In the summer of 2007, a small Oregon fire district conducted a training burn in an acquired structure in a rural area outside the city limits. This rural department serves a small community with approximately 35 volunteer firefighters and one paid, part-time chief. The incident commander (IC) of this training event was a volunteer officer with this department and also an experienced career firefighter from a larger neighboring jurisdiction.
When the nine firefighters in Charleston, South Carolina, lost their lives in the Sofa Super Store fire on June 18, 2007, everyone stopped and contemplated the largest loss of life in the American fire service since the 9/11 attacks. This loss of those nine firefighters prompted a number of reports that many firefighters and chiefs read closely to understand how that accident could have been prevented. The tragedy caused many in the American fire service to reevaluate their strategies, tactics, and response to many “routine” calls.
If your department is responsible for covering an airport in your district, developing standard operating guidelines (SOGs), response plans, and response cards should be on your mind whether your airfield is Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 139 indexed or not. As far as aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF) is concerned, indexing determines the level of protection needed based on the number of scheduled flights per day and the size of the aircraft. The smallest classification is General Aviation (GA); no protection required followed by A (minimal protection) up to E. The exact determination and qualifications for indexing are found in FAA Part 139 Subpart D 139.315.
A scene from the 1939 movie classic The Wizard of Oz has Dorothy making her way along the Yellow Brick Road when she comes to a crossroad. Being unsure of which direction to take, she is offered assistance from the Scarecrow, who, of course, provides little in the way of useful information. Fortunately, they choose the correct path and make it to their destination. The journey, however, is filled with twists, turns, and a few characters intent on impeding their progress. When compared with today’s fire service, this scene seems almost reminiscent of the types of decision-making challenges we encounter in our day-to-day operations. The big difference is that we are obviously dealing with the real thing, not fantasy.
As fossil fuels become more scarce AND harder to locate and exploit, researchers have explored alternative energy sources such as solar, biofuels, wind, and ocean waves, with more or less positive results, as some of the viable solutions. Of these solutions, wind (aeolic energy) is proving to be a substantially clean and efficient alternative energy source although quite costly because of engineering, fabrication, and exploitation expenditures.
Competent and enthusiastic instructors are critical to the fire service. Without them, how effective would our personnel and departments be? The selection process for instructors should be such that we tap those with the greatest talents and potential within our departments.
To say that providing up-to-date, relevant training in today’s fire service is a challenge is an understatement. Training officers and instructors must meet a variety of ever-changing requirements from the National Fire Protection Association, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the state as well as address local needs. How do they find the lesson plans and course materials to meet these challenges? What options do they have when they can’t find a lesson plan that meets their needs?
Firefighters must master the ability to take a mental snapshot of the situation presented to them and use that to make critical tactical decisions. Our business boils down to making decisions in a high-stress environment with life-and-death consequences. It does not matter if you are talking about a structure fire, a heart attack, or a technical rescue incident. Operating under those circumstances can be overwhelming, especially for a firefighter just starting out. If we want our people to thrive in that kind of chaotic, stressful environment, it is imperative to train them in fireground tactical decision making.
The Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) is the home of the “one percenters” of our profession: the hard-core professional firefighters—dedicated, passionate trainers and teachers. Teachers love history. Most of us think we have a good grasp on history, especially history that has occurred during our lifetimes. We all remember December 1, 1955, as the day that Rosa Parks became the first black woman to refuse to sit in the back of the bus. But was she?
The right handline, properly placed, will quickly stop the spread of fire and create a safer environment for the victims and the firefighters. A handline that is too short, too small, or not in the proper location can result in greater property loss and potentially the loss of life. Many variables dictate which line is best for the situation at hand, and the decision should not be taken lightly.
Since the early 1900s, firefighter rescue teams have been prepared to rescue our own. As the years passed, their popularity became more commonplace in the fire service. Teams of instructors helped create fantastic programs that brought low-tech, easy-to-perform maneuvers to the forefront of the training arena, and rapid intervention teams (RITs) everywhere have benefited. All of these offer options for when the worst-case scenario arises.
The following is from a letter sent to Editor in Chief Robert Halton from Oklahoma Senator Tom A. Coburn, M.D.:
Thank you for following up with me. I appreciate hearing from you after we spoke in the Chicago airport, and I am glad to have the Human Events article. I deeply apologize for the delay in my response.
The State of New Jersey has been a leader in the exterior identification of truss-built structures for many years. This proactive approach to providing fire suppression units with first-due knowledge of the buildings they are operating in resulted from two tragic truss collapses that occurred in the state during the past 43 years.
The Rincon Reservation Fire Department, Valley Center, California, designed this PIERCE pumper for multiuse, says Captain Bob VanScyoc. The department has a large urban interface, and the vehicle’s size allows it to traverse narrow roads where full-size apparatus cannot. It also responds to EMS calls if needed.
BAUER is offering a new five-year warranty to all municipal fire department customers on five- to 20-hp compressor blocks. To receive this extended warranty, departments must submit startup/warranty registration forms within 90 days from date of startup and provide proof of proper maintenance being completed in accordance with published Bauer factory recommendations. When you evaluate your next compressor, purchase do not just look at the purchase price—ask the salesman for a copy of the compressor maintenance periodicity chart. This chart tells you how frequently the compressor requires maintenance; the closer together the maintenance intervals the higher the cost of ownership. www.bauercomp.com. (757) 855-6006.
As with many things in the fire service, training has evolved over the past 50 years. My dad was chief of training, as was I. Before I came on, Dad talked about major training programs that he was working on. He developed the first bomb squad and water rescue unit and coordinated the first paramedic class for the Toledo (OH) Fire Department. These were the beginnings of technical rescue for the department.
In these lean times, some agencies have been forced to cut training to levels below those legally required. Even in the best of times, there are the 10 percenters in every agency who want to soak up as much training as possible. However, funding is usually the constraint. There are some governmental sources—both federal and state—that offer free or low-cost training; these should be taken advantage of as much as possible.
Firefighter 1st Grade Peter G. Demontreux of the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), a nine-year veteran, received the Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis in March. Demontreux was cited for demonstrating extraordinary bravery and courage in rescuing two civilians, Henry Howell and Clyde Matheny, at an early-morning fire in a four-story brownstone in Brooklyn, New York. When Demontreux arrived on Ladder 132, Engine 280 (Brooklyn) first due at the scene, heavy fire was at the front door, in the hallway, and up the stairway to the third floor; Howell was at the third-floor front window with heavy smoke pushing all around him. The ladder company chauffeur set up the aerial ladder and Demontreux, who was assigned as the outside vent firefighter, climbed to the third-floor window and assisted Howell onto the aerial ladder.
Believing that the equipment and standard operating procedures currently used by fire departments and other hose-testing services continue to expose firefighters to unnecessary risk, Fire CATT decided to engineer an accurate, safe, efficient, and technology-driven hose-testing system. Departments spend millions of dollars on hose and apparatus, yet the market falls dangerously short in providing safe, effective, and accurate hose-testing capabilities. The often overlooked National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1962, Standard for the Inspection, Care, and Use of Fire Hose, Couplings, and Nozzles and the Service Testing of Fire Hose, was developed to ensure firefighter safety through an annual testing requirement and a well-defined test procedure.
Responding to basic emer-gencies is a large part of this profession. You must be prepared to operate at vehicle accidents; stalled elevators; and gas, steam, and water leaks on a daily basis. The key to responding to these calls is to not let your guard down and to use them to develop a systematic routine and tactical plan. This way, you are prepared if the unordinary occurs.
Scenario: At the station, you are completing dinner when you hear the announcement over the radio: “Dispatch from Broad Street Command, please upgrade this incident to a working fire. We have heavy smoke and fire from A/B corner with an unknown number of occupants still inside.”
In our last installment, we finished looking at the safety side of our hazard vs. safety model. We went through the details of adequate staffing, operational hardware, safety standard operating procedures, and personal protective equipment (PPE) and finished up with a discussion of incident command by going over the eight standard functions of command. The model is a critical part of the initial and ongoing size-up process. These items make up the basic safety system we use on every level to protect our firefighters working in the hazard zone.
Kussmaul Electronics’ new MODEL 091-191-115 POWER SAVE TIMER is a timer for block heaters that limits the duty cycle of an AC load to one hour while “ON” and one hour while “OFF.” It reduces the “ON” time to 50 percent, thus cutting power consumption from your 110-volt block heater in half. A bypass switch may be installed to permit full time operation when full power operation is desired. The Power Save Timer comes with a three-year warranty and saves power consumption, saving you money.
McKinney (TX) Fire Department (MFD) Chief MARK WALLACEannounced his retirement effective June 1. He has served the city as fire chief for the last 10 years. Wallace joined the MFD in February 2001 and completed his 10 years on February 15. During his tenure, Wallace helped the department grow from three stations to eight, helped pass three bond elections, enabled the construction of a new public safety building, added more than 100 positions within the department, and helped reduce the ISO rating to Class 2, which saved McKinney businesses and residents more than $5 million a year.
