Aerial & Parapit access

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim Wilk on December 23, 2008 at 12:15pm

We have a Pierce Tower. We have the roof ladder mounted to the inside of the top section with the butts toward the top. We have the attachment on our basket to mount it to when using it. The only problem I have found with this is when climbing the main, you have to make sure your straps or gear do not get snagged by the roof ladder.

Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on December 24, 2008 at 2:06pm

At my full time FD, we do not have ladders mounted on our 105 ft aerial as of yet. I am trying to go through the health and safety committee to get this done. For access to roof decks with deep parapits, we carry what ladders we need right up the aerial(usually a roof ladder). At my part time FD, we have a roof ladder mounted in the top fly of the 75 ft aerial and this is what we use. It's a fantastic idea to mount the attic ladder on the aerial and I am going to push for both FD's to mount an attic ladder for egress. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Chad Berg on December 27, 2008 at 5:48pm

Shareef,

I'm just curious, but why does this kind of idea/request/suggestion get pushed through the Health and Safety Division and not Operations in your department? I'm just curious.

Shareef Abdu Nur said:

At my full time FD, we do not have ladders mounted on our 105 ft aerial as of yet. I am trying to go through the health and safety committee to get this done. For access to roof decks with deep parapits, we carry what ladders we need right up the aerial(usually a roof ladder). At my part time FD, we have a roof ladder mounted in the top fly of the 75 ft aerial and this is what we use. It's a fantastic idea to mount the attic ladder on the aerial and I am going to push for both FD's to mount an attic ladder for egress. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on March 20, 2009 at 9:40am

Chad Berg, It would usually go through Operations, but unfortunately Operations are the ones who are fighting me on this. So, I have to try any other angle I can. My angle now is that having a ladder already near the aerial tip will help cut down on possible injuries caused by the physical stress of humping a saw, tools, ladders, and yourself up the aerial at a less then desirable climbing angle. My full time FD is very old school, but not always in a good way. So, it takes baby steps and some unorthodox approaches to change a culture and a way of thinking of FF's who say, "We don't need that..This has always worked for us in the past." My only rebuttal to this statement is, "You know? Some old guys said that about the telephone at one time too.." So, if you have another approach, please let me know.

Permalink Reply by Chad Berg on March 27, 2009 at 10:41am

I hear you brother, and I have been in those shoes before as well. You are probably smart, but running it from a different angle when they are not budging. Of course we also know, that a recommendation from the Safety Committees are hard to ignore.
Keep up the good fight.

Permalink Reply by Josh Materi on August 9, 2009 at 7:39pm

Josh Materi said:

I don't remember where I saw this, maybe San Antonio Fire, maybe Buffalo don't remember. Anyway, they modified the roofer that was mounted on the stick. They put hooks and spurs on both the tip and the butt. No baton twirling. Brilliant….

Thanks Chad,

Josh Materi

Permalink Reply by Michael Bricault (ret) on September 17, 2009 at 8:10pm

-Chad, I like the idea of using the attic ladder to gain access over a parapet wall; this is something we have been using for a while now and even teach during our basic training phase. Working in a congested urban environment it is a very realistic need for Truck Company personnel to forecast.
-The key component that we stress is that the attic ladder must be opened up and made ready to use while the member is on the turn table and not at the end of a raised aerial as this is unsafe. Therefore we teach our people to recognize parapet walls from the ground.
-Lastly, we do not mount anything to the aerial itself. The reasoning is that mounting tools or ladders to the aerial will encourage unnecessarily unsafe behavior requiring the member to unfasten and deploy tools while the aerial is raised. To unfasten and deploy an attic ladder from the top of the aerial while the aerial is raised is inherently and unnecessarily unsafe.
-Furthermore, mounting ladders or tools to the inside of the aerial reduces the ladder-way space if the ladder or tool is mounted to the inside of the aerial as well as creating huge snag hazards for firefighters or victims traversing the ladder. This is not the time nor location to be dealing with snags or reductions in operating space.
-After all, the intent of the aerial is to provide an access for rapid deployment or recovery of firefighters and/or possibly to rescue victims. Unlike our tower ladder Brothers, the aerial is not a work platform nor tool staging area. If a tower is what you need then call one.
-Mounting tools and ground ladders to the outside of the aerial is just as dangerous in that it creates snags, reduces mobility, changes the performance features of the aerial from original design intent and encourages firefighters to retrieve said gear while leaning over the side while the aerial is raised and in operation. Leaning over the rails to retrieve tools or ground ladders is unnecessarily dangerous and preventable.
-If tools or ladders are going to be needed Truck personnel should be trained to identify these needs before they climb the aerial and bring up what they need, thereby operating in a safer manner.
-This also gives the firefighter the opportunity to make ready, deploy or start said tool, ladder or saw while on the ground and identify and correct any problems then and there.

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• Next ›
• Page