Upside Down Balcony Ladder Raise

You never know when training will come in handy.  Good job. 

Roof Vent AFD

Great pics of Austin's Rescue 14 A shift roof vent job in 31's still.  Get out there and train brothers and sisters.

Collapse with Mayday

We have to see this coming!  Review the 10 deadly sins I posted yesterday.  What did you see? 

Firefighters 10 deadly sins on the fireground

FIREFIGHTERS' 10 DEADLY SINS OF THE FIREGROUND BY DAVID C. COMSTOCK JR. AND SCOTT MAXWELL Despite scientific, technical, and safety code advances over many years and despite a decline in the number of structural fires, firefighters today are dying inside structure fires at a rate that parallels the line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) of decades ago.1 In an effort to reduce firefighter fatalities, there has been significant debate over the root cause of these LODDs. Experts in fire suppression and safety focus on three distinct functions-task, operations, and strategic decision making-to point out where fatal errors occur. However, a review of the LODDs over the past decade has proven that individual firefighters, company officers, and chief officers are all responsible for the injuries and deaths that occur on the fireground, and therefore all firefighters must work collectively to reduce the risks that the fire service faces at each incident. This article focuses on those behaviors and actions of firefighters operating on the fireground that will likely increase the risk of injury and death and those actions that they can take to improve their chance of survival at an emergency incident. Specifically, there are 10 recurring firefighter actions or omissions-"sins"-that result in unwelcome ceremonies and fanfare. 1. NOT WEARING A SEAT BELT If a firefighter wants to increase his risk of dying in the line of duty, nothing could be easier than getting into a motor vehicle. In the past decade, motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) were responsible for 20 to 25 percent of all firefighter fatalities. (1) Although a fatality resulting from an MVA does not technically count as a "fireground death," the impact on those already operating on the emergency scene can be significant and often results in redirected resources to the accident scene, which can place both civilian and firefighter lives in further jeopardy. To commit the first deadly sin, a firefighter need only to ignore the apparatus or automobile seat belt, which was installed for his safety. Nearly one-fourth of all firefighters who died in MVAs were ejected from the vehicle. This is especially true for firefighters who respond in privately owned vehicles, which accounts for one-fourth of all the MVA fatalities. Firefighters who want to further increase their own risk of death can also ignore safety at intersections by failing to approach with caution, not coming to a complete stop at a red light, and proceeding through the intersection without checking to see whether the intersection is clear of opposing traffic. Firefighters who drive recklessly and without wearing seat belts commit the first deadly sin and place not only their own lives but also those of passengers, other motorists, and the firefighters and civilians already on the fireground at increased risk of injury or death. 2. IGNORING SIZE-UP Firefighters who do arrive safely on the fireground without having worn a seat belt while en route still have many opportunities to commit deadly sins. A firefighter subconsciously determined to become an annual LODD statistic can do so by ignoring an initial size-up. Of course, a proper fire size-up begins with the receipt of the fire alarm and continues until the last rig leaves the scene. The fireground sinner will forget about factors that he might already be aware of at the time of the call or while en route and how they may affect fire operations. Such factors include the time of day, weather conditions, and previous fires that have occurred within the structure. Once at the emergency scene, the firefighter will ignore the type of occupancy involved and its type of construction--fire-resistive, noncombustible, ordinary, heavy timber, or wood frame. He will not have learned or will have forgotten the fire spread or collapse risk of each type. Likewise, he will not know, or will not want to know, the type of roof system of the structure. After all, lightweight truss roofs only collapse on other firefighters. A firefighter may simply ignore the age of a structure, which may indicate deterioration of structural members, or the presence of modern construction techniques and their inherent dangers. The firefighter will ignore the length of time that the fire has been burning and its effect on structural integrity. After all, truss roofs or wooden I-beam floor supports always collapse after a significant period of fire involvement! 3. FAILING TO STUDY AND UNDERSTAND BUILDING CONSTRUCTION All firefighters sin when they fail to study and understand building construction. Although referenced briefly in the prior section, it is worth reemphasizing that firefighters sin when they fail to understand construction elements and the fire conditions under which they are likely to fail. If there is any sin of omission that has been repeated through decades of modern firefighting, it is the fire commanders' and firefighters' failure to understand the effect of gravity on a building. As stated previously, chief officers, company officers, and all firefighters are responsible for a size-up en route and on arrival at a fire scene. One part of the size-up relates to the building's type of construction and the likelihood of fire spread. In addition to the fire spread risks and collapse hazards associated with each type of construction, firefighters should also be aware of other potential hazards associated with the type of construction. A firefighter sins if he operates on a peaked roof unaware of its inherent risks. He sins without knowing the dangers of masonry parapets. The firefighter must be familiar with the effect of wind on a structure. Excellent texts, publications, and seminars are available for all members of the fire service to learn the simple principles of building construction that will keep them alive while operating on a fireground. But a firefighter who wants to die will never consult any of them.2, 3 4. IGNORING CHANGING FIRE CONDITIONS Firefighters who initiate interior firefighting operations can commit the fourth deadly sin by ignoring evidence of changing fire conditions. First, firefighters can ignore a sudden flash of fire out of a room doorway. This occurs when combustible gases, smoke, and heat flow out of the compartmentalized area of burning and mix with air, thereby entering the flammable range and suddenly igniting. This phenomenon, called rollover, is often a precursor of flashover and is a warning for firefighters to withdraw from the fire room. Rollover can trap firefighters in below-grade fires and is itself a deadly threat to those who ignore it. A fire service sinner will ignore the fact that no one can predict when a flashover will occur and will have forgotten that he did not know how long the fire had been burning prior to the fire department's arrival. The firefighter will fail to assess the heat buildup in the smoke-filled room and will ignore the fact that the hotter the smoke, the lower the firefighter should and must crouch. Such a member will also ignore the condition of flameover, which usually occurs after flashover. Flameover is a rapid flame spread over one or more surfaces during a fire and is caused by the sudden ignition of combustible vapors that are produced from a heated surface. This condition usually occurs once a room flashes over and flames begin to spread out of the original fire area into adjoining spaces, which may place firefighters advancing hoselines down hallways or corridors to the room of flashover in danger. This risk increases when the flames spread behind the forward-moving hose team. Firefighters can also become a statistic if they ignore dense black smoke, smoke puffing around door frames, a reverse flow of smoke back into an open doorway, and discolored glass windows?all warning signs of a backdraft condition. Firefighters forget that backdrafts do not have to occur in the fire-involved structure as a whole but may occur in smaller confined spaces such as cockloft areas. Sinners will not act defensively, will not vertically ventilate, will not place a hoseline in the proper position, and will not apply water quickly to the fire. Finally, with respect to changing fire conditions, firefighters who wish to commit a deadly sin should simply ignore structural collapse indicators. Although structure collapse usually occurs without warning, there are several factors, in addition to those already discussed as part of the size-up, that may be noticed during firefighting operations. These factors, which will be ignored by the risk-taking firefighter, include the presence of combustible materials, unusual occupancies, discovered modifications to the building, and supported loads (such as rooftop heating and cooling systems) that might affect the integrity of the structure. 5. OMITTING ICS, SOPs, AND ACCOUNTABILITY Firefighters commit another deadly sin by working beyond the sight or sound of the supervising officer without a portable radio. Firefighters must communicate with a supervising officer by portable radio to ensure accountability and indicate completion of assigned duties. Every firefighter must be assigned to a team of two or more and given specific assignments to help reduce the chance of injuries. A fireground sinner will not know who is on his team, will not know to stay with the team leader, or will fail to remain in visual contact with one or more members of the company at all times. If visibility is obscured, the firefighter will fail to remain within touch or voice distance. A fireground sinner will ignore the department's incident command system (ICS), however strong or weak, and will not complete the assignments given to him. He will fail to report back to the company officer or incident commander and will continually deviate from the assigned task without a valid reason. This firefighter will fail to recognize that such deviations, or freelancing, will place him in a position he should not be in and will further fail to understand such freelancing will reduce the accountability by superiors and will significantly increase his risk of injury or death. 6. FAILING TO USE SAFETY EQUIPMENT A firefighter sins when he fails to wear and activate a personal alert safety system (PASS) device when operating in a hazardous area. Many firefighters die on the fireground when they become lost and disoriented, eventually succumbing to the products of combustion. Many more firefighters are killed when they become trapped as a result of a flashover or a building collapse. Although PASS devices are not designed to be heard outside the building, they are intended to alert nearby firefighters or officers when a firefighter is missing, lost, or trapped. An activated PASS alarm will also help a rapid intervention team find lost or trapped firefighters. In 89 cases in which a firefighter killed on the fireground was reportedly wearing a PASS device during a 10-year period, the device was activated only 9 percent of the time. (1) A firefighter who fails to follow a guide or reference point and maintain any sense of direction will commit a deadly sin if an evacuation becomes necessary. Firefighters who fail to independently make a mental note of the location of the closest hoseline, rope, or other guide will commit a deadly sin should conditions change. Firefighters commit deadly sins when they fail to use all protective equipment provided to them, including hoods, gloves, and SCBA masks, especially where carbon monoxide or other dangerous gases may be present. A fireground sinner will view protective clothing as an optional choice and will fail to realize that protective equipment has changed because building construction and the contents within the structure have changed. 7. LIMITING OR IGNORING RESOURCES At every fire, many tasks must be accomplished. Fireground activities include suppression, ventilation, search, rescue, water management, utility control, overhaul, and salvage. One firefighter can perform well only one task at a time. Firefighters who are stretched too thin will unnecessarily place themselves in a position of increased risk. Fireground sinners will try to do too many activities, with the result that the firefighter is unable to complete any one task successfully. This firefighter will not be realistic about what he can accomplish when faced with a working house fire and having only 10 firefighters available on the fireground. (In a recent informal national survey, more than 50 percent of fire departments responded with 10 firefighters or fewer.)4 A fireground sinner will hesitate to call for additional staffing on arrival at the scene, knowing that the chief is still en route. He will fail to understand that any delay in calling for additional resources may prove to be too little, too late, placing every firefighter on the fireground in jeopardy. Fireground sinners will also neglect to address staffing issues away from the emergency scene. In the volunteer ranks, firefighters will deny any responsibility for recruitment and retention efforts. Career firefighters will fail to educate and demonstrate to government officials why additional firefighters are needed. Presen-tations concerning staffing issues will be illogical, not well thought out, and confrontational. Firefighters in the volunteer and career fire service will be unprepared to make their presentations to the public and will fail to explain the risks, benefits, and costs of inadequate staffing. Such firefighters will fail to encourage their chiefs to make similar presentations to government officials and will not support the chief officers when they do so. If a chief makes a presentation and fails, fireground sinners will not be prepared to encourage and support the development of automatic mutual-aid agreements. Finally, these resource sinners will not be prepared to eliminate political, geographical, and labor boundaries that too often impede safe and efficient fireground operations. 8. IGNORING COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS/HAZARDS Firefighters commit deadly sins when they fail to notify the company officer regarding known changing conditions or other emergencies that require immediate action. It is often more important to communicate what action cannot take place than what operation has been successfully accomplished. If a truck company cannot ventilate or if an engine company cannot reach the seat of the fire with a hoseline because of obstructions, the incident commander must be notified. This information may change the chief's tactics and may require the withdrawal of firefighters from the building. Firefighters also commit a deadly sin when they fail to immediately notify the incident commander regarding a possible Mayday situation, since the delay in sounding the Mayday will result in a delayed rescue effort. The Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department's deployment committee found, in studies conducted through various training exercises, that it takes a rescue crew three minutes to enter a structure after receiving a Mayday and an additional 5.8 minutes to reach a firefighter in trouble. If a firefighter is trapped, how much air will be left in his SCBA bottle? Fireground sinners will fail to communicate with the incident commander at the first hint of trouble, to put the rescue process in motion. Like calls for mutual-aid assistance, the rescuers can be told to stand down if not needed, but wouldn't you rather have the assistance on the way? If your answer is no, make sure your life insurance premium has been paid in full, since you have committed another deadly sin. 9. VENTILATING LATE OR NOT AT ALL A firefighter commits a deadly sin when he fails to study, train in, and implement horizontal and vertical ventilation procedures. First, he will fail to understand that ventilation is necessary to improve the fire environment for trapped building occupants and firefighters and to assist engine companies with extinguishment. Such a firefighter will not understand that prompt ventilation may delay flashover and will make no effort to understand the difference between venting for life and venting for fire. It makes no difference whether or not occupants are in the dwelling and whether hoselines are in place prior to ventilation efforts. For this firefighter, it will not make a difference whether the ventilation attempt will be conducted vertically or horizontally, and the effect of the weather conditions, particularly wind, will be ignored. The sinning firefighter responsible for ventilation will ignore the construction type and will proceed to vertically ventilate a residence, even when the fire has not entered the attic space. Worse yet, the firefighter will attempt vertical ventilation in a well-involved attic where lightweight wood truss construction is present. Alternatively, this fireground sinner will only attempt vertical ventilation in a multiple dwelling with a fire on the first floor and an interior stairway with a door to the roof. The fireground ventilation sinner will also consider positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) as the only form of ventilation and will argue that its efficiency, speed of use, and position of use (exterior vs. interior) far outweighs any disadvantages. He will ignore the fact that use of PPV without knowing a fire's location or intensity may quickly cause the fire to intensify into a conflagration. Worse yet, this firefighter will not understand that the use of PPV without knowing the potential life hazard may result in trapped occupants dying through the uncontrolled spread of smoke and fire. The improper use of PPV may place firefighters in remote locations to the PPV (other floors) at risk. Positive pressure is often set up at the front (or A side) of a structure. More often than not, fire victims are found in the rear of the structure, and the use of PPV prior to extinguishment efforts simply decreases the victims' chances of survival. 10. FAILING TO USE AN INCIDENT SAFETY OFFICER AND RIT Fire departments must use rapid intervention teams (RIT). If your department does not have such a team, you must ask why not. Firefighters sin when they do not make efforts to protect themselves through the use of safety resources. If your department does not have sufficient staffing to fight a fire and have a RIT stand by for assistance, you must train in RIT, or argue for this training, with mutual-aid companies from outside of your jurisdiction. When a department has its own RIT, firefighters who are members of the RIT sin when they fail to remain together throughout the duration of the operation. These guardian firefighters sin when they fail to survey fireground operations, including where firefighters are entering and exiting the structure, how many firefighters are inside, where the firefighters are operating, the layout of the structure, and construction feature hazards of the building. RIT members sin when they fail to determine the type of hazards they might encounter in operating, the fire's location and potential for spread, and the best route to enter or exit the structure in the event of an emergency. As stated previously, RIT members also sin if they fail to adequately communicate to the company officer in charge or the incident commander conditions on the fireground and possible problems that might exist. The rapid intervention team should, where possible, assist in accountability measures. The RIT may be the last hope for a firefighter who has himself sinned, and a member of a rapid intervention team who sins may eliminate any chance of survival for the original firefighter in distress and the RIT member. LACK OF PHYSICAL FITNESS: THE 11TH DEADLY SIN Although not a direct fireground sin, special mention must be made regarding a firefighter's failure to exercise prior to the receipt of the alarm. Almost 50 percent of annual firefighter deaths are attributable to heart attacks or strokes. The reduction of stress, high-blood pressure, cholesterol, arteriosclerosis, and other health conditions can be impacted significantly through proper diet and exercise. Every firefighter has the ability to control these risk factors, and to ignore these issues puts a firefighter at significant risk of dying on the fireground. Driving without a seat belt, failing to address building construction hazards, ignoring changing fireground conditions, and failing to use issued safety equipment can all result in a firefighter's death.5 Ignoring the applicable National Fire Protection Association standards on fireground operations, protective clothing, SCBA, PASS devices, and other equipment is also dangerous.6 History has demonstrated that firefighters repeat these deadly acts or omissions?"sins"?every day. Statistics suggest that firefighters have a "death wish" given the number of funerals that are attended annually. The fire service preaches safety, but our actions reveal that we act otherwise. To those readers who have a true "death wish," this article may serve as your guide to the next world. Like Dr. Kevorkian, we have been of assistance. But readers who have read these 10 points carefully will confess their sins, repent their ways, and live a long and healthy life. Endnotes 1. Firefighter Fatality Retrospective Study, April 2002/FA-220, FEMA/USFA, National Fire Data Center. 2. Brannigan, Francis L. Building Construction for the Fire Service, Third Edition. Quincy, MA: National Fire Protection Association, 1993. 3. Dunn, Vincent. Safety and Survival on the Fireground. Saddle Brook, NJ: Fire Engineering Books and Videos, 1988. 4. www.firehouse.com/polls/, January 26, 2003. 5. Firefighter fatality reports and related information from The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)'s Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program are available at www.cdc.gov/niosh/ firehome.html, or by calling (800) 35-NIOSH. 6. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards may be accessed at www.nfpa.com. DAVID C. COMSTOCK JR. is a 20-year veteran of the fire service and chief of the Western Reserve Joint Fire District in Poland, Ohio. A chief fire officer designee, he lectures on fire service topics relating to chief and company officer operations, liability, and personnel issues. Comstock is an attorney in the firm of Comstock, Springer, and Wilson Co., LPA, in Youngstown, Ohio, which specializes in insurance defense litigation, including governmental liability defense and insurance fraud/arson cases. SCOTT MAXWELL is a 15-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York and a lieutenant assigned to Rescue 3 in the Bronx. He has lectured on firefighter safety and survival, general fireground and truck company operations, and technical rescue topics. Maxwell is an FDIC H.O.T. instructor. Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 @ 12:55:27 PST by adminfire

Interesting fire in a multiple level Apartment

http://youtu.be/-27QRZ3aVto

LAFD interesting fire in a multiple level apartment.  Make a plan of attack with your crew and go over what lines your bringing in.

High Rise Stairwell Pressurization

Video link http://youtu.be/NC_aFJnD0nQ

Here is quick video demonstrating High Rise Stairwell Pressurization. The video is not perfect as the tower is full of openings and drafts, but you can see most of the "smoke" being held in the room. Anyone have real world experience to share? Was is effective? What did you learn?

LAFD with roof work

Lot's of roof work kept waiting for the knock?

SBFD Structure Fire

Not often the roof is more aggressive then the pipe.  These  videos are put together real well.  Great job sounding the roof and communicating with your crew.

701 Bafford Road House Fire

This is a good attack.  What do you think?

The First Attack Nozzle™ - Unmatched Firefighter Protection and Knockdow...

http://www.youtube.com/v/mKJObsukXx0?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&showinfo=1&feature=share&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=VOwshcSRKeClDcrWkD-sgg

I am not a fan at all. All the video shows is controlled training fires.  This thing could get firefighters hurt in my opinion.  It could work in limited environments but it is a gimmick.

What do you think?

One man 35 it's only dangerous if you suck at it. HAHA

 

Here are the videos of 1 person 35 foot Ladder throws.  I am putting these out there so you will go train on 24 footers, 16 footers just get out there and throw ladders.

The Pig forcing an inward swinging door w_ baseball swing

http://www.youtube.com/v/pdzQoLtxmcI?version=3&autohide=1&autoplay=1&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&attribution_tag=3vou6w8twugQjxNcG6WtAA

PigHold

http://www.youtube.com/v/_JGD2j71hgg?version=3&autohide=1&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=QQdTmGYrbZs4QwqnCViB-Q&autohide=1&showinfo=1&feature=share

Philadelphia FD Rescue-1 1991

Philadelphia Rescue 1  born again in 1991 Thanks Grass


http://www.youtube.com/v/tuJ2eNcQHnY?version=3&autohide=1&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&autoplay=1&attribution_tag=evphI0flARYwU3PopZv-Qg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOiUsJjuik8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUf1lynyrwA

Los Angeles LA High-Rise Apartment Fire

Listen to the play by play from  John summerall

Flashover training

This is flashover training we do with each cadet class to give them skills to reduce the risk of getting caught in a flashover environment.  Control openings always good stuff. 

Fire Attack: Door Open vs Door Closed

I understand the science behind this but there is a lot not being talked about.  Nozzle and handline selection to give the proper GPM to overcome the fire room.  Choose the 50 cal always go big and knock it down.  Also this is an indirect attack in my opinion when you hit this the steam and heat have to go somewhere,  usually to portions of the house that were tenable for victims.  There are reasons that it is called fire attack choose the right line and get some. 

Forcible Entry: The Bam Bam Tool

Bam Bam  who has one?  Have not seen one in a while.

Beyond the Academy: Video Training Series - Forcing Slide Bolts & Drop Bars

Have a plan for every door and carry it out. 

OVM Chained gate

Faster than a saw?  Good work Seattle the welds on these are very weak and easy to overcome.
Thanks, Patch

PPA drill gone wrong - Firefighters in flowpath

PPA can be dangerous if not carried out correctly make sure what were doing on the fireground matches the on scene conditions.

Renovations House Fire / Cerritos RAW FOOTAGE

Check out the 5:10 to 5:25 mark to see how the firefighter feels it went classic brother.  Be careful to bash time for water application.  This is a coordinated attack maybe different from what we do but not bad.  It is tough to watch fire burn hang in there.  Thoughts guys please......

Basic Come Along Use

FS Mike Reush demonstrates basic come along use and maintenance.

Video link: http://youtu.be/ODFcebyxZxo

PPV Fan Oil Change Out

FF Schminke (E26A) demonstrates how to change the oil on our PPV fans.  When we have a fan that does not run smooth or dies out this will usually fix the issue.

Video Link

Attic fire

I am not sure why they would call this doorway to hell.  Heavy fire in the attic pull ceiling and knock it down, I am not a fan of getting on the attic ladder and putting myself in that environment.  I would rather use the reach of my stream and have mobility on the ground. 

Structure Fire Hobart Street Interior Attack

Got this off the bravest skip to the 5 min mark unless you like seeing a response good video.  Attack was made with a fog pattern but that's just me being picky good job.

Firefighter gets out the window

At the 3 minute mark he calls a collapse.  I saw sheetrock falling.  I was not there obviously but have seen a problem with guys calling a sheetrock collapse a roof collapse.  These are very different events.  We need to coordinate attack, there needs to be a line up there before we pull a lot of ceiling so we don't just feed it oxygen. Great Ladder placement for rescue tips at the sill.  Learning from each other is awesome these guys were working hard thx brothers.

Newark Bar Removal

Nice video showing how to defeat different types of bars.  Does your department use truck guys or a Ric team to remove these? 

Chain Saw- Adjusting Chain Tension

Video link http://youtu.be/g9Hzr7sEZOI

 



Nozzle Forward

http://youtu.be/QzIsAN-V3lA

This is a sneak peak into a world of hose movement that will change the way you get work done.  It's called fire attack for a reason. 

Colorado Water Rescue

http://5280fire.com/?p=46544

Thanks Brass for the link to this rescue.
Share this with your crews.
What would be your department tactics?

Rotary Saw- Adjusting Belt Tension

Video link http://youtu.be/P1yygBRCcbM

 

 



Roof Remodel

Engine 26A stopped by a building remodel to check out the roof construction.  This was a great opportunity to see two types of roofs and extended to a discussion of parapets, void spaces, and forcible entry.

The construction crews were removing a "gravel roof" and replacing it with a "TPO" (Thermoplastic Polyolefin) roof.  The gravel roof consists of metal decking, foam (about 2"), tar, and gravel.  This particular roof had two layers from a previous remodel.  The foreman on site said city code only allows for two layers so they had to remove both layers before installing the new roof. The building across the parking lot only has one layer so they will put the new roof directly on top.

The TPO roof consists of metal decking, insulating foam (3.3" in this case), and the TPO membrane. The foam may be thicker in other applications.  The foreman said a 1/2" of foam adds 6 to the R-value.

 Old roof, two layers.

 New foam layer, the TPO membrane is being pulled back.

  Stacks of foam insulation.

So what's your plan to cut?  Will you handle the gravel roof differently from the TPO?  The rotary saw probably will not go deep enough on one pass.  If you use a rotary saw you will likely have to make one cut remove the material and them make a second cut inside the first.  The chain saw will work on many of these materials but you have to be careful about hitting metal beams as they can throw or break the chain.

 10' drop off behind parapet.

 From the inside.

 Void space in the parapet.

Interior of building.

 Forcible entry discussion.  How would you handle this door?  We discussed starting traditional but it probably would not work.  With a good size-up and prior knowledge you might realize this is a panic/drop bar that is most always engaged.  It is not removed everyday like a traditional drop bar.

We discussed cutting the bolts or completely cutting a rectangle around the pair of bolts.  Last resort might be a doggie door (horizontal cut, edge to edge under the panic hardware.

Take a look around out there after your next call and see what you find.

Saw Daily Check

Everyone seems to have their own version of what a daily check includes.  Some check fluids, some start and shut down and some go through a general maintenance check.  Here is a solid version of the daily check.

What is your daily check?

Video link http://youtu.be/bhx7rlg6Xrc

 

 

1991 Rescue paving the way

Video link http://youtu.be/mBdS1QV3lII

One of the coolest rescues on tape.  Yeah I said on tape get your VCR's out.

Door Control Owning the Attack Corridor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uans40KdVI

LA county fire attack study UL

This video is along with the UL study about to be released.  It considers flow path and how the introduction of air can increase the chances of flashover.  Give this video the 7 minutes it deserves.  Love the message in the video to go ahead and cool the upper atmosphere as you advance into the structure.  You control the fire with water and not giving it oxygen, it goes out plain and simple. 

Apparatus Positioning

A follower of StreetSmart sent this drawing in of a recent fire (E1 represents the first in, E2 second in etc.).  As you can see the engine companies took the front of the address and the ladders were boxed out to the side.  I was not at this fire and I don't know exactly how it all happened, this is just the end result.

This fire, along with previous fire where the engines took the front of the address, started a lot of discussion at my station on ways to improve our positioning.  The general thought in our department is to get the engines moved down to give the front of the address to the first in ladder.

The picture below shows a fire that happened after the discussion.  The first in engine pulled past the house viewing all three sides.  The second in engine pulled passed the first in engine leaving the front of the house open (1st and 2nd engines go straight to the scene in our department).  The truck pulled in front of the house.  The third in engine (water supply) came to the scene and pulled 200' of 5" to a hydrant.  The second ladder had to park about three houses down.  The rescue parked down the street with the 4th in engine.

 

View facing east

View facing west

In general this is what we look for in positioning apparatus at a house fire but every situation can be improved upon.  What could have been done better?  How would your department have handled this situation?

Streetsmart days

DC fence not a good day for that guy

What are your actions to stabilize the fence and victim?
What is your tool of choice?
Interesting thanks Brass.


******************************************************************************************
The following picture are from a previous post.  This training was presented by PL Vulcan Fire Training at FDIC 2013.  Although different from the above scenario it shows how we secured the victim to the fence and cut the fence to remove the victim with the fence still attached.

We used a portable band saw which worked great.  Minimal vibration if any and no heat build up.

Roof Covering

 
    This roof covering was found on a roof top patio downtown.  It has removable concrete panels that reveal the actual roof below.  Not sure how common this is.

    The last picture shows a tool that is designed to remove the panels but they can also be pried with a screwdriver.