Never Forget Them or Their Lessons

Article and photos by Lance C. Peeples

…Meyran, Bellew, Brooks, Conroy, Kolenda, Holcombe, McAllister, Cappell, Mathis, Bridges, Drennan, Young, and Seidenburg, Refroe, Armstrong, Gillen…

One of America’s first firefighters, Benjamin Franklin, once uttered, “Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.” Unfortunately, the firefighters named above are etched forever in the collective history of our profession. Do you remember their stories? I hope this article honors the memory of these men and women by repeating their stories, so that those who serve today are not required to pay again to learn the lessons these firefighters have already paid for with their blood.

Control the Door

In this business, it’s the little things that count. Probie school instructors drill on it over and over: “Control the door; control the door!” This lesson is not an abstract bit of firematic trivia of only passing academic interest. Failure to control the door can have real consequences, such as those taught to us on March 28, 1994, when Captain John Drennan and Firefighters James Young and Christopher Seidenburg of the Fire Department of New York ascended the interior stairs above a fire on the first floor of a multiple dwelling on Watts Street in Manhattan. The forcible entry team at the fire apartment door was driven to the floor and barely escaped with their lives when a heavy fire condition blew out the forced door and traveled up the interior stairs. Drennan, Young, and Seidenburg were not as fortunate; they were incinerated on the floor above the fire. It seems like such a simple thing: At your next fire, never forget: Control the door.

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(1) It is essential that members control the door. Capt. John Drennan and Firefighters James Young and Christopher Seidenburg lost their lives while searching above the fire in a multiple dwelling when the forcible entry team lost control of the door and fire vented up the stairs. Here, firefighters drill using a rope to control the door.

Chase the Kinks

It should have been a “routine” job, but it wasn’t. Members of the Cincinnati (OH) Fire Department responded to a food-on-the-stove fire that turned deadly on March 21, 2003.

When the first-due engine arrived, its members stretched a 350-foot attack line. Initially, the line was stretched to the front door. However, finding the front door locked, the company officer directed that the line be repositioned down the D-side of the house and into the rear yard. Once they arrived at the rear yard, the district chief directed them to reposition the line to the front door to attack from the unburned side. Once the line was repositioned to the front door, a member retrieved an ax and forced the front door. The company officer called for water two separate times. When water was not forthcoming, the company officer left his crew on the front porch and began straightening the numerous kinks in the line. Meanwhile, the members of his crew entered the fire building with the dry hoseline only to be enveloped by a developing flashover. The lessons provided to us by Firefighter Oscar Armstrong III on a March day, seven years ago, are these: Company officers must supervise their members; you must practice hose stretches until they are reflexive; and at your next fire, never forget that kinks kill.

Automatic Alarms Are Dangerous

Not a day goes by that a typical fire company does not respond to an automatic alarm. On April 11, 1994, Engine 7 of the Memphis (TN) Fire Department did just that–responded to yet another automatic alarm at the Regis Towers Apartments at 750 Adams Street, as they had done hundreds of times before. Only this time it would be different; this time there was a fire. Captain Michael Mathis and Pvt. William Bridges lost their lives when they rode the elevator up to the floor where the annunciator panel indicated an alarm. They were greeted by a heavy smoke and heat condition in the public hall and were unable to recover from their error. At your next automatic-alarm response, never forget: Automatic alarms are dangerous. There just might be a fire.

(2) Lt. Michael Mathis and Pvt. William Bridges died after taking an elevator to the fire floor to investigate what they believed was an automatic alarm sounding. The building had been the scene of multiple false alarms that may have lulled the two firefighters into a false sense of security. Treat every alarm as the “real deal.” It might be!

Use 2½-Inch Standpipe Hose

There’s a reason standpipe outlets for use by fire departments are equipped with 2½-inch outlets. The reason is that the vast majority of standpipe systems in this country were designed to provide only 65 pounds per square inch (psi) at the topmost outlet while flowing water at 500 gallons per minute (gpm). This lesson was taught February 23, 1991, at One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The initial attack on the fire failed when the first engine company was unable to develop a stream from its 1¾-inch attack line equipped with an automatic nozzle. Capt. David Holcombe and Firefighters Phyllis McAllister and James Cappell ran out of air while searching above the fire. Perhaps if the initial attack line had succeeded in controlling the fire, things might have been different. Never forget: Use 2½-inch standpipe hose with a solid bore nozzle.

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(3) In general, most standpipes are hydraulically engineered to supply 250 gpm at 65 psi to the topmost outlet. In many buildings, pressure-reducing valves (as shown here) limit pressure to 100 psi for outlets with occupant hose use. Capt. David Holcombe, Firefighter Phyllis McAllister, and Firefighter James Cappell ran out of air while searching above a fire on the 22nd floor of One Meridian Plaza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 23, 1991. The initial engine company using 1¾-inch hose and an automatic nozzle was unable to develop an adequate stream.

Carry a Rope

The legendary Tom Brennan once wrote on the importance of carrying a rope. The importance of that lesson was driven home on Black Sunday, January 23, 2005. On that day, a number of FDNY firefighters were forced to leap for their lives from the windows of a four-story building after being cut off by rapid fire development. Sadly, Lt. Curtis Meyran and Firefighter John Bellew did not survive their fall. Never forget Curtis Meyran and John Bellew: Carry a rope.

Call for Help Early

A confusing floor layout, a house built into the side of a hill, mixed-up radio messages, windows covered with Plexiglass, a tough cellar fire—all these things went against Capt. Thomas Brooks, Firefighter Patricia Ann Conroay, and Firefighter Marc Kolenda. We’ll never know for sure why they didn’t call for help after getting trapped in a cellar on Bricelyn Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1995. Maybe they didn’t know they were in trouble until it was too late. What we do know is that they never called for help or activated their PASS devices. We know that a confusing floor layout and communication problems added to the difficulties. Brooks, Conroy, and Kolenda taught us a lot that day—lessons such as stay oriented, call for help early, activate your PASS device, and train on self-rescue and rapid-intervention company techniques. These are things we should never forget.

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(4) The Bricelyn Street Fire in Pittsburgh on February 14, 1995, resulted in the deaths of Capt. Thomas Brooks, Firefighter Patricia Ann Conroy, and Firefighter Marc Kolenda. The lessons learned included the need to develop skills to remove trapped firefighters. Here, firefighters practice removing a firefighter from a basement.

Stay Together

Work in teams, stay together, two in/two out–from Day One at the fire academy, the emphasis in on teamwork. There’s a reason for that. Firefighting is a dangerous business! The tragic death of Firefighter Adam Cody Renfroe, of the Crossville (AL) Fire Department, on October 29, 2008, reinforced this lesson. He became disoriented at a fire in a private dwelling after his partner left to retrieve a tool. He was found dead four feet from the back door. At your next job, never forget: Stay together.

Block the Road

Chicago (IL) Fire Lt. Scott Gillen was killed in December 2000 while operating at the scene of a motor vehicle crash (MVC) when he was pinned against the rear of his ladder truck by a car on the Dan Ryan Expressway. He was the father of five children. To honor his memory at our next MVC we should never forget: Block the road.

NEVER FORGET!

I began this article with a quote from Ben Franklin, so it seems only fitting that I close with another of his wise observations: “Experience keeps a dear school, but a fool will learn in no other!” Let’s remember the lesson of Mathis and Bridges. Let’s control the door for Drennan, Young, and Seidenburg. Let’s drill on what Brooks, Conroy, and Kolenda teach from their graves. Let’s practice hose stretching in memory of Armstrong III, and let’s use 2½-inch standpipe hose to honor Holcombe, McCallister, and Cappell. Let’s stick together in memory of Renfroe. Let’s carry a rope in honor of Meyran and Bellew. Let’s remember Gillen by blocking the road at our next car crash. But mostly, let’s just never forget them!

Lance C. Peeples is a firefighter in St. Louis County, Missouri. He is a Fire Officer II and an Instructor II. He holds AS degrees in fire and paramedic technology, a BS in public administration and an MS in fire and emergency management administration from Oklahoma State University.

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