attack.  We’ve all been here and we know how this can go.

At this point in the fire, what ventilation tactic would you use and why?

If you need to, redirect these crews and put them where you think they will make the most progress and explain your actions.

Share with your crew and post your discussion points.  We always get great feedback and we know you have some goo ideas, so, let’s hear them.

Stay safe and be careful.  Get yourself healthy and stay healthy.

Posted by dc802 on March 7, 2010 • Filed under: command-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, situational awareness, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , ,

Kitchen Table Tactics 1-11-2010

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Where do you start?
Where do you start?

This fire is working, hard.  It seems pretty straight forward, but let’s take a look at it anyway.

You are the first arriving engine with a three person crew.

Your second due is 7 minutes away.  Water supply is limited but available about 250 from the home.  You have a report that the callers are not sure everyone is out of the home.  (Caller is down the block.)  Time of day is 6:30AM.

What do you do?

Are there any special considerations?

Post here and comment.  Get your morning coffee and pull the crew together and get a little Kitchen Table Tactics training in.

Stay safe and have a great day.

Posted by dc802 on January 11, 2010 • Filed under: Uncategorized • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Kitchen Table Tactics 1-7-10

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What is your tactic?
What is your tactic?

This a lot of fire.  It looks to be a large residential property in an urban-suburban area.

With what you can see, discuss your tactics and what you are thinking as you pull up on this job.

  • Where is your primary life safety?

  • Where and what size is your first line?

  • What about your second line?
  • Options for venting?
  • Search and rescue?
  • What about exposures?
  • Do you have a plan B is Plan A doesn’t work and what is it?

Discuss this with your crews and share your thoughts. It is really good to hear other’s ideas and thoughts on these fires.  Stay safe and be careful.

Posted by dc802 on January 7, 2010 • Filed under: buildling construction, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Wear Your PPE!

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We can see that there is a working fire at this building.  It is very likely a good choice to vertically ventilte this building. However, how a commanding officer could allow his people to put themselves in this situation is unacceptable.

There are at least two firefighters on this roof with smoke and fire below them and neither appears to be wearing an SCBA.  This is how we get ourselves killed.  As officers we have a responsibility to ensure that our people are safe and operate safe.  How many times have we heard a Captain say “I’ve done my job if everyone gets home after the shift.”?  Well, that is tough when you don’t make you crews wear their SCBA while venting a roof.

As for the firefighters, they should know better. We are taught early on in our training that you wear ALL of your PPE.  This is one of many reasons why Firefighters are their Own Worst Enemy.  Stay tuned for more and send your pictures or videos for similar events. For those on the East Coast, stay safe in the winter wonderland coming your way.  As alway, be aware of you situation and stay safe.

Posted by dc802 on December 19, 2009 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, fires, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

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 dc802 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: , , , , , , ,

Walking on Fire

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Okay, does this cause panic in anybody else? What I see here is some very bad decision making. Most codes would not allow this.

First, the hanging streamers I’m sure are not class A finishes. Second, the candles are all in the aisles which are part of the means of egress.

You have to really watch this in churches and places that have weddings and similar events. This time of year candles are ablaze for Christmas and other holidays and they are very often placed in the aisles and corridors.  We met with the local churches and have disallowed this practice for many years now.

Each jurisdiction can make their own decision, but putting open flames in places of assembly and in the exit acces aisles is pushing your luck and typically against the fire code.  A practice that we started some years back was performing our fire inspection for churches in December to try and eliminate these situations.

In addition, many of these occupancies will have holiday events that bring an abnormally high occupant load. We have witnessed folding chairs placed in aisles, completely blocking some egress aisles altogether along with over crowding. If this is the case, suggest multiple shows or events, which is what one church has done.  This time of year can be tricky and dangerous. Stay diligent and keep your people safe.

Posted by dc802 on December 16, 2009 • Filed under: christmas, fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter holidays • Tagged: , , , , ,

Nice Jeans

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This picture was labeled as “safety-fire-training”, no kidding.  This appears to be some sort of flammable liquids fire training by the looks of the props and their technique.

As we can see, they are wearing standard jeans and long sleeve t-shirt for personal protection along with adjustible sports hat for head protection.  It is difficult to tell, but there might be leather boots for foot protection.

I’m not exactly sure what they were thinking or let this happen, but it looks like some folks just begging for trip to the burn unit. Please, if you see someone doing this, stop them and explain what they are doing and the risks with how they are training.

This is where those who have the knowledge and expertise need to get out and help these places to TRAIN RIGHT, not just train.  Stay safe and make a difference.

Posted by dc802 on December 15, 2009 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

How Many Does It Take?

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Now I don’t know exactlly what is going on here, but just from the photo I would guess that they are pushing the limits of this porch.  It appears that the building is of an advanced age the possibility of some rotten members are good.

Since there are firefighters on this roof and the brick is black, I am guessing that the building had a fire in it.  Some have tanks on, som don’t, but it looks like the major body of fire is knocked down. Back to the porch, does anyone else have an issue with this?  I wasn’t there, but we need to consider these things. You can see another firefighter on ground, below the porch and what might be a police officer actually under the porch canopy.  We have had porches collapse at fires and seriosly injure firefighters and we have had overhangs kill our people.

Do we need all of those people on that porch, and if we do, we should probably not have anyone under it.  Just be aware of your surroundings.  We all have a role in scene safety and should be empowered to point these issues out to keep everyone safe.  Stay safe and train hard.

Posted by dc802 on December 14, 2009 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Historic Fires

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This fire took place in Nov. 23, 1963, the same day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The fire claimed the lives of 63 of the 84 patients in the facility.

The fire started at approx. 4:45AM from what is believed to have been overloaded electrical wiring. After the fire recommendations made for all nursing homes included sprinkler systems, automatic fire detection alarms, electrical code compliance and other code enforcement measures.

We have made improvements, but we still lack in some of these areas, depending on the location and local jurisdictions.
Posted by dc802 on November 24, 2009 • Filed under: buildling construction, command-leadership, firefighter-safety-health, historic fires, major-incidents, mass-casualty-incident • Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Commercial Roofs

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This is the top of an old shoe factory that still is in operation as mostly storage for the shoes and componenets. It is a two three story heavy timber with brick building.

These can prove to be difficult to open due to multiple layers of roofing.

When inspecting these, get to the roof to find your options. This roof has four openings that could easily be opened for venting vertically.
This particular roof does not have much of a parapet wall, so care must be taken to be aware of where you are on the roof.
Be careful out there and stay safe.
Posted by dc802 on November 24, 2009 • Filed under: buildling construction, firefighter-safety-health, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Vintage Photos

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Just some old photos I have from our local fire department. I will post more every so often. I think they are really cool.

Don’t forget your past and remember those who came before us.

Posted by dc802 on November 23, 2009 • Filed under: firefighting-operations, fires, fun stuff, training-fire-rescue-topics, vehicle-operations-apparatus • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

What Bad Could Happen Here?

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This is an example of poor judgment. The firefighter in the door must have an SCBA on.

There is still smoke pushing and you never know when that front room could light off. If this room would flash or even quickly push smoke and heat the full length of the door, this firefighter is in great trouble.

In addition, the firefighter on the side, whether in command or whatever, needs PPE on. He is in the operating area of the fire where bad things happen. Be AWARE of your situation.
Posted by dc802 on November 23, 2009 • Filed under: command-leadership, ems-health-safety, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires • Tagged: , , , , ,

Safe Crackers

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Not a great picture, but, it was fun. The police arrive with a safe from a search of a house. They were suspecting to find some drugs based on their informant. Since they couldn’t shoot the thing open, they did the next best thing; brought it to the fire department.

This safe wasn’t all that big, but we expected the worst and tried the K-12, no dice. Tried the hydraulic cutters on the hinges, didn’t work. Cut the hinge pins with the reciprocating saw, still nothing.

It was genious, one of our guys took the sledge hammer to the handle and it popped right open. Well, besides getting some training on our tools, there was over $50,000 in drugs and money in the safe along with 3 hand guns. What a wonderful world. Stay safe and remember, you never know what you will run into.
Posted by dc802 on November 23, 2009 • Filed under: fun stuff • Tagged: , , , , ,

Overhangs, Concealed Spaces, Facades

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Here is a look at a concealed space on a mercantile building that is being added on to. This is not built into the building, but hangs on the outside.

Fire can race through here and collapse on firefighters entering and leaving the building during suppression operations. Care must be taken to open this space up to extinguish any fire and determine extent of damage. If there is any doubt about the integrity of this component, avoid it.

Posted by dc802 on November 23, 2009 • Filed under: Uncategorized, buildling construction, fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Inspections

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The next several blogs are going to come from class that I am creating that raises the importance of company inspections and how they affect our suppression efforts.

As you can see in this picture, the FDC is blocked and was difficult to see from the road. Add night conditions and an ill prepared fire company may have a difficult time finding this important fire suppression tool.

This could result in rapid fire growth while crews are trying to reach the main fire area, unaware that the connection isn’t being made and the system not being supported.

These important systems must be identified and kept maintained. Routine fire inspections will eliminate these hazards and return visits may be necessary. Stay safe and EGH.

Posted by dc802 on November 22, 2009 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire-prevention-education, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, inspections, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Welcome

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Here we are, our first blog. We will post training and commentary on fire related topics. Submit your ideas and training method to increase safety for all firefighters. Thanks for visiting.

Posted by dc802 on November 21, 2009 • Filed under: Uncategorized, buildling construction, command-leadership, fire-prevention-education, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, major-incidents, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , ,