Featured Blog Posts – September 2013 Archive (4)

With all the recent fire studies conducted by UL, NIST, ISFSI, etc. the fire service is undergoing a renaissance...or at least that's what I thought. The aforementioned organizations have pumped out volumes of empirical data that we can consume and digest to make our profession smarter, more effective and most importantly, safer. Although over the past couple of months I have heard too many people spout misinformation regarding the findings of these studies. Specifically, I have had…

Have you ever heard firefighters use the term "Pushing the Fire"? If so, did the firefighter have a clear understanding of the term? Although this is a valid term in the fire service, it seems there are some misconceptions regarding our actual ability to “Push the Fire”. Most commonly I have heard this term used when firefighters are discussing how they attacked a residential fire from one particular entry point because they didn’t want to “push the fire…

First of all, let me be clear that this is not an indictment of the method itself. You will not read any dispute or argument here against its effectiveness and rapidity. Nope, it’s good alright. A solid ventilation operation was born out of the necessity and a belief in the importance of peaked roof ventilation. These firefighters developed, evolved, and refined a vertical ventilation method that accomplishes the tactical requirements and at the same time keeps the brothers on solid working…