Wednesday, July 14, 2010

You Make the Call!

Based on the picture above, ask yourselves the following questions:

• What are the construction features of the building that will help to increase or decrease fire spread?

• Are there any construction features that may impact the safety of crews operating in or around the building?

• Identify size-up information. What does the situation tell you?

• What is the benefit to be gained by taking the 'risk'?

• Is this a Go or No-Go situation?

Are there any other considerations to assist our decision to Go or No-Go? Is there anything else to add?

As always if you have any pictures or ideas to submit please send us an email at rkuley@yahoo.com. Thanks to JJ Walsh (Batt 7/A) for the info above.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Appears to be a 2-story wood frame dwelling. Probably not light weight wood, so the solid wood buys some time. There is an addition on the Bravo side, which may imply the possibility of other renovation work or possible additions on the Charlie side. The Bravo addition may have previously been a garage or carport. Renovations often create hidden voids, but with the fire contained in this case, probably not an issue.

Without a view of the Charlie side, this appears to be a vented room (bedroom)and contents fire on the second floor, side Alpha, Delta quadrant. The fire is attacking the soffit area and is likely extending into the attic space. Crews will have to get to the scuttle and open up quickly to determine the extent of extension and to stop the fire spread.

This would certainly be a "go" situation if we had people trapped. The victims would be savable based on conditions. The fire is confined and smoke does not appear to be a major factor on the first and second floors.

If there were not a life safety issue, it would still be a go situation since the fire is confined and could be easily knocked down with a quick, aggressive attack. The benefit would be saving approximately 3/4 of the structure, and a good salvage operation would protect much of the interior contents, especially on the first floor.

As for crew safety, hopefully more ground ladders were placed on the Charlie and Delta sides. Crews entering from the second floor window should coordinate with the attack crew to avoid opposing lines and pushing fire on each other. This would be a good point to advance a third line if needed. Looks like the first two went in the front door. Burning debris is dropping down from the fire windows. Crews should remain clear of the falling debris and a line should be available to control dropping fire. Good scene lighting will help members identify other potential hazards, slip, trip, fall, wires, etc. An interior line should be protecting the stairs, which are probably central to the structure. It appears the kitchen is in quadrant Alpha, living room quadrant Delta, dining room quadrant Bravo, and 3-4 bedrooms on the second floor. Seems like a good bread and butter fire.