Check out some firefighter training articles from the February 2024 issue of Fire Engineering magazine, which focuses on fire apparatus topics.
Photo cover by Dennis Walus shows Detroit (MI) crews working at a fire with trapped occupants.
In the early morning hours, the Detroit (MI) Fire Department responded to a report of an apartment building fire with trapped occupants. Engine 40 arrived on the scene and reported heavy fire showing and people jumping from the four-story occupied building and immediately requested a second alarm response. All companies went to work and performed numerous rescues via ladders and from the interior, while simultaneously stretching hoselines and initiating an interior attack on the fire. Realizing the intensity of the fire conditions and life safety issue in this large building, the incident commander (IC) requested a third-alarm assignment. Despite the companies’ efforts, the fire’s intensity had gained headway and the IC gave the order to exit the building and commit to an exterior attack.
During the evacuation, a member was unaccounted for and a Mayday alert and a fourth alarm were transmitted. A personnel accountability report was immediately conducted, and the member was quickly located. A transfer to outside operations began and two tower ladders and one aerial pipe directed their master streams into the structure. Firefighters must realize in the early morning hours that fires in large, occupied buildings will require additional units to perform rescues via portable, aerial, or tower ladders as well as via the interior through aggressive search operations. In addition, the need to stretch a hoseline to attack the fire is of vital importance to protect the civilians and firefighters inside the structure.
FEATURES
Conducting a Fire Apparatus Fleet Evaluation
It has become more important than ever to purchase wisely and ensure that new apparatus acquisitions meet the needs of the organization and that existing vehicles are in good condition and meet the organization’s operational needs as well. MIKE WILBUR
Fundamentals for Roadway Incident Operations
Are we doing everything we can to protect our personnel and the motoring public at every roadway incident? A review of the fundamentals may be necessary. JACK SULLIVAN
Five Common Misunderstandings About Aerial Apparatus
Since aerials are the most expensive and complicated pieces of equipment in most fire departments’ inventory, it’s important that we know how to use them properly and to their full advantage. LOUIS SCLAFANI
Mayday Drill: Years in the Making, Phase 2
RIT and Mayday drills must be held annually with full-scale exercises to bring together the crews that will work together when faced with a down firefighter or Mayday. OWEN C. THOMASSON III AND MICHAEL J. BARAKEY
Running the Red: Emergency Vehicle Operations Pitfalls
When emergency vehicle operators drive, they tend to have a false sense of security that everyone will yield the right of way. This is dangerous. MICHAEL K. ANDERSON
Medical Emergencies and Large Fires: Bronx and Manhattan, 2005-2020
The Bronx seems caught in a vicious circle of large fires that damage homes, leading to public health erosion, which leads to more medical emergencies, which inflate the number of large fires. RODRICK WALLACE AND DEBORAH WALLACE
Departments
EDITOR’S OPINION: To OSB or Not to OSB?
TRAINING NOTEBOOK: After a Freeze-Up: Important Next Steps
VOLUNTEERS CORNER: Revolutionizing Firefighter Education: A Paradigm Shift for the Forgotten
