Buffalo, NY FD Abandoned Building Policy

[SteveOFD 176]

Found this article at Firerescue1.com

May 27, 2008

Editorial: N.Y. department creates abandoned building policy

Buffalo News (New York)

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo's firefighters could be a little safer now, with a policy shift recently launched by the city's Fire Department.

It's a common-sense response to recent injuries and long-held concerns, and it's a good move.

Firefighters will no longer put themselves in danger by simply rushing into abandoned buildings. Instead, buildings will be surveyed twice yearly, and marked as "vacant and reasonably stable" or "vacant and dangerous."

...

Under the new policy, firefighting will not be banned in such a building, but the decision will be left up to the incident commander or battalion chief — who will have to provide a written explanation of the reasons firefighters were sent into a vacant building.

...

Copyright 2008 The Buffalo News

All Rights Reserved

This seems to be a sensible regulation, and it makes the IC think about what he is committing his troops to. As the saying goes, risk a lot to save a life, risk a little to save property.

NOTE: This is not the full article, as per EMTBravo.com regulations. Link above is to the full article.

[Oswegowind 17]

Sounds like someone was thinking. Kudo's to them! There is no reason to put the men at unreasonable risk!