February 2016 Blog Posts (31)

On the Hawaiian island of Oahu, thousands of people are gathering to watch what is considered to be the most prestigious surfing event in the world. The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational matches some of the top surfers on the planet with swells towering higher than many of our houses. In fact, the event does not even take place if the waves do not exceed heights of twenty feet. It is for this reason that the event has only been held nine times in last 31 years. Organizers refuse to sacrifice…

Muscle Imbalances and Injury Potential

As firefighters there are so many things we need to be thinking about during an emergency scene.  Rig placement, radio communication, building construction, fire location, and smoke color, volume, and pressure are only a fraction of the things that run…

In a winter-time cold snap, it’s inevitable that departments will be called to respond to numerous broken water pipe incidents.  Almost every firefighter in the country can find at least a handful of sprinkler-protected buildings in their response area.  While we can certainly all agree as firefighters that sprinkler systems are a tremendous benefit to life…

LASTING IMPRESSIONS

I have written previously on Facebook - IN THESE BOOTS about the life lessons learned from athletics and how they can be applied to the Fire Service. Coaching, leadership, teamwork, selflessness, pride, failure, success, attitude, attitude and attitude all apply to success and winning in any field of endeavor.

I wrote about the journeyman pro catcher at an…

A riddle: What feature does almost every dwelling already have, can prevent death despite a raging fire, occupants often neglect to put into service, but which firefighters can utilize to improve conditions?  

Answer: A door.  

Recent fire dynamics research has lead to recommendations for dramatic changes in our approach to structure fires, with debates and arguments…

The Sunday Preach:

‘Mind your Step’

"We must recognize the importance that staircases have in all of our operations, from pre-fire control to overhaul. We must understand their structural building components, know the materials used, their limitations, and how to prevent and overcome problems impeding our goal of going up or down the stairs. Anytime we are going up or down steps, we must be extra alert. We must also recognize and plan to utilize a secondary means of egress…

            One of the greatest life lessons that many of us have been taught is to “practice what you preach”.  It is valuable guidance that encourages all of us to…

In my last post (part 3: Troubleshooting), I mentioned a the radio relay and Vehicle Repeater System (VRS). The former is a quick solution that requires personnel in dedicated positions; the latter requires a unit with VRS to arrive on-scene and activate the VRS. I will address both in this post, as they are the simplest options for fixing a tactical communications problem.…

This week’s “Quick Tip” is simple…GET TO AN EXTRICATION CHALLENGE!…

The public has a set of expectations when they call the fire department. They expect that we will: 1) Save anyone that is inside 2) Put the fire out. 

Many departments (including mine) give awards for saves and great stops on fires.  I’m all for awards and unit citations, but if you really think about it, we are giving awards for meeting the expectations of the public.  Does any other job do that?

Speaking of Expectations

I set out my trash…

You will find in various text books and firefighter skill sheets that the swing of a door should dictate how the forks of the halligan are oriented to the jamb for forcible entry. When “forcing” a door is viewed as a single step process this type of approach makes sense in that the orientation of the forks to the jamb will maximize the mechanical advantage and therefore the force delivered.…