Memorial Day

Just wanted to say happy Memorial Day to all of you out there, and a big huge thank you to all of the military past, present, and future.

Also a big shout out to my brother-in-law, Fireman 3rd Class Adam Ellis currently deployed and serving on the USS Enterprise.

Sure we talk a lot about on this blog about striving for perfection in the fire service, and dedicating even off duty time to perfecting your craft, but take some time today to thank someone in the military and then spend the rest of the day with your family so that you can enjoy the freedom that the military provides us.

Do not forget to follow along on twitter www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Trapped

The video below is an oldie but a goodie. It shows an advancing house fire, where several firefighters become trapped while conducting a search on the upper floors.

Now this video was taken before the “Saving Our Own” and “Mayday Firefighter Down” programs, as well as concepts of 2 in 2 out, and RIT/RIC. However they do act is a rapid fashion deploying hoselines, and trying to get ladders in place to rescue the firemen in danger.

The obvious answer to rescuing these guys is to get a ladder so they can get down (or put them there in the beginning), but what else can we do? What is the real problem?

The real problem here is the fire that is burning out of control. They take a line in the front door which is good, but there is fire visible in several other windows. I realize that we are trained to never put an exterior line in place while we have firefighters in the building, but when trying to save there lives is this tactic not valuable? Think about it, if these guys close the door to the room they are in, and we throw a lot of water at this fire is that not going to make everything better?

I can only speak for me but if I am hanging out of that window you can eve throw water at that nasty smoke above my head. I will gladly put up with the potential steam burns and live, then let the fire continue to burn out of control and have to jump, rope slide, or wait all of wich could potentially kill me.

So what do you think? How would you solve this problem if you were the IC, RIT/RIC officer,Truck officer, or Engine officer? Let us know in the comments section, twitter, or email.

Speaking of twitter do not forget to follow along www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Trapped, posted with vodpod

Bailout

In the below video you see a couple of firefighters vent a window, and jump (fall) out of a window. The occupancy looks to be a Tri Level as there are windows above and below the midlevel window.

A lot of people ignore laddering these windows because they are so low to the ground, however even on single story structures every attempt should be made to make emergency egress easier.

If you vent the window, try taking a roof ladder unfolding the hooks, and hooking them to the window sill. This will prevent the ladder from kicking out at an extreme angle and allow for a smoother exterior transition for an exiting firefighter, and provide a ramp in the case a down firefighter must be removed through this window.

What kind of things are you doing in your department to make it easier for the brothers to escape? Share your thoughts in the comments section, via email, or drop a line on twitter www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Bailout, posted with vodpod

Whats behind door number 1?

If you have read this blog for any length of time you will know that I love going ut in the district, I think that it is some of the best, and easiest raining you can do and usually offers a lot of “bang for your buck”. Today was no exception!

 

Above you see the back side of a one store in a strip mall type occupancy, While the store only carries one address it occupies three units all with a separate address. This is a big deal when orientating to the building, when having to check for fire spread, or when responding to a MAYDAY. If a MAYDAY report came out like this “I’m on side C near a door of the fire occupancy” which one would you pick since they are all doors leading to the fire occupancy, or would you discard it since you know what the address is your operating at and those other 2 simply do not match.

Whats even more shocking is what you find behind doors number 1 and 3….

 Door #1 Interior

Door #3 Interior

Bottom line is even if you get past the door you’re not getting into the occupancy, the middle door is the only way in and while I do not have a picture of its interior it has some heightened security measures that are not impossible to defeat but could delay entry. Also there is no indication of the clutter, or security devices from the exterior. The only way to know this even exists is to find it in a walk through.

You never know what you will find in your district unless you get out there and look, district knowledge can save your life, and make you look like a rock star when you remember that obscure fact at 3 in the morning.

Like my man Rude Boy always says, “Don’t let your fireground slow you down”

If you have any things like this in your area, let us know, and send us some pics and we will put them up. Also let us know how you plan on handling them with your staffing and your department.

Do not forget to follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Richmond Va 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb

As we all know this year is the 10th anniversary of the murder of 343 of our brothers, and thousands of civilians. Lots of things are going on to memorialize our fallen brothers. In my opinion one of the best and most symbolic events is the Memorial Stair Climb. If you do not know about the stair climb I posted about it in my FDIC review and in a separate post you can access both of them here http://averagejakeff.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/fdic-2011-memorial-stair-climb/

You can also find more about the stair climb here http://firehero.org/stairclimb/

The brothers from the city of Richmond have done it again and are taking the lead in hosting a Memorial Stair Climb on 9/11/11 in down town Richmond at the Sun Trust building. Registration begins July 1st, 2011, the flyer is below just click the hyperlink.

If you’re coming from out-of-town make your reservations to stay early because that weekend is also NASCAR weekend at Richmond International Raceway, also make sure you register fast only the first 343 people will be allowed to participate.

We made a promise to never forget our fallen brothers, make good on that promise by taking that day and participating in some 9/11 remembrance event.

Flyer……….Stair Climb

Do not forget to follow along on twitter, www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Richmond Firefighters 5k

If your looking for a reason to start getting your physical fitness squared away then the Richmond Firefighters Beat The Heat 5K is the race for you!

It is a short distance (slightly more than 3 miles), and walking is not only allowed it is encouraged. Additionally its a Fire Department event that goes to a good cause (The money goes to a scholarship fund for the dependents of Richmond Firefighters).

If your going to do it though you have got to act fast the race is June 18th 2011 with race packet pick up the day before. I have already signed up and hope to see you there. Here is the link to register :http://www.richmondfirefightersbeattheheat.org/cms/

Remember that physical fitness is a key aspect in our ability to do our jobs, like I have said before I hate working out, but I get to the gym at least 3-4 times a week and put in the work. Not for me but for the citizens, guys I work with, there families, and of course my family. All of those people depend on me to be at maximum physical fitness. Fitness is one of the aspects of “Everyone Going Home” that we can control. Again if you do not care about yourself that’s fine, but do it for your wife, kids, citizens you serve, and the family of the guys you work with.

Do not forget to follow along on twitter www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Commercial Fire

This video shows a commercial warehouse fire. Usually we show videos and they have a lesson or something that can be improved in them, not to bash but in order to learn. However this video does not really give us the chance. It starts out kind of slow but really picks up around the 4 min. mark.

Lets take a look at the good things they did.

1. The laid a supply line: While I am a fan of this all of the time no matter what the occupancy, but it is even more necessary when dealing with an occupancy like this with this amount of fire. You are going to need a lot of water to suppress this fire, and in order to make an immediate impact large lines are going to need to be deployed ASAP and in order to do that you are going to need a continuous water supply source. Additionally the supply line was laid or moved in order to not clock the entrance for other rigs, either way it was a good call and something that more drivers need to train on.

2. Handline selection: These guys went with a big gun (2 1/2) and then a bigger gun (portable master stream) and only 1 guy was manning the line, which if you listen to most people is impossible.

3. SCBA and PPE: These guys were dressed to their fullest protection level which is always a good thing.

Now it is not all sunshine and rainbows there were some things that could have been done better. First off flowing the line. These are the types of fires that the line needs to be opened up and flowed until water runs out or the building burns down. I also would not have been moving it back and forth, that pedestrian door was perfect for the line until the large door on the front was open. Second I was fine with the saw opening up the large warehouse door, and I do not know what the locking mechanism was, but remember the irons can open various types of locks always give them a shot first and then if it doesn’t work go to the saw.

Lastly this video is the perfect demonstration of smoke color does not indicate the amount of fire still in the occupancy. You will see the smoke change to a white color, yet still coming out with a lot of turbulence. Remember turbulence means pressure which is created by heat and is a sure sign of flash over, do not get lulled into a sense of security by the color change.

Overall this was a great job, and great video to learn from. Leave some comments and let us know what you think. Also do not forget to follow on twitter at www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Commercial Fire, posted with vodpod

Some Search Thoughts

There is still a lot of talk out there about searching when to go when not to go, size up vs. survivability profiling bla bla bla. We are constantly bombarded with buzz words in the fire service no matter the topic being discussed.

Take a look at the video below. This appears to be an occupied house with fire from showing from side A. What I really want to focus on is the smoke condition on side C. At the C-B corner to the rear door you have a light smoke condition, continuing down the C side toward the D corner you see a heavy, thick, black, turbulent, three-dimensional smoke condition. Where are you going to start your search? Sure the text books all tell us to start at the fire and work our way out, and yes we are supposed be searching for fire as well. However the fire has already presented itself in abundance. So instead of focusing on the area were the fire is, why not search the area were the likelihood of finding a victim is high vs. low or non-existent. If you keep watching you will see that it took a matter a few seconds for that smoke to turn to fire in the C-D window, and I’m sure the other orifices are not far behind. Call it size up, call it survivability profiling, call it what ever you want but at the end of the day its the smart play that has the best possible outcome. For you EMS types out there it would be like using triage in an MCI, we always attempt to do the greatest good for the greatest number, we do this by categorizing the ones we are most likely to save and the ones that we can not we don’t that sounds a lot like survivability profiling huh? I wonder why no one has heart burn over that, yet when mentioning not entering a structure for search for similar instances people are up in arms.

Sure it is our duty to put our selves in harm’s way, but there is difference between that and committing suicide. Attempting a search in those areas until the fire has been knocked down is not only futile, but a suicidal mission to which a positive outcome is unlikely. Again this is not about “not searching” but focusing our search in an area where success is more likely vs. wasting resources in efforts that are likely to fail.

Once a hoseline is in place it becomes a whole new ball game, those areas may become more tenable, but until then help the ones you can.

Take a look at the video and let me know what you think. Leave questions, comments, etc. in the comments section, email, or by Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter….Be sure to follow along on twitter at www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and stay safe.

Some Search Thoughts, posted with vodpod

Education and Experience!

Far to often we hear the debate of which is better Education or Experience. The sad thing is people tend to discount younger firefighters with degrees (especially the older ones).

What a lot of people fail to realize is that there are a lot of degree programs that can provide both! The video below details what kind of education you get at one of the most prestigious Fire Science Universities in the country Eastern Kentucky University. I know first hand the experience you get from there as I attended the University for 2 years, and had I not run into money issues an EKU diploma would be hanging on my wall instead of a Columbia Southern University one. While I was at Eastern I got not only a ton of knowledge but a ton of experience! We did burns, arson investigations, explosion investigations, sprinkler design, strategy and tactics, ARFF training etc. There was not a weekend were some type of hands on training was being offered. The school even had its own engine!

Additionally one of the classes you could take was an internship and students were allowed to internship with the Madison County Fire Dept. and the City of Richmond (Ky) Fire Dept. This internship was not a normal one, though. The students that were assigned the internship were placed on an actual fire department shift, with a station and a crew. When they were on shift they were only allowed to leave for class, then straight back to duty. So while these students were earning a 5 star education they were also gaining experience in the fire service.

Other programs offer similar opportunities im sure, but another big point is that a lot of students who attend the University of Maryland for their degree also participate in live in programs with local volunteer fire houses. These individuals are also getting a 5 star education and gaining experience at the same time.

Lastly the on-line degree program has really taken off, that’s how I finished my degree and how a lot of other people I know are getting theres. A lot of people are holding down full-time jobs in the fire department while getting these online degrees, again getting education, and experience together.

The point I am trying to make is that just because someone has a degree, do not discount the experience level they may bring to the table either, it may just surprise you.

Be sure to follow along on twitter @ www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!

Education and Experience!, posted with vodpod

Black Diamond X2 Boot Review

Well here it is folks the long-awaited Black Diamond X2 Boot Product Review. Before I get started I really have to thank Black Diamond specifically Caitlin Gambee for giving me the opportunity to review this great product. It was a great and humbling experience, now on with the review!

First here is the website that you can go to look at all of the information on the boot http://www.blackdiamondfootwear.com/leather-fireboots-277-0912/ and here is the “spec sheet” for the boots http://www.dreamingcode.com/dc_ecomm/DocumentManage/DocumentManagement/78_442doc.pdf 

Sure some of that stuff matters but what I really wanted to focus on was performance in a variety of situations because at the end of the day that is what really matters.

Here are the boots in my turn out pants

Since we did not have any fires during my eval period I tried to simulate various firefighting conditions through training and physical activity. The one thing that really stand out to me is how light and comfortable these boots are. I have worn a lot of leather boots, Ranger, Warrington PRO, Globe, etc. and sure they all start off feeling better than the rubber brand boots, but they typically lose that comfort feeling after a little while. The Black Diamond X2 boots stand the test of time were comfort is concerned.

I worse these boots in training scenarios, emergency calls, ran on the treadmill, and did a circuit workout and they were comfortable on my feet the entire time. They have better in soles than  my station boots! The big test as far as comfort goes came on an incident just last week, the honey moon period was over with the boots and we had and incident on a bridge which required a lot of walking, and standing, for a loooooooooooooong time. My feet did not hurt during or after when in my other boots I would have been begging to pull them off.

Two other great things are the wide opening, and integrated “loops”. Again with other leather boots after sweating in them I have had a problem getting them off my feet, not these boots, the go on fast, and come off smooth. The integrated “loops” for carrying your boots are strong and you can not break them, as you can with other sewn on versions.

However it is not all good and I did find 1 negative to the boots specifically about the integrated “loops” and the stretch material backing. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wears shorts to sleep in, or to work out in while they are on duty. Well during my physical activity tests, and during calls I found that when you added sweat, bare skin and those 2 components of the boot it would have the tendency to rub or chaf. The more sweet and the more activity the worse it was. It was nothing that would “rub raw” but it could be uncomfortable especially over a long period of time on a hot day or after a really sweaty workout.

Lastly the stiffness of the neck of the boots is phenomenal. A lot of boots lose their shape after time and we have to find creative ways to ensure they stay easy to get into. Well not these boots I have soaked them in sweat, water, and worn them to access and they still stand tall just like the day I pulled them out of the box! The soles and other components havent even begun to wear out either!

Bottom line is these are great boots, and well worth the money. But I warn you if you buy them you better have enough money for 2 because you will want to have another pair lying in wait for when they do finally wear out (a long long time from now), or if your like me and have multiple sets of gear you will want them in all of your sets. So go over to the website and get you a pair of these boots today!

Again I would like to thank Black Diamond for the chance to do this, and for anyone else out there that has a product contact me via the contact info on the tab the top of the page tool bar and we will see what we can work out. You can message me in the comments section on twitter.

Do not forget to follow along on twitter @www.twitter.com/averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!