The Collyers Mansion

In 1947 the Collyer Brothers were found dead among about 100 tons of junk ranging from phone books, to doll heads. Granted this was not because of a fire but ever since that day ever person to go through FDNY’s Probie School has been taught the term “Collyers Mansion Conditions”

It is called “Packer House” in the Midwest, “Habitrail House” on the West Coast, and here in the south-east (Well Virginia anyway) we call it “hoarding”. No matter the term the dangerous all remain the same.

I got to thinking about this last night while on shift. We responded to a report of a fire in a house flames visible. When we arrived we found a huge pile of wood on fire underneath an elevated 2nd floor screened in porch. Another few minutes and the entire C side would have been cooking. we stretched a line and had some companies go interior to check for extension. They found smoke and a lot of “stuff” so much stuff that the side A door was blocked and couldn’t be opened. I told some of the guys that this was “Collyers Mansion Conditions” and only a few of them got it, so I said “hoarding” and they went ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (always know your audience not everyone is as big a fire nerd as you are).

Make no mistake these things are a big deal! Take a look at the picture below

Think about all of the things this “stuff” could be hiding from us. It could be hiding damage to the house, victims, fire, animals, etc. The damage could become critical when you place it under fire conditions, and add the weight of fireman in PPE, and water. Do that equation and it equals COLLAPSE! It could also hinder forcible entry, search and rescue, and hose line advancement.

One way we can combat this is identification. People invite us into their homes all the time for safety surveys, smoke detector installs, and the dreaded EMS call. Take a moment to look around, it will not take a lot of “snooping” to identify some things that we need to know in order to make us better in case of a fire.

The second thing we can do to combat this is communication. Simply put when you find things that could hinder our operations, or impact firefighter safety then tell people. Circle it in your map book, put a hazard message in your CAD system, write it on your daily shift report, tell the guys at shift change, email the details to surrounding companies, even include it in your prearrival instructions when responding to an emergency. If you discover it while actually operating at an emergency all the companies operating, including Command and the Safety Officer need to be made aware ASAP. A simple radio message such as:

“Engine 99 to Command, we have Hoarding conditions on the interior, all companies proceed with caution”

Bottom line is DO NOT KEEP THIS A SECRET!!! The information you pass along could save your life or your brother’s life.

Sit down today and discuss this with your crew, and discuss your game plan for dealing with this type of occupancy.

Also do not forget to keep following along on twitter @averagejakeff

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

BEWARE BURNOUT!!!!!

I have been reading a lot lately about job dedication, and
dedication to the fire service. While I agree with a lot of the things people
have been saying I cannot help but think that there has to be something else.

I love the fire department, A LOT it is usually always on my
mind in some form of fashion. I have traveled all over this great country of
ours in search of challenging and informative training classes. I look all over
the internet for little tid bits of information that can and will make me
better. I changed my lifestyle and began to embrace fitness in order to be that
much better on the fire ground.

However with all of that, I still find myself needing some
unwind time. I know that viewing a football game, playing a video game, or
drinking a beer may seem like time wasted to some, and maybe that time could be
better spent trying to figure out the next fire service revolution or trying to
get a personal best on a dead lift, but me sometimes I need a break.

I really need a break from the constant being around people
that do not feel the same way, or do not embrace the fire service as a way of
life instead view as a means to end to just make money. Basically they are just
takers and they are not giving anything back to the organization, company, or
themselves. When I am spending most of my time trying to get better most of
every day. After a while it can get frustrating and I need to blow off some
steam, so throwing myself into something larger than me (sports, online gaming,
comics, etc) relaxes me, and works to refocus my mind on the various tasks,
thoughts, and wants that I have swirling around in there. Some people may
recommend meditation or even religion but that’s just not my bag, if it’s yours
then I hope you use it, but me I’m not the spiritual type, visualization, and
things of that nature do not work for me, I need visual and tactile stimulation
in order to reset my mind.

The whole entire point is that the fire service is a huge
part of my life but in order to prevent getting burnt out on it; you have to
have some other interests and even some releases. Even too much of a good thing
can be bad, especially when it is something you put your heart and soul into.

So whether it is a game, a beer or two, or a good movie it
is important to take some time to relax, recharge your batteries, and then
reengage in the fight. One great way to do this is FDIC which is not as far
away as you think. During it not only are you with likeminded people, but there
is a TON of social activity to get that relaxation that you need to come home
and get back to work.

Do not forget to keep following along on twitter
@averagejakeff

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

Catching Up and Mobile Home Fires

 

First let me apologize for the lack of activity the past few weeks, I have just been VERY VERY busy.

For those of you that follow along on twitter you already know that I have been assigned to a new firehouse, one that I am VERY excited about working in. I am now assigned to Engine Company #3 in the Highland Springs section of the East Henrico. 3 Engine is a place that every fireman should have to pull duty in. It is lower-income older residential, coupled with a ton of government subsidized multi family dwelling complexes, with some commercial properties thrown in there for good measure. When you ride down the main drag of the district it scream “Main Street USA”. It also borders some other busy districts.

Bottom line is this engine is BUSY! I have just pulled my 2nd shift there and I have been busy getting to know the guys, and refamiliarizing myself with that part of the world. Yesterday we did every thing we even had a small commercial fire as a result of some welders getting a little overzealous. The first engine had smoke on arrival and they stretched from the stand pipe to the fire site. It wa sa small fire that took more overhaul than anything but it’s not every day your making the stand pipe stretch so it was a great day.

On top of that we had mandatory cardiac monitor training (we are getting new monitors), and several Smoke Detector installs to do in the district. Like most fire departments we offer free smoke detectors and batteries to those who can not afford them. One of the installs was in a Mobile Home Community (or trailer park for the less politically correct), which led me to think about all of the dangers of Mobile Home (trailer) fires.

I have been to several fires in this community before when I was at 6 Engine and 6 Truck but I have not been on the property in several years, and there is NONE of these in the district I was in out in the West End.

To be honest folks (and most of you know this) there is not a lot to Mobile Homes. They are sturdy enough to “live in” but provide little else in the way of sever weather and fire resistance. I remember one fire in particular in this Mobile Home Community were occupants were reported trapped and search was initiated interior well after the first engine (who stretched a line as well) tried to enter and fell through the floor 3 times they decided to back out and go defensive until the fire could be brought under control.

This is one of those fires were we have to be extremely aggressive in our actions if we want any chance of making a rescue, as the building fails quite early even under minimal fire conditions. I know I talk about masking up in the rig a lot, and while some do and some don’t this is one where it is a MUST. You literally have no time to be doing anything but an initial walk around and then getting inside. If you waste any time other than that you can typically write off interior attack.

Take a look at the video below and think about your department when viewing it. The biggest thing to consider or to notice is that this fire is started with ordinary combustibles, which as we know is rare with home furnishings today, if you do not belive me go to your local Aarons, or Rent A Center and see for yourself (a lot of people in these type of homes lease or rent furniture). So the fire behavior and intensity could be greatly increased. In the video the smoke detector activates at about 1: 20 and look at the fire intensity already. The occupant would then have to get out of bed, evacuate, and then call 911. So lets add another minute to that. Then the dispatcher has to process the call, dispatch it, and you have to get dressed , and get out the door. So lets add 2 more minutes. The you have to get there which depending on your response area could be anywhere from 5-20 (or longer). By the time you arrive what kind of conditions are you going to have? What if it was the middle fo the night? What if it was day time? What if you were depending on water shuttle, or mutual aid?

The facts are that unless we can make a rapid attack in the early stages of the fire the building itself may keep us out of this one. In order to combat this we must become very familiar with our Mobile Home Communities, the available water supply, and our initial operations to them. So get out there and take a ride through your Mobile Home Communities, and do not waste fire alarms, or EMS runs to these places. Take a look around and get a general lay out of the place. If you find one that’s really bad put a hazard message on your CAD system, or mark it in the map book and let the other shifts know.

Do not forget to follow along on twitter @averagejakeff

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

 

 

Catching Up and Mobile Home Fires, posted with vodpod

BRING THE IRONS!

This video depicts a problem plaguing my department. I am not against the hydra-ram, in fact quite the contrary. I think it is a great tool in the right situation, and when I was assigned to a truck company I took it every time we had a call to an apartment building, or hotel because the chance to force multiple doors presented themselves and after forcing a few doors with the irons even the most in shape forcible entry team is going to get tired.

However there is a time and place for everything, and residential doors are not the time and place for the hydra-ram or hydraulic forcible entry tools period. 

Where we run into problems is that we have these tools on every rig in the department and it becomes a laziness issue, and our commercial forcible entry simulator favors using the hydra-ram because it is metal on metal. So when guys go do their forcible entry training and the hydra-ram works every time, and they never pick up the irons, it is no wonder why this tool is used way to much and applied improperly. I have personally seen what happened in the below video happen several times, and companies fail to get into doors.

It is ok to use the hydra-ram when it applies (inward opening doors with metal frames) but it should not be the only thing you bring. If the tool fails you have got to have the irons available to finish the job. If you’re the forcible entry guy on your crew and you come off the rig with out the irons your wrong plain and simple YOU ARE WRONG. Sure you can add other stuff to your compliment (hydra-ram, K-Tool, vice grips w/chain) but the irons are non negotiable!

One suggestion is to split the Irons with your partner. On the truck I was assigned to we only rode with 3 (Driver, Officer, and Firefighter) so in order to ensure we got all of the tools we would need into an occupancy the officer carried a flat head axe, and 6 foot NY Roof Hook, and the firefighter carried the halligan and a 6 foot NY Roof Hook. This allowed for the interior team to perform forcible entry to gain entry into the occupancy, and on the interior if needed, and open up the walls,ceilings, and windows. Additionally it promoted great team work and accountability as the irons typically (although there are single firefighter techniques for them) function better as a team with 2 members.

Be sure to keep following along on twitter @averagejakeff

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

BRING THE IRONS!, posted with vodpod

It is that time of year again!

Well folks here in the Metro Richmond area today when folks arose they were met with 60 degree temperatures. While some think this weather is great, a certain portion of our population consider this weather as cold and you know what that means!

Thats right the smell of smoke in a residence calls (usually just dust on the heating strips) and the chimney fires will be picking up within the next few weeks and continue on until spring. On the flip side this is when fire duty all around the country tends to pick up as well.

So during this time of year it is important to maintain vigilance even on the 50th smell of smoke run, always treat them as if they are going to be a fire, because quite frankly some of them will turn out to be.

When you get dispatched to a chimney fire do not automatically return the full assignment until you can get there and put eyes on the critical portions of the structure (chimney, attic, and surrounding walls). Many a house has been lost due to the complacency from fireman on the “routine response”

So take some time in these next few weeks and review your procedures for chimney fires, smell of smoke investigations, etc. Also start getting that chimney kit ready NOW and go over it so when you arrive on scene and someone says do you have X, your response is not “I don’t know, let me look”.

Please feel free to share any tips, or tricks you have for these calls in the comments section, or on twitter (@averagejakeff).

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

 

 

It is that time of year again!, posted with vodpod

Truss and Stick Built Roof Burn Tests

With the recent death of Dallas Fire Lt. Todd Krodel, and his tragic fall through a roof while attempting to vent it, I am going to post a few of my thoughts about roof ventilation. Again this is not to point fingers at anything the Dallas FD, or Lt. Krodel did wrong but to take this instance to focus on something that we may not think about everyday and reinforce it to increase or fireground operations, and safety.

I thought the video below would be a great place to start. In it you see 2 burn tests down by a students from a fire science program. You get a description of the “Truss Roof” and “Stick Built” roof construction. Then you see that during the burn tests the “Truss” failed in 5 mins, and the “Stick Built” failed in 17 mins.

While this is a great test and can give a baseline we need to take it a step further. The burn tests were conducted with class A combustibles, so is the test fully accurate of what we are facing out in the field. Go into your attic and pick out how many class A combusitbles are in your attic. While there are some Im sure it is more on the side of plastics, foam, PVC etc. which as we know have higher heat release rates and cause fires to progress faster. So the time to roof structure failure could be significantly reduced based on the involved combustibles.

Second response time and staffing play a huge role into whether ir not venting the roof is right for your department. In my career department even with 20 engines, 5 trucks, and 3 squads all staffed with 3 person crews and pretty fast response times we would be pushing it to get to the roof in time to vent a “Stick Built” type roof, with class A combustibles only involved (using the aforementioned 17 min time frame). In my Part Time department with 2 person crews no ladder truck and possibly 10-20 min response times venting the roof is not an option almost ever.

We must not only take into account what our fire is doing, but where we are, how fast we can get there, and who we have in order for this operation to be succesful.

Do you know what types of roofs are in your district? If you do not then how do you know what sort of challenge is awaiting you? Always inspect the roof structure of an occupancy any chance you get, and on a residential fire alarm, check the attic even if you do not think the problem is there just to get that look.

Stay Tuned for subsequent roof vent posts!

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

 

Truss and Stick Built Roof Burn Tests, posted with vodpod

Zero Impact Period

In everything we talk about here on this blog, and all of the articles you read on the various other fire service websites, and blogs it all comes down to trying to accomplish one thing. We are trying to decrease our Zero Impact Period or ZIP at an incident.

Zero Impact Period is defined as the time from your arrival at an incident to the point were you make a positive impact on the fire. Simply put just because you stretch a line, and are attacking the fire if the line is undersized and not extinguishing the fire you are still not making a positive impact.

Several factors influence our ZIP. Staffing, training, experience, apparatus placement, district knowledge, building type, building stability, fire conditions, occupied, not occupied and a host of others. All of those factors can be improved by taking the time to perform a self assessment on your department and or company.

Your not good at pulling lines? Go out and train on it! You are unfamiliar with a building in your district? Go walk through it and take pictures to share with the other shifts/members. Your not good at reading smoke? Take a class, and watch a ton of video so that you can improve those skills.

The only thing we can not influence is how many people we bring to a fire, however we can adjust our operations, and train with a realistic compliment of firemen for our department in order to maximize the efficiency of the firemen we do have arriving on scene. If you only arrive with 4 firemen at a fire then make sure that you are the best, most efficient 4 firemen crew that you can be. This will decrease your ZIP significantly.

Some things you can do to decrease you ZIP today are:

1. Train every day

2. Show up at every call ready to work (proper PPE, carrying tools, etc.)

3. Physical fitness (no excuses start today, you not only owe it to you, and your family but the families of your crew and the citizens you serve)

Like I said you can start doing these things today and it will severely decrease your ZIP and increase your efficiency.

Also take a look at the video, and analyze it. Is there anything they should change to decrease their ZIP? What did they do good/bad? Would your company be this fast? If not is it a staffing issue or a training issue? How can you fix it?

Bottom line is fires are burning faster with higher heat release rates, buildings are falling down faster, smoke is more toxic than it has ever been, and we are always doing more with less. We have to look at every aspect of our operation and figure out how to improve out efficiency to decrease the time from our arrival to our positive impact. Our preparation, our knowledge, our fitness, our skill level etc. is one of the factors we can control let’s make sure we do.

Feel free to leave some of your thoughts on ZIP or anything else in the comments section, twitter www.twitter.com/averagejakeff , or via email.

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

Zero Impact Period, posted with vodpod