Christopher Naum, SFPE's Blog (11)

Lessons from the Fireground; December 27,1983 Buffalo, New York Five Firefighter Line-of-Duty Deaths

As Buffalo (NY) firefighters arrived at the scene of a reported propane leak in a four-story radiator warehouse (Type III Ordinary and Type IV Heavy Timber construction), a massive explosion occurred, killing five firefighters and injuring nine others, three of them critically. The force of the blast blew BFD Ladder 5′s tiller aerial 35 feet across the street into the…

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As you're preparing for the night tour, think about taking advantage of some quality drill time; identify a building, any building and if both time and policy allow hit the streets with your company and spend time looking over the building, it's features, construction, hazards, risks and operational considerations. Remember night and day OPS have dramatically different risks and operational challenges. Discuss tactical options in the street and then table talk some scenarios back in quarters.… Continue

Tallest Hybrid Mass Timber Building Brock Commons Phase 1

Vancouver, British Columbia University of British Columbia Point Grey campus

One of the tallest mass timber buildings in the world is under construction at the University of British Columbia Point Grey campus. The 18-story student residence building will provide housing…

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As an Officer, I expected the companies to know their buildings and implement adaptive tactics based on the building variables, compartment and fire dynamics and company composition capabilities.



First and foremost you need to know your buildings, their predicable performance, inherent anatomy and the manner in which fire will affect the building, the company and the occupants.



If you don't understand the building- how do you expect to be an effective fire suppression… Continue

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On Monday, January 19, 2015, a fire occurred at a residential dwelling located at 936 Childs Point Road, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, Maryland 21401.  The two-story occupied single family dwelling was approximately 16,386 square feet in size and sustained a complete loss to the structure and contents. The damage was estimated to be approximately $16 million to $18…

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Lessons from the Fireground

Houston FD LODD May 31, 2013

The Houston (TX) Southwest Inn LODD Report has been issued by NIOSH F2013-16

Executive Summary

On May 31, 2013, a 35 year-old career…

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Waldbaum’s Supermarket Fire and Collapse: FDNY 1978

Honor, Remembrance, Learning’s

 

The Waldbaum Super market fire, Brooklyn, New York occurred on August 2, 1978. Six firefighters died in the line of duty when the roof…

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Predictability and Performance of Buildings on Fire

When we look at various buildings and occupancies, past operational experiences (both good and bad) give us experiences that define and determine how we assess, react and expect similar structures and occupancies to perform at a given alarm in the future. The theory of naturalistic decision-making forms much of this basis. The Art and Science of Firefighting is predicated on a fundamental understanding of how fire affects a building…

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