Getting “back” to the “rear”…

Whatever you call it on your fire-ground; the “Charlie Sector”, “Side 3″, “the rear”, “out-back”….it does not matter to me.  And, to the point of this post, it really doesn’t matter at all (this isnt a NIMS exercise). What does matter is that someone, must get to the rear.  
Because we normally operate with our [...]

Keeping the interior steps clear

How many times on a structure fire do you notice that the interior stairs constantly seem to be full of firemen.  This may lead to a very chaotic situation, especially if these steps need to be used for a rapid egress.  While operating on a top floor cockloft fire the other morning, this situation became [...]

“Fire Attack” Class in Conshohocken, PA: Another great success!

This weekend TT Instructors Nick Martin, Tony Kelleher, Dan Shaw, Doug Mitchell, and Danny Doyle headed to the Montgomery County Fire Academy in Conshohocken, PA for another weekend of training.  On Friday night we met for some drinks and good times with the guys from Erskine Lakes, NJ who traveled all the way from the [...]

Roof Vent: Fireman’s Axe vs. Flat Axe?

Of course I’m sure most of you are saying “chain”, but we all know there are vertical ventilation situations that require the axe:

Saw failure… Out of gas, chain broke, you ripped the start-cord out, whatever.  It won’t start.
Smoky conditions.  Like all engines, that saw needs a certain amount of oxygen to run.  If the filter [...]

Tricks of the Trade: Thermal Imagers

Thermal Imagers  (TIC’s) are prevalent in the modern day fire department. TICs have a variety of  tactical uses including  searching for victims, searching for hotspots, water rescue, and Hazardous Materials incidents. The most common use is searching for victims in a structure fire. It should be noted that TICs: DO NOT REPLACE PROPER SEARCH TACTICS, [...]

Do you know where you are?

Think about where you are right now.  Yeah, I’m talking about right now.  As you sit here reading this blog.  Can you describe your location in the building?  If you had limited or no visibility are there characteristics that can be identified to depict the room your in?  In order to reach your location, what did you encounter?  [...]

Circle-Checks & Size-Up

The other day, while talking about basement checks, the idea of a “circle check” came up.  This may show us hazards & conditions we would not be aware of if we just rushed in the front door…  Quite bluntly – the time to do this is IMMEDIATELY.  If we don’t know the whole story, we [...]

What’s in My Pockets: Dan Shaw

We have talked about in previous posts that what we carry is based on the space you have available, the rig you ride, and the experience you have gained from running calls. Since I ride an Engine everyday, my focus is on the simple, yet sometimes challenging, task of putting water on the fire by [...]

Basements Part 1: “The Basement Check”

Basement fires are the most dangerous fire you can go to.  Or at least its one of the most dangerous….  Throughout my career, some of the most hellacious fires I have been to started in the basement.  Unfortunately, a few of these have involved near-fatal firefighter injuries.  
Two of the most common issues at basement fires are [...]

Estimating the Stretch

There isn’t a whole lot about engine company operations that matters if you can’t get water on the fire.  Unfortunately most of us have heard the “more line, more line!!” yells on more than one occasion.  Correctly estimating the stretch, the distance between the rig and the fire and the amount of hose needed to [...]