False Exterior Walls

Do you see anything different here?
I was out of town most of this past week for class and noticed this building on the first morning I drove in.

The first morning they had only installed the wall to the “r” in Performing. The second day I realized that I needed to snap a picture of this to share.

This false wall is about four stories tall and covers the entire length of the building.


What challenges do you see?
As you can see, this wall definately would challenge any rescue efforts were there victims in the windows.

Not only will it hamper rescue efforts, performing ventilation or suppression from this side of the building would be challenging at best.

The frame of the false wall is set off of the building wall at a distance of approximately two feet. That is just a guess, but operating ground ladders here is almost impossible.

Interior crews would need to know that this side is limited access and egress because of the wall. It will certainly challenge our strategies and tactics should an incident happen here.

This is one good example of why you need to get out and see your area. Know what’s going on and get involved. As a crew you can preplan this building by just parking out front, take a picture or two and go back and have a discussion about how you would operate at this building.

Stay safe and be careful.