Post by papacheese on Mar 11, 2008 8:45:57 GMT -5
This is half training, half safety related....taken from today's Secret List update:
"At 1345 hours yesterday, the Val-des-Monts FD responded to a fire call from an alarm company for a dwelling fire. The man in the home didn't even know there was a fire and had to be alerted by a neighbor when the dispatcher's verification calls to the house were unanswered. Firefighters from Val-des-Monts responded and the fire was under control around 1545 hours. At that time, 4 Firefighters went in to handle hot spots, entering through the garage - which had not been damaged in the fire. They were on their way out and heard some cracking...they ran out...but the last one trying to get out was the 18 years old FF and the garage collapsed on him.
Mutual aid was called for and the 18 year old Firefighter's body was found in the rubble within 45 minutes....he was not breathing...they worked him on the way to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. We will continue to update this information here and on our home page."
Chief Goldfeder then adds the following, which sums it up quite well:
"Interior Structural Firefighting: It is critical to think and make tactical decisions based upon: "who we are risking...for what." We are not advocating not ever going in. Not at all. We just have to do our absolute best to make sure the conditions, size-up and resources best match the actions being taken with regard to these "kids"..young and old, that get sent in."
Building collapses typically are predictable in the sense that we know the warning signs and can proactively monitor the situation to see if gravity is about to win. As the Chief points out, losing a firefighter while engaged in mop-up operations is particularly hard to swallow.
I've begun working on a basic "Building Construction" Power Point with the idea of at least identifying basic construction principles and how they impact a building's stability. If you really want to dig into this topic further, take the time and make the effort to read the very excellent "Building Construction for the Fire Service" by the acknowledged expert in the subject, Francis L. Brannigan...I can assure you that once you have, you'll never look at another building again without asking yourself "If..."
"At 1345 hours yesterday, the Val-des-Monts FD responded to a fire call from an alarm company for a dwelling fire. The man in the home didn't even know there was a fire and had to be alerted by a neighbor when the dispatcher's verification calls to the house were unanswered. Firefighters from Val-des-Monts responded and the fire was under control around 1545 hours. At that time, 4 Firefighters went in to handle hot spots, entering through the garage - which had not been damaged in the fire. They were on their way out and heard some cracking...they ran out...but the last one trying to get out was the 18 years old FF and the garage collapsed on him.
Mutual aid was called for and the 18 year old Firefighter's body was found in the rubble within 45 minutes....he was not breathing...they worked him on the way to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. We will continue to update this information here and on our home page."
Chief Goldfeder then adds the following, which sums it up quite well:
"Interior Structural Firefighting: It is critical to think and make tactical decisions based upon: "who we are risking...for what." We are not advocating not ever going in. Not at all. We just have to do our absolute best to make sure the conditions, size-up and resources best match the actions being taken with regard to these "kids"..young and old, that get sent in."
Building collapses typically are predictable in the sense that we know the warning signs and can proactively monitor the situation to see if gravity is about to win. As the Chief points out, losing a firefighter while engaged in mop-up operations is particularly hard to swallow.
I've begun working on a basic "Building Construction" Power Point with the idea of at least identifying basic construction principles and how they impact a building's stability. If you really want to dig into this topic further, take the time and make the effort to read the very excellent "Building Construction for the Fire Service" by the acknowledged expert in the subject, Francis L. Brannigan...I can assure you that once you have, you'll never look at another building again without asking yourself "If..."