SageVigiles

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Posts posted by SageVigiles

  3. Posted

    Down here, entrapment is considered anytime that the person cannot remove themselves from the incident (car, fire, whatever.) We even have separate dispatch assignments when there are reports of people trapped in an auto or a fire.

    Obviously a door pop isn't as big of a deal as some of the more serious extrication that we do. But I think its really arguing semantics. Anyone who has done any rescue work knows that a Doors-Roof-Dash is a bigger deal than a Door pop, and obviously infers the person is "more" heavily entrapped.

  4. Posted · Edited by SageVigiles

    In my experience with CT's Statewide Fire Honor Guard, I found that in many departments, the Honor Guards are formed by a group of POs, Firefighters, or EMTs who care about showing respect for their fallen Members, and who want to represent their agency at different events throughout the community. While many departments would like to be able to pay for the training and equipment that goes into running a Guard, its sometimes hard to do, especially considering the budget situations most of us are facing nowadays. I know my department didn't pay for my CT Honor Guard uniform or travel costs.

    What happens a lot of the time is that a group of Members who care enough will get approval from the department and pay for things out-of-pocket to get things started, then they try to raise funds to keep things going. In other cases, the Honor Guard is supported by the Union instead of the department. When you look at the cost of sending members to Police Week in DC or NFFF Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, things really start to add up.

    One thing I would recommend is T-Shirts, patches, and challenge coins. If someone can front the money, you can sell a lot of swag and raise the cash to offset some of your costs.

  6. Posted

    so about 3% of all engines in the county were committed to this fire,

    But 50% of the tankers were committed. Tells me we have way to many engines, and too few tankers

    You would know that better than I. I'm not sure how well hydranted most of Westchester is. I was just responding to the person who questioned the number of units on the call, I don't think its an unusual number of units for a multi-alarm fire.

    And Tanker 10eng, I wouldn't be surprised if they used 2 fill sites, I was just being conservative for the purposes of making my point.

  7. Posted

    -7 Engines (not counting coverage companies)

    - Assuming there was only 1 draft site, subtract one of those, leaving you with 6 Engines on scene

    -8 Tankers

    -1 Rescue

    -1 Truck

    - A handful of utilities (including Mt Kiscos FASTbulance, which I'll count as a rescue for purposes of discussion because of its staffing and responsibilities)

    We dispatch 4 Engines and 3 Specials on all box alarms. So is 6 Engines and 3 Specials really so ridiculous for a multi-alarm fire with access issues?

  8. Posted · Edited by SageVigiles

    Just curious to see what everyone's set up is for a reported/working fire, and what each company is responsible for when arriving at the scene?

    Prince George's County Fire Department:

    *Note: A "special service" is a Ladder, Tower Ladder, Rescue Squad, Quint (operating as a truck), or Rescue Engine (operating as a Rescue Squad)

    Box Alarm: 4 Engines, 3 Special Services (2 of which must have aerial devices), 2 Battalion Chiefs, 1 BLS Ambulance

    Working Fire Dispatch (Upgrade): 1 Paramedic Ambulance, Safety Officer, EMS Duty Officer

    (I'm using our SOGs for fires in a single-family dwelling, just to keep it simple.)

    Box Alarm:

    1st Due Engine: Fire attack from side Alpha

    2nd Due Engine: Complete 1st Due's water supply, assist stretching 1st Due's line, advance 2nd line to floor above

    3rd Due Engine: Advance line to Charlie side, attack fire as directed by IC

    4th Due Engine: Complete 3rd Due's water supply, assist stretching 3rd Due's line, advance backup line to side Alpha

    1st Due Special: Ladder sides Alpha/Bravo, search fire floor, utility control

    2nd Due Special: Ladder sides Charlie/Delta, search floor above

    3rd Due Special: Establish RIC

    BLS Ambulance: Standby, medical monitoring/rehab

    1st Due Battalion: Command (unless taken by the local Volunteer Chief)

    2nd Due Battalion: Typically Safety, until the Safety Officer arrives, then will usually take a Division

    x635 likes this

  9. Posted

    A New Jersey lawmaker wants to freeze new multi-family developments from using the same lightweight wood construction that was used in an Edgewater apartment complex that was destroyed by fire two weeks ago.

    Assemblyman Scott Rumana's bill would impose a two-year moratorium while the state evaluates the safety of light frame construction.

    Read more: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/New-Jersey-to-Propose-Moratorium-on-Lightweight-Wood-That-Left-Hundreds-Homeless-After-Fire-291030761.html#ixzz3Qzw9drgn

    At least they're finally listening.

  15. Posted

    As for the 400', I thought that was a pretty ridiculous line when I first came down here. But we run a LOT of apartment fires, and due to the way our first due is set up (Andrews AFB takes a big chunk out of it) we run as 2nd arriving wagon pretty often. We practice running the 400' very frequently (more frequently than any other attack line, since its the hardest to run) so that everyone here has it down smooth, and it lets us catch up to the first arriving company pretty quickly. Everything down here is set up for speed, and our guys take pride in making sure our stretches are both smooth and fast. But when you're running a 5-6 man engine most of the time, it certainly makes things easier.

    for the leader line and the layout pack, it does get used occasionally to extend the 400' (yes, a line longer than 400'.) Not something that happens often and in terms of speed, its another thing we have to really practice a lot with to get proficient in. We were doing that on Sunday, actually.

    I am not a Chauffeur or a mathmatologist, so the pressures and all aren't exactly my wheelhouse, but I've asked a few different guys who run the pump panel and they typically start the 400' out at around 200psi then work from there, depending on if we're going up or down (lots of terrace level fires here.) But we never have a problem with too little pressure on the line.

    Alex

    Is your three inch set up for a split lay or just one single lay down the street?

    I forgot to mention that, the 3" is loaded into two separate beds. If we need to lay out with 2 lines there is a double-male attaching the hose section that connect the two beds that can be broken by the layout man. I knew I was forgetting something...

    I'll try to take pictures of everything next time I'm at the station, the photos we have up on our site now are inaccurate, as we've changed the supply loads in the last few months.

    x635 likes this

  16. Posted · Edited by SageVigiles

    what do you use for supply lines?

    Sorry that was a typo on my part, that was supposed to say 1600' of 3" supply line. Corrected.

    We pretty much exclusively use 3" or 4" (our Engine has 4" line, but is currently out for a refurb that will change our hose loads, so I didn't include it in this post) We also have short shots of 5" soft supply line if we are right next to a hydrant.

    x635 and 210 like this

  17. Posted · Edited by SageVigiles

    In effort to move this forum back towards discussing actual firefighting stuff...

    What hose loads are on your apparatus for attack/supply? What's the rationale behind them?

    Rescue Engine 827 (Morningside, MD) - Has a 500 gallon tank

    Crosslays:

    • (2) 200' 1 3/4" preconnected attack lines with TSM-20 fog nozzles (wrapped), packed as a minuteman load. One off the Driver's side, one off the Officer's. Each section is 100'.
    • (1) 250' 2" preconnected attack line with a smooth bore stacked tip nozzle (wrapped), packed as a minute man load. Runs off the Officer's side. Nozzle section is 100', backup section is 150'.

    Bumper Trash Line:

    • 100' of 1.5" preconnected line with a TSM-10 fog nozzle. First 50' are rolled, last 50' are folded with ears out for quick deployment. (This is sometimes falsely referred to as the Kentland load, but a ton of companies down here use it)

    Off the rear:

    • 1600' of 3" supply line. Last 50' set up as a "Layout Pack": Accordion folded with a 2.5" double-male, 2.5" female to 1.5" male reducer, and a 1.5" blind cap. That pack is wrapped with a halyard rope that also has a hydrant wrench. Layout man pulls this and typically drops it at the hydrant or the entrance to the complex. The reducers allow us to extend attack lines into the courtyards of garden apartment complexes or into large commercial occupancies if we are not using it as a supply line.
    • 200' of 2.5 packed as a minuteman load with a gated wye, to two 1.5" threads. Each section is 100'. An alternate solution that allows us to extend attack lines if the layout pack is used for supply.
    • 400' 1 3/4" preconnected attack line with TSM-20 fog nozzle (wrapped), packed in three sections. First section is 100', second section is 150', third section is 150'. Lineman shoulders the first section, Backup shoulders the second and pulls the third, dumping it onto the ground. Backup then grabs a coupling from the third (aka the Dump) section and moves with it.

    Standpipe Racks:

    • 100' of 1 3/4" attack line with TSM-20 fog nozzle
    • 100' of 1 3/4" attack line with smooth bore nozzle.
    • "Officer's Pack:" Short shot of 2.5" hose with a gated wye and 50" of 1 3/4" attack line
    LineCapt, Flashpoint, NorthEndExpress and 3 others like this