Barrett Dorner's Blog (5)

Yes, we still have crews who work in collapse zones. Yes, we still have crews going in with uncharged lines. Yes, we still have people on the fireground who don’t speak up when they see something wrong, or don’t listen when people do speak up. And yes, it’s a damn shame when it feels like we lost good brothers for no good reason. 

But I…

Normalization of deviance. If you haven't heard the term, it basically starts with taking shortcuts under pressure. Of course, we're frequently under pressure on this job and, by human nature, we don't always do exactly as we're supposed to. 

We don't buckle our waist strap. We don't throw ladders. We don't have solid incident command.

These things don't frequently make-or-break an incident because we're able to "make it work." Talk about a false sense of security. …

I don't know what kind of strange energy I upset with the fire gods, but take a look at these photos. …

New analysis coming in the beginning of 2017 from UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute.

That gives us plenty of time to take a deep breath and plan to handle this information appropriately.

Simply, we all need to begin by reading the entire report. The actual report. Not some random Facebook page's analysis of the analysis. Start with the raw material to get a full…

On the right, a "Code Red" structure -- we only enter if we *see* a savable life -- on fire twice yesterday. Missing 10' of foundation, numerous holes in the floor, and missing structural members.*

On the left, a house with roof crumbling around a truck company's vent h***, garbage bags over the windows, and an old man who came out to see if the neighboring…