Mark J. Cotter's Blog – October 2015 Archive (3)

My first test as an incident commander, occurring some 30 years ago, was a room-and-contents fire in a two-story dwelling situated on a corner.  Adding to the pressure was that this was the first structure fire our department had fought since the retirement of our prior Chief of 25 years.  Flames were showing out of a picture window in the rear of the home upon our arrival, and firefighters stretched a hoseline to the location of the flames as I did my walk-around.  I ordered them to not…

The “C” in SLICE-RS, representing the tactic of “Cooling from a safe location”, seems to remain the primary stumbling block for many current firefighters when presented with this practical application of the fire dynamics research findings.  Every other step in this “new” strategy, from Size-Up to Salvage, was already standard practice for most of us, with much of the innovation being how they were emphasized (see MFA #11:SLICE-RS and Flow Paths and Change, Oh My! at…

Periodically, the fire service blogosphere will feature a rant from one of us about such topics as the need to keep rescue as our primary function, face risks bravely, and/or generally uphold the traditional values of our calling.  These essays are usually wide-ranging, passionate, and very popular.  I also typically find myself agreeing with much of the sentiments that the writers are conveying, as I suspect most other readers do, even those messages that begin with some version of the…