Firehouse.Com – Fire Below! The Importance of the ‘Basement Check’

Be sure to stop by Firehouse.com on Monday, January 5th, to check out TT instructor Nick Martin’s article on size-up issues related to basement fires.  
The article can be found here.

Wet Stuff On the Red Stuff… The Nozzle Position

By: Danny Doyle
Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire
The infamous statement “The fire goes as the first line goes“  has either become a harsh reality to  you or something that you might have read in the latest fire service journals.  We are going to dig into that statement regarding the first line, one position at a time, starting at [...]

Unique Tools of the Trade Part II

The sign above Pete’s gear locker at Rescue 2, the true Vulcan God of Fire Lt. Pete Lund

To follow up on the previous article, there are two more tools that I wanted to share with all of you. I personally loved carrying these two tools with me when I was assigned to be the driver [...]

Chock that Door!

Recently, NIOSH released the report on the LODD of Allan Roberts (BCFD) that occurred on 10/10/06 in Greek town neighborhood of Baltimore City. FF Roberts died at a fire in the middle of the group row home in which, due to numerous factors, he and his crew became trapped inside the dwelling. The report is [...]

“Inductive Loops” – Forcing Entry Through Electric Gates

In many areas, gated communities are becoming more common.  We frequently encounter mechanized gates that are chain-operated or work off a swing-arm, preventing us from accessing whatever it is we need to access.  When presented with these, we have a couple options…

Have the key.  If we’re pro-active about our box alarm district, the manager might give us [...]

Open-Enrollment Class 1/17/09: Downingtown, PA

We will be presenting our Fighting Fires in Residential Buildings curriculum on Saturday 1/17/09 in Downingtown, PA (30 miles west of Philadelphia).  For more information & registration please click here.

So far, we have over 100+ attendees attending.  There is still plenty of room and registration will be open until the day of the class.

Elevator Operations at High Rise Part II

Fire Department Operations Using Elevators:  Part II
 Battalion Chief Al Mullins
High Rise Operations:
 You are the first due company at a fire in a high rise and because the fire is on an upper floor you make a critical decision to take the elevator.  Good choice, but you need to insure things are working properly.

Fire Department Operations Using Elevators

Fire Department Operations Using Elevators
Part One:

Battalion Chief Al Mullins 
Every day we respond to calls in high-rise buildings where we need and choose to use building elevators.  Of course, if you run a fire alarm or GOD forbid an actual fire in a high-rise building using elevators will make our job much easier.  The use of [...]

Make the window a door…

Most firefighters really enjoy breaking things (productively, of course), so this has always been a phenomenon I can’t understand:

Of course the issue I’m talking about is ladders/windows/ventilation/egress.  This has always been one of my biggest pet peeves, but more than that its a safety issue (egress) and an operational issue (reduced ventilation…  Read on for [...]

Building Construction and Basement Fires

Quite often, we find websites to share with you that have some great info, which is the case with UL University. They have conducted a study on fires in Single Family Dwellings, in particular “Structural Stability of Engineered Lumber in Fire Conditions”.  I recommend that you log in and view this presentation with your shift, on [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Traditions Training Blog Featured on Fire Engineering Podcast

Check out the 9/28 edition of Fire Engineering’s podcast, sponsored by the International Society of Fire Service Instructors.  Hosted by DFC Steve Pegram (Xenia, OH), TT’s Nick Martin & Steve discuss fire service training resources on the internet, including our blog here at Traditions Training.
Thanks to Steve, Fire Engineering, and ISFSI for having us.  
Click [...]

What I keep in my pockets: Danny Doyle

“Practical Pockets” was something that I was taught very early in the fire service.  If you take a look at the last few posts, that’s exactly what you’ll find.  Depending on the characteristics of ones response area along with the rig that they’re riding on at the time, can determine exactly what fills they’re pockets!   Working off [...]

Rest easy brothers…

It’s been seven long years since that unforgettable blue sky morning in September 2001.  Many of our lives changed forever on that 11th day.  It cut deep into all of us, whether an FDNY fireman or not….the emotions were there…
To all those who we lost:  We will never forget you or your families left behind.  We will [...]