Newburgher

I believe, and maybe one of our Academy Instructors can say for certain, that it is a required skill for the Career Academy. Why is it a bad concept to make it a requirement for Volunteer Departments? Everyone who is able to put on an airpack, should be trained to get themselves, as well as their Brother Firefighter out of a jam. Trouble doesn't wait until the FAST team is on the scene, at Career OR Volunteer fires. Why the double standard?

Absolutely! I am a fan of pullboxes. As I have said in other threads, sometimes all we get is a single pullbox to notify us of an incident. The activation starts our response immediately, saving a minute or more sometimes.

Absolutely! I am a fan of pullboxes. As I have said in other threads, sometimes all we get is a single pullbox to notify us of an incident. The activation starts our response immediately, saving a minute or more sometimes.

This is a link to a test our Union did on turnout gear buoyancy a few years ago. The results were pretty surprising for some of us.

I can tell you that we use the 1 1/2 on our aerials, because we don't have million dollar ladder trucks and towers with pumps. Our ladder pipes are fed from substandard water systems to an engine, through 2 1/2 hose into the ladder. We keep the size on there because we can flow that gpm quickly. We have 3- 3 man companies on duty. Sometimes, there are exposures before you get there. Our response time is 3 minutes or less, depending on whether the initial call was a pull box or phone call, so "putting BIG GPM on the fire FAST as possible and you won't have exposures" is not always true.
Using a fog nozzle to make a water curtain, is also not very effective. I believe the term water curtain is what was the method used in the old days of spraying water between the fire and the exposure. If the water is not being sprayed on the exposure, it will not stop the radiant heat. The way I was taught, exposure protection is wetting down the exposure, keeping it cool. We have found this to be about the only thing fog nozzles are good for.
Something else that isn't very effective, is spraying water down from a ladder pipe onto a perfectly good roof. Roofs repell water from a nozzle, just as well as rain. The best way to apply the water, is through windows and openings into the heat, bouncing the stream, as best as possible, off the room interiors, drowning as much of the burning areas as you can. Again, it works for us, that's how we do it. I'm sure everyone who is on here has a different way that works in their towns and cities.

I can tell you that we use the 1 1/2 on our aerials, because we don't have million dollar ladder trucks and towers with pumps. Our ladder pipes are fed from substandard water systems to an engine, through 2 1/2 hose into the ladder. We keep the size on there because we can flow that gpm quickly. We have 3- 3 man companies on duty. Sometimes, there are exposures before you get there. Our response time is 3 minutes or less, depending on whether the initial call was a pull box or phone call, so "putting BIG GPM on the fire FAST as possible and you won't have exposures" is not always true.
Using a fog nozzle to make a water curtain, is also not very effective. I believe the term water curtain is what was the method used in the old days of spraying water between the fire and the exposure. If the water is not being sprayed on the exposure, it will not stop the radiant heat. The way I was taught, exposure protection is wetting down the exposure, keeping it cool. We have found this to be about the only thing fog nozzles are good for.
Something else that isn't very effective, is spraying water down from a ladder pipe onto a perfectly good roof. Roofs repell water from a nozzle, just as well as rain. The best way to apply the water, is through windows and openings into the heat, bouncing the stream, as best as possible, off the room interiors, drowning as much of the burning areas as you can. Again, it works for us, that's how we do it. I'm sure everyone who is on here has a different way that works in their towns and cities.

In our department, we use stacked tips on our aerials. They are kept with the 1 and 1/2 inch as the smallest. Penetration and ease of aiming through a window seem to be the benefits. We carry the adjustable fog nozzles that came with the rigs in a compartment, in case they are needed for exposure protection. Our engines use stacked tips as well, and are kept with 1 and 3/8 as the smallest. We don't have any tower ladders in the city.

Structurally, the house is rebuildable. Damage was held at the plaster. Clean it out, sheetrock and windows, good to go. Not bad for 9 guys....

Structurally, the house is rebuildable. Damage was held at the plaster. Clean it out, sheetrock and windows, good to go. Not bad for 9 guys....

Structurally, the house is rebuildable. Damage was held at the plaster. Clean it out, sheetrock and windows, good to go. Not bad for 9 guys....

Structurally, the house is rebuildable. Damage was held at the plaster. Clean it out, sheetrock and windows, good to go. Not bad for 9 guys....

Tons of things to contend with. In my experience, we have come across:
People who will not leave
Rooms stacked litterally to the ceiling, and occupants sleeping on top of the pile
Buckets being used as toilets, which are easily knocked over, spilling their contents
People trying to re-enter the building, behind the hoseline, and generally getting in the way.
As for locks, most of the time, not too substantial. Mostly, wooden doors in wooden jambs. The big deal about the forcible entry is that is turns into a big job just because of the amount of doors. We have buildings with several dozen occupants, all behind several dozen locked doors. You can't assume the room is empty if there is a padlock on the outside either. I have found occupants inside the padlocked room at fires.
In my city, we also find occupied rooms without windows.
Just a start, far from seeing it all.

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but a simple question: Why did that rig even leave the street?
When you go to a fire that is burning a field, or any fire that doesn't have an immediate exposure, and life is not in danger, quite often, we bring the highest dollar exposures, and park them in harms way, then put a bunch of life hazards(our people) into the mix. Don't get me wrong, not trying to criticize, and I know it is only a small snapshot into what is happening there, but it puzzles me.
From what I can see, it looks like it was a field. If there is no humans, animals, or buildings/equipment in the way, how big a deal is it really? Keep the rig (which in this case appears to have been two wheel drive?) on the pavement, and stretch a line or two to it. After the spring we have had, it's surprising the truck isn't sunk in the mud anyway. If there was a building involved, I would think it is connected to the road by a driveway.
To me, seeing a burned up pumper in the middle of a burned field, with no hose stretched, just doesn't make sense.

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but a simple question: Why did that rig even leave the street?
When you go to a fire that is burning a field, or any fire that doesn't have an immediate exposure, and life is not in danger, quite often, we bring the highest dollar exposures, and park them in harms way, then put a bunch of life hazards(our people) into the mix. Don't get me wrong, not trying to criticize, and I know it is only a small snapshot into what is happening there, but it puzzles me.
From what I can see, it looks like it was a field. If there is no humans, animals, or buildings/equipment in the way, how big a deal is it really? Keep the rig (which in this case appears to have been two wheel drive?) on the pavement, and stretch a line or two to it. After the spring we have had, it's surprising the truck isn't sunk in the mud anyway. If there was a building involved, I would think it is connected to the road by a driveway.
To me, seeing a burned up pumper in the middle of a burned field, with no hose stretched, just doesn't make sense.

Not to sound like a know-it-all, but a simple question: Why did that rig even leave the street?
When you go to a fire that is burning a field, or any fire that doesn't have an immediate exposure, and life is not in danger, quite often, we bring the highest dollar exposures, and park them in harms way, then put a bunch of life hazards(our people) into the mix. Don't get me wrong, not trying to criticize, and I know it is only a small snapshot into what is happening there, but it puzzles me.
From what I can see, it looks like it was a field. If there is no humans, animals, or buildings/equipment in the way, how big a deal is it really? Keep the rig (which in this case appears to have been two wheel drive?) on the pavement, and stretch a line or two to it. After the spring we have had, it's surprising the truck isn't sunk in the mud anyway. If there was a building involved, I would think it is connected to the road by a driveway.
To me, seeing a burned up pumper in the middle of a burned field, with no hose stretched, just doesn't make sense.

http://www.historybu...shirtwaist.html
Tomorrow is the 100th Anniversary of this tragedy. Resulted in Strengthening collective bargaining, as well as Building Codes.

Could they be affiliated with KJFD?