Keeping Tradition Alive

July Size-Up Challenge

Sorry about the late post but it's a fairly simple one.

The scenario: You have been dispatched to a possible structure fire at the Beaufort High School football field. 

The challenge: Watch the video. Do not rewind and watch the video again. On the fireground we have to take in as much information as possible very quickly and these exercises will help us get better at that. Once you have watched the video, write down what you observed using the 13 point size-up model COAL WAS WEALTH. To learn more about this size-up model refer to Chapter 2 in the Fire Officer's Handbook of Tactics by John Norman.

C- construction
O- occupancy
A- apparatus and manpower
L- life hazard

W- water supply
A- auxiliary appliances (sprinkler/standpipes)
S- street conditions

W- weather
E- exposures
A- area
L- location and extent of fire
T- time
H- height

Once you have written down your size-up observations, watch the video again-several times if necessary-and see if you missed anything. Once you complete your size-up think about and discuss your strategic goals and tactical objectives. Answer the following questions:

What do I have?
What do I want to do about it?
Do I have the resources necessary to do what I want?

What is your plan for getting a hoseline to the fire?

Feel free to post your responses to the comments so that we can learn from each other.

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The Similarities of Fire Grounds and Battle Grounds

From www.firehouse.com

 

 Are fire ground operations similar to combat operations?

USMC Major Jason Brezler believes they are in a number of ways.

“Similar to the battlefield, fire ground operations are conducted in an environment where uncertainty, fluidity, time pressure, resource limitations and danger are the norm not the exception. Leaders must accept and embrace this fact,” Brezler told firefighters attending a class at Firehouse Expo on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Brezler, an Iraq war veteran, also wears gear bearing FDNY logo. When he returned to the streets of New York, even though he was in a busy company, he wasn’t experiencing the rush he had in the war zone.

Yet, he found some things on both fronts – the clash of opposing wills and limited resources among them.

Tom Richardson, a volunteer fire chief from Long Island, who co-instructed the session, said training is essential to maintain a safe environment. And, creating a level of stress during those practice sessions will result in commanders making smart decisions on the fire ground.

He said it’s essential for officials to conduct a hot wash after an incident. Allowing everyone to talk is helpful as well because there’s nothing better than self critiquing.

Brezler concurred, saying: “Safety and survival are not synonymous. Safety is a concept that we seek to afford those we serve, while survival is a concept that we seek to instill in our members…”

He added that the most dangerous night for the FDNY was when they were slammed by Hurricane Sandy last fall. “There were no SOPs addressing the issues…”

 

The instructors also warned that over reliance on technology can breed a false sense of security.

“Discipline is NOT the blind obedience to orders and standing operating procedures. Rather, discipline is the product of understanding the environment and taking subsequent actions that contribute to the mission of protecting the general public while enhancing the survivability of those operating on the fire ground,” Brezler said.
Richardson added that complacency kills.

The Fork in the Road, Who Lives and Who Dies

by Jonathan Bekemeyer

 

As a Junior and Senior in high school, I worked at a theme park.  You know the one; it is mouse friendly and located in the middle of a peninsula.  I worked at the “headquarters” park (if you will) and in the parking lot.  We were kind of like the “grunts” of the establishment.  We were hot, sweaty, dirty, sarcastic, angry, and always in harms way.   I can only imagine how dangerous it is down there these days, with all the texting and driving that goes on.  I started at the bottom of the chain and quickly moved into a shift supervisory position.  Here I was, seventeen years old and working part time at a major theme park and being trusted enough by management to oversee a shift which included full time employees twice or even three times my age.  That is a story of a different nature though.   I basically rode around in a pickup truck and was the first line of defense as problems arose in the parking lot.  Now, to fully understand this responsibility, you must first understand that the parking lot is a massive operation.  The parking lot is twice the size of the park itself.  We had to handle getting guests parked, and then we had to handle transporting them to the ticket gates.  It is a coordinated process that if not handled appropriately and skillfully, can quickly become chaotic and dangerous.  I learned some very valuable leadership lessons during my short time working there, one of which is the “fork in the road”.

Around Here

From www.fireservicewarrior.com

By Mark vonAppen

We had a great auto extrication drill the other night and we did it all by ourselves. Nobody asked permission, we simply called a tow company and had a few cars delivered. As we passed the hat around the table to help defer some of the $200 out-of-pocket cost to the firefighter who set up the drill I thought; who determines our safety levels; a statistician who sits in a cubicle in cool disconnect and crunches numbers, weighing the cost of anonymous human life versus the cost of training or a safety measure? Who determines what is an acceptable level of risk?
The number of times that I have donned my mourning badge and lowered the colors at the firehouse has me thinking, and it has me angry.

Do we need to ask permission to be experts in our field? Not around here.
Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth. Our professional plan – when the dollars flowed freely and operations mattered – used to include slack in the system to absorb the unforeseen and unthinkable. As we forge ahead with creative staffing models, measurables, resume building, and ladder climbing, the slack has been removed and the entire system is stretched tight. Do we have a plan for a fight gone bad? At the company level we have to because often the organization does not. We have to create our own plan because no one else will. Is operating without a plan and hoping things will work out for the best any way to do business? Not around here. We won’t accept average and we will not ask for permission to do as we see fit to carve time from our day to make ourselves better and safer.

Aggressive, educated, proactive firefighting that starts with the mindset that every structure is occupied and that we will extend risk (our lives) to effect the rescue of our neighbors is the foundation of a movement to put the fight back in firefighter and bring strong leadership back to the fireground and firehouse. We must seek out our own education and create our own motivation because help is not on the way. Our best insurance policy is a strong base of education and the ability to practically apply knowledge to the appropriate situation. We have to be functionally intelligent and possess the ability to think on our feet. Cuts to training budgets can no longer be an excuse. We have to invest in ourselves. In order to win the fight, we have to be in the fight. Being in the fight means doing it on your own and leading from everywhere.
Do we want to go home at the end of our shift?
Yes.
Are we afraid to do our job?  Not around here.  Around here we train hard in order to fight smart.
Will we let office dwellers pushing statistics determine how we fight? Not around here. We won’t sit around and wait for greatness to arrive, around here we go get it. Around here we believe in each other. Around here we set the bar high and we hold each other accountable to that standard.
Around here we do it on our own together

Hackensack, NJ 25 Year Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago yesterday a fire at a car dealership in Hackensack, NJ claimed the lives of five firefighters when the bowstring truss roof collapsed on them. This LODD still serves as an important lesson for us in the fire service. While it was not the first LODD involving a bowstring truss collapse, it by far has been the most publicized and is still used as the case study to highlight the dangers of bowstring trusses.

The Hackensack tragedy also brought to light several other issues such as risk management, incident command, leadership, and communications. Sadly, 25 years later the current LODD case studies we review also repeatedly state these same contributing factors. Please take some time to review the article at the following link along with the NFPA report linked within the article. There are also many other sources of information about the Hackensack fire.

"If we do not study history we are doomed to repeat it. " George Santayana

http://www.firefighternation.com/article/news-2/hackensack-tradegy-failure-command


Bowstring Truss Roof Construction Hazards

http://www.firefighternation.com/article/firefighter-safety/bowstring-truss-roof-construction-hazards