Firefighter CLOSE CALL Ladder Slide

Comment

Comment by Josh Materi on July 7, 2009 at 3:28am

I agree with Patrick, no roof ladder needed on a walkable pitch.
Roof ladders are for traction / footing not for weight distribution, if the roof is to unstable to hold your weight then its time to get off. Good aggressive sounding techniques and knowing the strong parts of a roof are some keys to a safe roof operation. Trying to jump to a ladder should not part of our vertical ventilation plan.
It looks like that fire was blowing out of the gable vent not a window.
Glad to see no one was hurt, thanks for the videos.

Just my 3 cents worth....

Josh Materi
Ladder 3

Comment by Keenan Mulvaney on April 22, 2009 at 12:15pm

I'm just curious, why wouldn't you use a roof ladder? Yes it is a "walkable roof" but in my opinion the roof ladder is there as an island. The guys don't need to be standing on the ladder but if the roof opens up you can at least try jump to the ladder.

Comment by Patrick Brown on December 11, 2008 at 10:09pm

Glad to see no one was injured. Some key learning points.
1) Size up! Note the heavy smoke pushing from the eave and from the right hand side of the picture from the beginning of the video.
2) Don't ladder over a window...ground or aerial ladders
3) Roof ladder not needed on a walkable roof.
3) Climb up to roof line, assess the roof, cut the h*** if not already vented and get off. The roof is no place to have a party.
4) If light weight truss construction with smoke pushing from the eave strongly consider horizontal ventilation.
The smoke from the eave probably represents the truss burning. Our added weight plus the impact of tools add
substantial stress to trusses that are failing. Could be catastrophic!!

Stay safe.
PB

Comment by Brandon Roark on December 9, 2008 at 11:10pm

it looks like those guys moved pretty fast once things went south. Great video on situation awearness. less than 10 seconds to get both guys off the roof with tools in hand, JOB well done!