More Forcible Entry Videos

Good Enough

By: Pete Sulzer
From www.fireservicewarrior.com

As many in this community say, some of us can never turn “it” off. We are always searching for parallels between events in our lives and our careers in the fire service. We find ourselves performing size-ups while running around our neighborhoods and mentally forcing entry on our friends’ houses. We run through scenarios as we shop in the grocery store, or even as we drive down the road, but “it” never really goes away as we live our lives. Occasionally, this trait takes us beyond the more obvious similarities and I find myself drawing comparisons from unlikely and seemingly unrelated sources, like comparing an athlete’s performance in the Olympic Games to a firefighter’s performance on the fire ground.
The passing of summer’s 2012 Olympics brought the world’s attention upon many feats of athleticism, executed for both personal and national pride. Numerous records were broken in various events, including the 100-meter sprint, the premier event of track and field. The New York Times produced a video infographic displaying every Olympic medalist in the 100 meter since 1896[i]. The data presented some interesting facts, including that despite a century of advancement in technology and training, the gold medal time only improved by 3 seconds. Some would find similarities to the fire service in that statement alone, but the article presented other information of relevance to our profession.

Forcing Slide Bolts and Drop Bars

Mayday and Bailout Caught on Helmet Cam

Now watch the video below showing fire and smoke conditions. What is the smoke telling you? Could this Mayday have been prevented. The rapid change in smoke color, density, and velocity said loud and clear that flashover was imminent. The smoke coming from the eaves was a pretty good indicator that fire was in the attic space. If you think you might have fire in the attic, make an inspection hole in the ceiling as you enter; don't continue to advance into the structure if you have fire above you.

The video also illustrates the importance of some of the things we have been training on recently. Notice how quickly the smoke conditions changed after the door was forced. This drives home the point of controlling the door and being ready to advance the line quickly. How could the engine company have flaked their line for a quicker advance? The video also illustrates the need for constantly reevaluating the situation. Their initial incident action plan (IAP) quickly became obsolete as conditions rapidly deteriorated.

Backdraft Caught on Video

Gloving Up for the Firefight

by Ryan Pennington

from www.firehouse.com

 

Good afternoon from the Jumpseat. It seems like today’s firefighters are struggling with a tried and true method of operating: with your fire gloves on. Whether it's something that I have witnessed, someone shared a story with me about or I saw a photo of, it seems to be a struggle for many firefighters.

Often when I am teaching new firefighters, they seem to grab rescue gloves or leather gloves to perform their firefighting skills. Back the truck up! This is a huge problem; do you fight fires with your rescue gloves on? The answer should be a huge no! Rescue gloves offer dexterity that fire gloves do not, but they do not protect you from steam or fire at all.

Why is this blog article even needed?

SCFA Course catalog

Here is the link to the new SCFA course catalog.

http://www.scfa.state.sc.us/PDF/January-June(FY13)Public%20Fire%20Service-dates.pdf

A Message to Recruits that We All Need To Hear

The True Values of a Fireman by Lt. Ray McCormack

While I don't post much original content on this blog, using it primarily for sharing information that I find, I feel the need to post a disclaimer with these videos. It seems that some of the information I have shared here has been taken out of context and not viewed in the same light in which I have seen. I have been accused of throwing caution to the wind and preaching aggressiveness over safety; nothing could be further from the truth. My last post was a side-by-side burn comparison of how fire grows with an open door versus a controlled door. I was asked by several members in training if this means we should not open the door to initiate fire attack. Even though I posted that the video illustrated why we should maintain the integrity of the door, control the door, and keep the door closed until ready to make entry, it was somehow misconstrued. I guess that just shows how human nature causes us to form an initial impression without really looking into things. Personally, I don't post or form an impression of a video for training purposes until I have watched it several times and analyzed it from every angle possible.

So with that said I am sure that many of you have formed the impression that Lt. McCormack is stating that safety is not important. Lt. McCormack makes several tongue-in-cheek comments about air management, victim survivability profiling, reading smoke, and fire prevention. He even starts his speech with "My name is Ray and I like to go to fires". This makes it easy to think that he is just some crusty old smokeater who believes in the old school way of doing things and not paying attention to safety. I don't believe this; I feel there is more to his message than what is readily apparent.

I have felt for some time now that the fire service is at a crossroads. We have the safety Nazis on one side telling us that we are number one and everyone goes home. Then we have the old schoolers on the other side telling us to get the job done no matter what the cost.  Lately it seems that we have created a culture of safety versus a culture of extinguishment. Where is the middle ground? Why can't we get the job done while giving everyone the best possible chance of going home?

Make no mistake about it; as long as we continue to respond to fires, firefighters will die in the line of duty. Lt. McCormack points out that the tag inside your helmet and every other piece of gear you have states"firefighting is an inherently dangerous job". He goes on to say that firefighting is dirty, difficult, and dangerous; this a a fact. It has been this way for the past one hundred years and will continue to be for the next one hundred. It is our job to protect the customers who cannot protect themselves.

So while you will likely form your own opinions from this video, here is what I took from it:

• Engine company fundamentals form the basis of this job. If we put out the fire, safety is accomplished for everyone on the fireground.
• You can always quit, there are plenty of people who would love to have your job.
• As Lt. McCormack stated his senior firefighter said, "Do your job and remember that it's a privilege to work here".
• Lead by example, cleaning the tools is not the job of a lowly junior firefighter, do it because you love it.
• We need leaders who are cautious not fearful; cautiousness and knowledgeable= yes; fearful, no.
• Customer is number one; our own mission statement and core values of customer service, dedication, and brotherhood place customer service first.
• Firefighters have the highest approval rating of any profession. This is because of our courage, determination, and pride. Don't let the customer down.
• Turn out quickly, stretch hoselines correctly.
• We will fail if we don't exercise our craft. Learn all you can about the enemy, train, and keep fire in your life.
• Always remember that it is an honor and a privilege to have the best job in the world. As soon as you forget that, you become as much of an enemy to the fire service as fire itself.

Door Control

Here is an example of why it's so important to maintain the intergrity of the door, control the door, and keep it closed until you are ready to make entry. Think about this anytime you force entry.

Hose Handling Skills

"Good Job" on Backstep Firefighter

Here is a link to another good article on www.backstepfirefighter.com

http://my.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/good-job-on-backstep-firefighter

Expect Fire

Here is a link to a good article posted at www.backstepfirefighter.com

http://backstepfirefighter.com/2012/10/12/the-basis-behind-expect-fire/

Also, make sure to watch the video at the end of Lt. General Hal Moore.