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Challenges on the Roof

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We all know that every roof is different and creates a new challenge. I thought I would post some more obvious challenges for us when we get on the roof.

The first two pictures show a flat roof of a hospital doctors building. This roof is a single story building and is at least 25 years old. As we can see, this roof has a top covering of gravel with an under layer of membrane and tar over metal decking.

This roof provides a challenge for ventilation because of obvious reasons. The built up membrane and tar with the layer of gravel will make this roof difficult to vent. Even if we can easily scrape away the gravel, the tar and membrane will challenge our saw technique and maintenance. If we are not prepared and not using the correct blades our saws will gum up and make cutting impossible.

The next few photos show skylights that we will mostly see on large, open span buildings. They allow natural lighting and are common in the “big box” buildings that we see in home improvement stores and large grocery and retail stores.

In some instances these vents/skylights can blend in with the roof surface and become difficult to distinguish from what it is in regards to the actual roof. These are especially dangerous during darkened and smokey conditions. Use caution and these are another reason for building familiarity.

These are not the only challenges that we face, but we will discuss more at another time in a future post.

Take some time and discuss how you would operate on these roofs with your crews.  Are there some experiences that you might have had on these types of roofs that you can share?

Stay safe, train hard and be careful.

Posted by on January 3, 2011 • Filed under: buildling construction, fire codes, firefighting-operations, Uncategorized, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Good Roof Vent Video

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Here is a good video an actual roof ventilation on a two story house. It is a little rough from the helmet cam and I am not a big fan of the music on these types of videos, but the intent on showing a good roof vent is really good.

Take a look and give some props to Ladder24co folks. Stay safe and share your knowledge.

Posted by on November 5, 2010 • Filed under: firefighting-operations, training-fire-rescue-topics, trusses, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Basics of Size-Up and Smoke Reading

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Here is a good video from our buddy Dale Pekel. Dale has a series of great training videos. In this video, he shows some basics about size up and reading smoke.

We have to do more of this, and like Dale says, be proactive. Train hard and we’ll see you on the “big one.”

Posted by on September 6, 2010 • Filed under: backdraft, buildling construction, firefighting-operations, fires, vent, ventilation, VES • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

So Many Decisions

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Decision Time!

This is an incident that could turn out to be very interesting.

This is going to address the use of back up lines and when they are deployed.

I had an interesting conversation about assignments, as you could tell from the previous post.

This discussion circled around the deployment of the second apparatus on the scene.  This is not a metro response where engines do engine work and so on.  Rather, this is where the second in unit is assigned upon arrival.

With this picture in mind, what does your second in unit do?  Does it backup the first in crew with a hand line?  Does it perform ventilation?  Just where do you order this second in crew and what are the tactical priorities?

I believe that there is a time and situation for using the second in unit for a back up line, but not automatically just because they are the second unit there.

What do you think and why? You gave some great insight into run procedures, so I know there will be some great conversation on this one.

Stay low and be safe.

Posted by on June 8, 2010 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighting-operations, fires, funding-staffing, rescues, situational awareness, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics, ventilation, VES • 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 on May 28, 2010 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, RIT, 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 on May 26, 2010 • Filed under: fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, mayday, rescues, RIT, situational awareness, training-fire-rescue-topics, vent, ventilation • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Kitchen Table Tactics 1-13-2010

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Smoke pushing hard!
Smoke pushing hard!

This is another post of our Kitchen Table Tactics.  These are great for sitting down with your crews to go over some tactics and to practice size up and initial company actions with new officers and acting officers.

This looks like a typical residential fire that could be in any jurisdiction.  Smoke is pushing hard and there is a lot of heat in this house.

With no further delay, here we go:

  • What do you suspect the layout of this house is?
  • Report of victims, what is your assessment of the risk vs benefit on this fire?
  • Based on your decision of risk vs. benefit, what is your next action?
  • Layout how you proceed after implementing your actions up to the extinguishment of the fire.
  • Are there any special considerations that need to be addressed on this fire that are typical at most fires?

Post your comments for others to see.  I really encourage that, some need the view points of others the help them progress.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Posted by on January 13, 2010 • Filed under: command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, firefighter-safety-health, firefighting-operations, fires, rescues, training-development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , ,