Let Talk Educational Value

Comment

Comment by Brandon Roark on July 8, 2009 at 9:02pm

The next 10 minutes were uneventful. I know from first hand accounts that this was the "Meat" of the run. However you bring up a good point regarding the proper use of PPV.

Comment by Dave Stacy on July 2, 2009 at 1:28pm

got a little scared when I saw that PPV being walked up at the end...would like to see the next 10 min

Comment by Dave Tessier on May 23, 2009 at 4:48am

Nice positioning of the Chief and his vehicle. He's left no room for any incoming apparatus a the front of the structure. No 360 is right.I don't even know if he spoke to the residents standing outside of the house.
Don't they wear balaclavas in this dept?

Comment by Russ Chapman on May 10, 2009 at 7:04pm

Sorry to bash, I don't mean to, but just grabbing a nozzle and walking to the front of the door is not "stretching a line". When in the American Fire Service are we going to stop making this potentially disasterous mistake of not haveing a coupling and a nozzle at your knees when you are putting on your facepiece. This will make sure you have enough hose to make the floor. These guys need to drill on hose stretches.

Comment by Brandon Roark on May 9, 2009 at 7:19pm

(continued from prev. comment)

04:20 an additional apparatus arrives on the right out of the cameras view, or at least this is my assumption since I can hear a large engine and air brakes applied.

04:55 entry is made. 1st due crew arrived on the porch at 02:50. It is clear that this crew waited for two out before making entry. No foul here aside from the 2nd in engine arrived at 02:15, why did it take over 2 min for that 2nd crew to get to the porch? In that 2 minutes the fire went from being a room and contents fire to a structure fire. (IMHO this is an indicator that the department is woefully understaffed).

Once the front door is opened we have smoke emitting from the top 1/5th of the door…this is an indicator that the fire is above the first floor, make sure you open the ceiling when going through the door…would be a good idea for the 2 out crew to pop an inspection h*** on the porch covering as well.

6 min in a ladder is brought up to bravo side…a ladder not placed is no good…if conditions worsen or interior crew experience a hostile fire event those ladders need to be in place…especially since the smoke indicates the fire is above them and can travel behind them with little or no warning.

Comment by Brandon Roark on May 9, 2009 at 7:16pm

What do we see in this video that we could do differently next time??? This video is great example of what we would call our bread and butter residential fires, this type of house can be found all over this great country. This is the type of incident we should be able to go on “auto-pilot” on.

The following is for educational value and does not in any way meant to disrespect the Bristol Va. Fire Department. I would love follow up comments from the men and women that responded to this fire to give feed back on my observations.

0:45 seconds: Everyone has already touched on the CHAOS (Chief Has Arrived On Scene). Simple solution and something that is done in our city on a regular basis is utilizing the yards/sidewalks/driveways to get out of the way of incoming apparatus. This first arriving chief has effectly created an additional on scene obstacle and hazard for his men, and his action directly is responsible for the delay of suppression duties. What if this had been a 2 story, just look at the added distance the first due apparatus must carry ground ladders. Judging by the bystander’s conversation this is a “loop” street. If this is the case why did all apparatus come in the same way? In this short video we see 4 apparatus arrive, the chief arrives from the right of the screen while the next three engines arrive from left, stacking up way down the street. If it were possible for apparatus to approach from the right why wasn’t that command given? Why weren’t the engineers familiar with this option (area familiarization)?

As the engines companies are arriving they utilize their siren way too long. @ 1:45 into the video the first arriving engine makes the scene, nosing up to the command vehicle. Command has been on scene now for approx. 60 seconds. Time for him to exit his vehicle do a quick size up and interview bystanders about possible life risk. As the 1st due engine slows to stop the federal is “bumped”…maybe it was an accident but had the IC been giving critical information to arriving companies that might have been all the additional noise needed to override the unaccounted persons report, or the downed power line report.

The first in company, it only takes one firefighter to deploy a handline, make sure that the backup fireman takes tools to the door. I can’t tell if either 1st due firemen took any tools with them or not.

00:00 – 01:45 Scene size up: single family residence with smoke showing from the rear of the structure. During this video I do not see a single hydrant, so consider water supply options. In this particular case I would utilize the tank water and have the 2nd in engine connect to the first engine. At the very least this fire will be contained with 300-500 gallons of water.
Reading smoke: early on the smoke is white in appearance, with very little velocity, very little density and little volume. It’s emitting from the rear of the b/c, c, and C/D area of the home. It is unrestricted and moves with the outside environment (signs that it is volume pushed and not heat pushed).

At 02:25 seconds we start to see the first brown smoke emitting from the dormer on the alpha side. Indications that the fire as now broke into the voids of the home and this has now become a structure fire over a house (or room and contents) fire.

At 03:00 minutes someone drops a second line on the stairs leading up to the front porch. If this is to be used as a back-up line why not leave it at the base of the stairs? By adding this line to the already narrow porch we are creating additional trip hazards. Also the gentleman that is pulling that line (I am assuming that he is an engineer), starts pulling that line hand over hand and lets it pile up to the left of the stairs. Flake that line so that it is easier to advance should the need arise.

At 03:30 minutes smoke volumes/pressure is increasing…smoke is starting to “push” through seams along the roof of side alpha.

04:20 an additional apparatus arr