[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Fire Fighting post SHTF. (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 3/27/2013 1:11:38 PM EDT
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Well, what do you do when your house/shed etc. is on fire and there is nobody to come help you? What kind of systems do you all have in place, or what are your plans? I will have our generator on 100% dedicated well duty for as long as possible post SHTF, so I would hopefully be able to fire that up to get a garden hose going, but that is probably the same as pissing on it. This is assuming I cannot snuff it out with fire extinguishers right away. Sure an ounce of prevention and all that, but shit happens.
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Ours, regardless of societal condition, is still to GTFO - ASAP.
This is based upon the assumption that the worst has occurred, as the worst possible moment. (While the family is sleeping) Even a "small" fire produces an amount of smoke and toxic gasses that make attempts to fight the fire in your home almost impossible. For a fire that begins in the kitchen for example, while everyone is concious, we have more than 1/2 dozen extinguishers throughout the house, garage, and fuel storage area in the rear of the yard. We're fortunate to have a large camper to use as a secondary shelter, should the worst happen during winter months. I have no proble confronting any man (or men).....I DON'T f***k with fire though. |
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I have several fire extinguishers placed strategically throughout the house and garage. Everyone currently living here is trained in their use and those that would come post-SHTF will also be trained.
There will also be a plan if God forbid we are attacked and the MZB's try to use fire. People will be assigned to firefighting while the rest are doing a different type of fighting.--A little extreme? Yes I think so too but thinking about eventualities is part of the reason we are here, no matter how remote the chance. |
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Fyi.... a garden hose puts out about 5 gpm at best! A firefighting handline puts out 125-300gpm depending on the nozzle and psi the line is being pumped at. Do not try and put out your house fire with a garden house. Get out and call the insurance company.
Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) |
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Fyi.... a garden hose puts out about 5 gpm at best! A firefighting handline puts out 125-300gpm depending on the nozzle and psi the line is being pumped at. Do not try and put out your house fire with a garden house. Get out and call the insurance company. Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) lost my house in 2010 to a fire. Neighbor called me a pussy for not putting the garden house on it. Nice to read I was in the right. |
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Coworker kept a propane tank that was burning from the overpressure relief ((lesson keep that side away from the house) from setting his house on fire until the trucks arrive. Sorry to disagree with the "pro" above, but this is the SF not DU. Fire is a threat just like anything else. I want to have the options to fight or flee; not just flee. There are times to bug out in his defense of course think, massive forest fire.
Cost a few bucks to set up, but I am not looking for a hose to connect in case. 
Note the bucket of sand underneath and the two 5 lber on the bench. CJNH has some info on this. |
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I'm probably going to get grief for posting this...
...Screw it... DISCLAIMER: I am not a firefighter-I am a former volunteer EMT with a broken body. The closest I have come to fighting a fire "professionally" has been holding a 1½" attack line on a brush fire. With that said, fire scares the everliving hell out of me. Consequently, a couple of years ago I wanted to have the capability to fight small fires, protect exposures with a wetting agent, and give first responders a weapon to use-particularly at the family camp up in northern NH where proper fire apparatus is about thirty minutes away. The gear I have is not intended for interior attack on a structure fire. Without PPE, SCBA, and training most importantly, that effort would be a suicide run. The recurring theme I heard time and time again was to know when you are in over your head, and to know how fast conditions can deteriorate-particularly for an amateur. After picking the brains of local professionals, equipment reps, and manufacturers (Pok and Mercedes Textiles were very helpful) this is what I came up with: One hundred feet of one inch booster line and Pok nozzle/shutoff: 
Foam/hydrant kit: 
Wick 100-4H high pressure pump (file pic): 
Not shown, Barricade Gel and eductor for exposure protection. I went with foam to maximize the effectiveness of the resources I have available as a homeowner. I'm not going to get a 350+ GPM master stream from a one inch booster line, and I can't surround and drown with a couple of garden hoses. When I bought my home in 1997 I had upgraded sprinklers, a pressure tank, and zoned smoke alarms installed: 
Commercial grade portables all over home, camp, and vehicles-including a purple K unit in the kitchen: 
As far as protecting your home or camp, there are lots of videos online that teach you to triage your defensible space in layman's terms. You can do this without having to pick up a hose, or spend a pile of money on fancy gear 
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Surf and CJan, good stuff!! Happy to help
There is tons of info online to help homeowners. Here are some excellent YouTube videos: Firewise: The Wildland/Urban Interface |
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I have seen a couple of homeowners knock down a room and contents with a garden hose. It can be useful. Anything extending beyond the room of origin a garden hose might get you in trouble. they were NOT room and content fires then. a fire doubles in size in less than 5 mins. a single wide trailer can go from a room and contents fire to flames showing from the exterior in less than 10 mins just as an example. the chemicals that are given off in a fire CAN kill you in short order. stay low and get out via the closes means available as fast as possible. |
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I have seen a couple of homeowners knock down a room and contents with a garden hose. It can be useful. Anything extending beyond the room of origin a garden hose might get you in trouble. they were NOT room and content fires then. a fire doubles in size in less than 5 mins. a single wide trailer can go from a room and contents fire to flames showing from the exterior in less than 10 mins just as an example. the chemicals that are given off in a fire CAN kill you in short order. stay low and get out via the closes means available as fast as possible. Here's a pretty good example at how fast the smoke will spread. This is why my home has sprinklers:
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| I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. |
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Quoted: I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. I encourage every one I know to beat the fire back as best they can until the pro's arrive. This stupidity of "run away... the FD is coming!" is ridiculous Grab a garden hose and wet it down. No... you are probably not going to put out a full blown structure fire from outside. You might get hurt (radiation burns), but you are not going to get killed squirting water through a window. You will probably slow down the spread of fire though, and it just might be enough to save a room or two. When in doubt, act decisively.
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Quoted: Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) I had to re-type this 5 times to remove the profanity and personal attacks as best as I could. You union guys and all the bullshit you bring with you are the reason we can't have a paid fire department. Our "hick jolly volly's" are the only thing we have, and they do about everything humanly possible to save life and structure, in addition to their real jobs, for free. They're the only thing between their community and disaster We (town/county) have all kinds of fundraisers to support them, so they can have equipment I'm sure isn't good enough for your ilk. And ya know what? If your attitude is representative of the rest of you career guys, then we're just fine with the good people we've got, vs arrogant douche nozzles that think their union card makes them better than the guy doing the same job for free to serve his community. Compared to what these guys do, sir, you're the "wannabe". </rant> -Slice |
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Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) I will admit that there are some questionable volunteers out there, and the career/ volley fight has been going on forever, I find it very offensive that you label all volunteers as "hick jolly" Eta: looks like home slice beat me to it. Thanks |
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Fyi.... a garden hose puts out about 5 gpm at best! A firefighting handline puts out 125-300gpm depending on the nozzle and psi the line is being pumped at. Do not try and put out your house fire with a garden house. Get out and call the insurance company. Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) My hydrant (hose bib) puts 20 gpm through a nozzle with 3/4 hose (using a frost free hydrant piped with 1 1-4"). My MIL, on city water can get almost 30 (same hydrant, 200' of 1" pipe, and a whopping 130 lbs static pressure). My mom can get 8 in an old house with scale lined 1/2 pipe. To only get five you need some combination of cheap hose bib, long hose, 5/8" hose and low water pressure I can get 3 gpm from a jabco pump 12V pump. High flow is not needed in modern residential construction until the room flashes over. I've seen the test for an Attack Nozzleman (the 1 guy out of 5 (based on NFPA 2 in/2 out/engneer)) thats actually gets to put the wet stuff on the red stuff. It was a 48"x40"x48 (IIRC) space fire from stacked pallets. They guy had a 2.5 gallon water can. He had to put the fire out with 2.5 gallons. Had I not seen it I would not have believed it possable. In the city in question, you don't get the honor if you can't pass the test, or for the lazy, it means you don't get dropped off at the hydrant on a forward lay. I've tried it once here, and it is taken as gospel by many in AK, that a certain application rate of ABC Dry chem will extingush a house fire prior to flashover. As far as what I have, a bunch (10+) of 2.5 gallon water cans (we threw out hundreds at work after safety delared them unsafe due to lack of a class C rating. I was emptying them and shipping them home as fast as I could) 4 20 lb ABC extingushers (2 are in another building I own, and would have to be brought home), several 5 lb units, and several CO2 units plus tools (axe, crow bar, plus a potato hook to use as a poor mans pike pole.) Plus I've got wildfire tools (rakes, swatter, bladder pump, drip torch) In an emergency, saving the house may be a survival issue. If the SHTF, everyone at my house is going to get quite a bit of practice on the water cans. hick jolly volly (with FF1, ARFF, and red card) |
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I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. I encourage every one I know to beat the fire back as best they can until the pro's arrive. This stupidity of "run away... the FD is coming!" is ridiculous Grab a garden hose and wet it down. No... you are probably not going to put out a full blown structure fire from outside. You might get hurt (radiation burns), but you are not going to get killed squirting water through a window. You will probably slow down the spread of fire though, and it just might be enough to save a room or two. When in doubt, act decisively. You will accomplish more by closing the doors and windows to the fire room than spraying a garden hose in through a window or door. Denying the fire air is a much better option. Even hollow core doors will greatly reduce the spread of fire. I could link to boring studies and real life LODD situations, but hopefully the other firefighters here will back me up. As far as SHTF and no help is OTW, having a sprinkler system is your best bet. Residential fire sprinklers use very little water and catch the fire in its incipient stage. It may not extinguish it, but it will reduce spread and give you a better chance. Also, bear in mind it is likely the smoke and toxins in it that will kill you. Our last SF I personally measured CO levels over 300 ppm after extinguishment and ventilation (hell, the roof was gone). 35 ppm are considered IDLH. Hydrogen Cyanide levels were also quite high, and probably more lethal and a greater risk. EVERYTHING in a modern home burns toxic, even the wood. Sprinklers people. They are cheap. |
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Sprinklers people. They are cheap.
This. Unfortunately, in a SHTF situation, if you don't catch the fire in the incipient stage the best you can do is start a bucket brigade to keep the fire from spreading to other structures. While I have seen fires put out with garden hoses and water extingushers, dying from smoke inhalation trying to put you house out is a crappy way to go in my opinion. |
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I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. I encourage every one I know to beat the fire back as best they can until the pro's arrive. This stupidity of "run away... the FD is coming!" is ridiculous Grab a garden hose and wet it down. No... you are probably not going to put out a full blown structure fire from outside. You might get hurt (radiation burns), but you are not going to get killed squirting water through a window. You will probably slow down the spread of fire though, and it just might be enough to save a room or two. When in doubt, act decisively. want to see a house burn down real quick? let some untrained person brake out a window in the fire room and have them try to put the fire out with a garden hose. i have see it time and time again. to create a fire you need 3 things, oxygen, fuel, and heat. braking a window provides a fire, that already has heat and fuel, with a LOT of oxygen. |
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One of the biggest things you have to remember is you have to be able to flow a LOT of water. If you don't have a nearby standing water source ex. pond and your well doesn't recharge/flow well then you need a large tank. You will generally go through a lot more water than you expect. You need to match your equipment to your flow though.
As CJan posted, you can buy wildland hoses, nozzles, etc. for less than the fancy setups. A shiny POKADOR nozzle looks great, but for general use where you aren't going to be hauling it on and off the truck with some frequency and will only be doing a basic drowning, a smaller utility nozzle will work and be much more cost effective. Be sure you get enough hose to reach everywhere you need to. A foam system is nice for the stated reasons, but they are a good bit more money. Get out of the fire and away from it as fast as possible, then and only then should you ascertain whether it's going to be worth it to try to fight it. Obviously things change in a survival situation so you have to weigh the consequences. Basic fire suppression is not out of the realm of the average person- most firefighters in the US are still volunteers with full-time jobs doing something other than fire-fighting (those numbers keep shifting towards paid though and I'm not sure what the current figure is). Seek out training opportunities in your area; getting on with a local volunteer organization will help you get the skills you need, often at no cost to you depending on your state, and be a great contribution to your community. Remember too that there is the very real health hazard of poisonous gases and that the treatment of burns is a specialized form of medicine- treating a minor burn is nothing like treating a moderate burn, burns to an extremity, circumferential burns, inhalation burns, etc. Even within highly specialized burn centers patients lose digits, limbs, general bodily functions (both internal and external), etc. as well as die. As hard as it sounds, your best course of action may be to stand back, save surrounding structures and not risk getting hurt. ETA- Reading what our firefighters have posted, I should qualify what I mean when I say a lot of water is needed. Without training and turnout gear/SCBAs, the average person should be outside the structure and will be doing a basic surround and drown. |
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I have several fire extinguishers placed strategically throughout the house and garage. Everyone currently living here is trained in their use and those that would come post-SHTF will also be trained. There will also be a plan if God forbid we are attacked and the MZB's try to use fire. People will be assigned to firefighting while the rest are doing a different type of fighting.--A little extreme? Yes I think so too but thinking about eventualities is part of the reason we are here, no matter how remote the chance. This...This thread got me thinking more about it and i need fire prevention. thanks |
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Can you not design houses in such a way that fires have less fuel? I'm talking about using concrete and steel in place of wood and carpet. Yes, these are mainly your type I/II construction types made of non combustible or fire resistive materials. They build high rises this way, also the military builds a lot of bldgs on bases in this manner. |
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I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. Can you explain what you mean by "what it has become today?" |
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Save your insults for your fellow untrained vollyes that are the leading reason you cant be a real department. Ive seen more arrogance from douchebag vollys that think they are kirk russel in backdraft which leads to injuries and deaths of citizens, vollys and paid people working a scene. And fyi a union card dosent=a paycheck/career. I dont carry a union card buddy, FL is a right to work state. So have a tall glass of haterade and lament over not being a career guy some more. And just about every real(career) firefighter that has chimed in about the thread has said the same thing. DONT TRY TO USE A GARDEN HOSE. So to the HICKS (and you jolly vollys) that still think your gonna try it, then go ahead. It just proves darwin was correct. Oh and forrest gump was also "stupid is what stupid does". |
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I'm trying to figure out who pissed in your Cheerios. What value is added by continuing to insult community servants? Why would you lump over 750,000 volunteers into the same category as a few bad apples? In my state, volunteers receive the same level of training as career guys.
(And before you torch my Nomex,know that I've been in both roles.) |
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Let's remember that we all can disagree, but please do so respectfully. This thread is supposed to be about dealing with fires post SHTF, meaning no one else is coming to help. If it were me (pre-SHTF), I'm getting out of the house. In the age of plastics/synthetics, the toxic smoke is going to kill you long before the fire ever will. |
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Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) I had to re-type this 5 times to remove the profanity and personal attacks as best as I could. You union guys and all the bullshit you bring with you are the reason we can't have a paid fire department. Our "hick jolly volly's" are the only thing we have, and they do about everything humanly possible to save life and structure, in addition to their real jobs, for free. They're the only thing between their community and disaster We (town/county) have all kinds of fundraisers to support them, so they can have equipment I'm sure isn't good enough for your ilk. And ya know what? If your attitude is representative of the rest of you career guys, then we're just fine with the good people we've got, vs arrogant douche nozzles that think their union card makes them better than the guy doing the same job for free to serve his community. Compared to what these guys do, sir, you're the "wannabe". </rant> -Slice X2 on this. Nice wording to keep in coc approved |
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I'm trying to figure out who pissed in your Cheerios. What value is added by continuing to insult community servants? Why would you lump over 750,000 volunteers into the same category as a few bad apples? In my state, volunteers receive the same level of training as career guys. (And before you torch my Nomex,know that I've been in both roles.) +87 Retired (Medical) Volunteer and Career FF |
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This is spot on for me. Today I was planning to go into town and purchase some extinguishers. I have been told of a place that sells rechargeable units. I leave in about an hour- What should I look for? 2200 sq ft wood frame house. Thanks. For my portables, I called my local FD and asked them where they buy and service their stuff. To me, commercial grade portables (Badger and Amerex) are a buy once, cry once sort of thing. If your local FD is anything like mine, they will go way out of their way to help a concerned homeowner. It was explained to me that every ounce of prevention decreases the likelihood of them having to roll up in the big red trucks. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted: Save your insults for your fellow untrained vollyes that are the leading reason you cant be a real department. Ive seen more arrogance from douchebag vollys that think they are kirk russel in backdraft which leads to injuries and deaths of citizens, vollys and paid people working a scene. And fyi a union card dosent=a paycheck/career. I dont carry a union card buddy, FL is a right to work state. So have a tall glass of haterade and lament over not being a career guy some more. And just about every real(career) firefighter that has chimed in about the thread has said the same thing. DONT TRY TO USE A GARDEN HOSE. So to the HICKS (and you jolly vollys) that still think your gonna try it, then go ahead. It just proves darwin was correct. Oh and forrest gump was also "stupid is what stupid does". Umm... I've never been a firefighter mr. gump. I was only responding to your arrogance and insults about the people the serve the vast majority of the state of IN, several of which I'm either related to or am friends with. In our county (one of IN's largest), not only are 100% of the firefighters volunteers, but so are 100% of the EMT staff and over 50% of the sheriff's department. It's just the way things work up here in poor-folk land. Your "if you don't get paid you're a retard that's going to get everyone killed" attitude is completely untrue, unnecessary and unwelcome. Regarding the thread topic, we have several 10# extinguishers in the house and barn, a 5# in the kitchen and in each vehicle. I'm curious what it takes to setup something like what CJan posted, as well as one of the built-in sprinkler systems. |
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Thanks. These are commercial grade. Not sure of brands. This place will service what they sell. I saw their tag on a wall mounted unit in a business last week and inquired about them.
BTW-I live way out by a swamp and am so thankful for the rural firefighters in my area. One EMA station located just 3 miles from me. |
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Thanks. These are commercial grade. Not sure of brands. This place will service what they sell. I saw their tag on a wall mounted unit in a business last week and inquired about them. BTW-I live way out by a swamp and am so thankful for the rural firefighters in my area. One EMA station located just 3 miles from me. Excellent, because that's important
Most of us have thousands of dollars invested in emergency gear, food, firearms etc-yet some won't make even a modest investment in tools and training to protect it. That doesn't compute for me. I'm in IT by trade, so my world revolves around risk assessment and probability. My local fire equipment vendor offers training classes for non-firefighters. The classes weren't expensive, but the training my family and I received was priceless. In addition to going over the basics like the fire triangle, they set small fires and then had the students put them out properly. They also spent a lot of time teaching us what not to do, like throw water on a grease fire. Most importantly, they stressed how important it was to know when to GTFO and close the door behind you. As far as the number of portables to have, my local FD suggested to put at least one on every level of my home-especially around living areas, kitchen etc. I have more than that-particularly around the kitchen, bedrooms, and workshop/reloading room. |
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I'm not going to argue with you but I was the officer on the first arriving engine on the fires I am talking about. One was a kitchen the other was a room in the basement. These fires were similar in that both home owners stuck the spray in the room and closed the door on their wrists. Some steam burns but nothing bad. I know the science of fire is so much better these days. I retired from a metro east coast department and I remember when we were ordered to wear breathing apparatus. I am just glad I left before the job became what it is today. I encourage every one I know to beat the fire back as best they can until the pro's arrive. This stupidity of "run away... the FD is coming!" is ridiculous Grab a garden hose and wet it down. No... you are probably not going to put out a full blown structure fire from outside. You might get hurt (radiation burns), but you are not going to get killed squirting water through a window. You will probably slow down the spread of fire though, and it just might be enough to save a room or two. When in doubt, act decisively. want to see a house burn down real quick? let some untrained person brake out a window in the fire room and have them try to put the fire out with a garden hose. i have see it time and time again. to create a fire you need 3 things, oxygen, fuel, and heat. braking a window provides a fire, that already has heat and fuel, with a LOT of oxygen. In a county north of me a few weeks back, a deputy beat the vfd to the scene. Her proceeded to break every window in the house out. He was called a hero by the Facebook nation. I called him a retard and even after explaining why, I was still attacked as wrong. People are stupid. |
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Save your insults for your fellow untrained vollyes that are the leading reason you cant be a real department. Ive seen more arrogance from douchebag vollys that think they are kirk russel in backdraft which leads to injuries and deaths of citizens, vollys and paid people working a scene. And fyi a union card dosent=a paycheck/career. I dont carry a union card buddy, FL is a right to work state. So have a tall glass of haterade and lament over not being a career guy some more. And just about every real(career) firefighter that has chimed in about the thread has said the same thing. DONT TRY TO USE A GARDEN HOSE. So to the HICKS (and you jolly vollys) that still think your gonna try it, then go ahead. It just proves darwin was correct. Oh and forrest gump was also "stupid is what stupid does".  |
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In a county north of me a few weeks back, a deputy beat the vfd to the scene. Her proceeded to break every window in the house out. He was called a hero by the Facebook nation. I called him a retard and even after explaining why, I was still attacked as wrong. People are stupid. Holy smokes 
Even a non-firefighter should know how stupid and dangerous that is. One thing I've observed from being with the ambulance at scads of firegrounds, there is a specific choreography to everything you guys do. Above all you never, ever freelance. Edited, to trim quote tree. |
We have fire extinguishers in EVERY room of the house. Our garage and basement has two. And yes, I would certainly call the fire department if available. But whether available or not I would definitely work on it with a garden hose with our special nozzles I have bought for that purpose. We have water lines for hook-ups both outside and one on the inside of our garage. Our family knows where and how to turn off the electric and natural gas lines...that's important. And by the way...you guys need to quit your insults and squabbling...
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In a county north of me a few weeks back, a deputy beat the vfd to the scene. Her proceeded to break every window in the house out. He was called a hero by the Facebook nation. I called him a retard and even after explaining why, I was still attacked as wrong. People are stupid. Holy smokes
Even a non-firefighter should know how stupid and dangerous that is. One thing I've observed from being with the ambulance at scads of firegrounds, there is a specific choreography to everything you guys do. Above all you never, ever freelance. Edited, to trim quote tree. Yeah, weather, smoke color, smoke behavior, vent type, vent location, available water, available personnel, occupants, etc are all just part of what goes into a decision too open one up. I've been doing this 15 years and learn every day. The last full shift I worked, I worked 2 structure fires as first due and 1 as second in, and learned after each if them. I'm happy to do it, as I'll probably be trading my yellow lid for a red one in the next 18 months. (I hope not) |
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Yeah, weather, smoke color, smoke behavior, vent type, vent location, available water, available personnel, occupants, etc are all just part of what goes into a decision too open one up. I've been doing this 15 years and learn every day. The last full shift I worked, I worked 2 structure fires as first due and 1 as second in, and learned after each if them. I'm happy to do it, as I'll probably be trading my yellow lid for a red one in the next 18 months. (I hope not) One of the guys at my local FD who took me under his wing and helped me with gear selection told me that his time spent "riding in the rig facing backwards" was the very best time of his career
While I didn't completely understand the reference at the time, I (correctly) assumed that it had to with the color of his helmet. His is red now also, and in a few years will probably be white. |
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Yeah, weather, smoke color, smoke behavior, vent type, vent location, available water, available personnel, occupants, etc are all just part of what goes into a decision too open one up. I've been doing this 15 years and learn every day. The last full shift I worked, I worked 2 structure fires as first due and 1 as second in, and learned after each if them. I'm happy to do it, as I'll probably be trading my yellow lid for a red one in the next 18 months. (I hope not) One of the guys at my local FD who took me under his wing and helped me with gear selection told me that his time spent "riding in the rig facing backwards" was the very best time of his career
While I didn't completely understand the reference at the time, I (correctly) assumed that it had to with the color of his helmet. His is red now also, and in a few years will probably be white. I already face forward, driving.  that's why I like being second due, I either do vent, enter, search, or go on with the house team on the first engine. Pulling levers is no fun, but it's a step up, supposedly. Taking away my fun doesn't seem like a promotion.
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For the OP and Others
For structural firefighting, Prevention is key. Keep flammable stuff away from ignition sources. If you are building use Type I or Type II construction. If you can improve put a residential sprinkler system in. The best personal fire extinguisher is a 5 Gallon PWE (Pressurized Water Extinguisher), you can put out a lot of fire with one of these. But it does take training and skill. Have your typical ABC Extinguishers around the house as well. For Wildland/Urban Interface, Prevention is key. Keep flammable stuff away from ignition sources. The term is Mitigation, if you are in a WUI area learn it and follow the practices - For a good report that was just released look HERE Keep a 30' Defensible Space around your property, keep the landscape clean. Replace your shake shingle roofs and get rid flammable material around your house (wood piles). Firefighters do structure Triage - If you take care of your property the easier it is to save and Firefighters will more likely try to save it vs. one that has no homeowner mitigation effort If you leave for a fire approaching - keep your garden hoses in plain site, firefighters will use them. Waldo Canyon Video - This is an excellent video Personal Rant As for the Volunteer vs. Career argument - I have seen many Volunteers do stupid things, I have also seen many Career guys to stupid things. I don't give a crap if you are paid or not, be professional and do your job. Don't piss on other Firefighters just because they are not Career. Some Brother you are, trashing fellow Firefighters, I would be ashamed to work in your house. I was never a Volunteer Firefighter, but a 15 year Career guy with 2 different departments. Fire burns the same in rural volunteer protected areas as it does in the the city. |
I'm sorry Dan 
But there sure are a LOT of levers
Since I have you here, could you answer a question? In a legit SHTF situation (not me just playing fireman) what are the legal ramifications for someone like me tapping a municipal hydrant? As you may have seen in my gear pics, I have the means to connect my pump to a 2.5" NH outlet on a standard hydrant. That's not my first, second, or even third choice but I've always wondered how much of a shitstorm I'd be in for if I did... Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Quoted:
Fyi.... a garden hose puts out about 5 gpm at best! A firefighting handline puts out 125-300gpm depending on the nozzle and psi the line is being pumped at. Do not try and put out your house fire with a garden house. Get out and call the insurance company. Career firefighter.(not some hick jolly volly or wannabe) Thanks, but I think you pissed off a lot of folks with that closing. TXL |
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Quoted:
I'm sorry Dan
But there sure are a LOT of levers
Since I have you here, could you answer a question? In a legit SHTF situation (not me just playing fireman) what are the legal ramifications for someone like me tapping a municipal hydrant? As you may have seen in my gear pics, I have the means to connect my pump to a 2.5" NH outlet on a standard hydrant. That's not my first, second, or even third choice but I've always wondered how much of a shitstorm I'd be in for if I did... Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile That's going to vary city by city. You can actually have your own plug installed if you want, then they can't say anything.
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Quoted: I'm sorry Dan But there sure are a LOT of levers Since I have you here, could you answer a question? In a legit SHTF situation (not me just playing fireman) what are the legal ramifications for someone like me tapping a municipal hydrant? As you may have seen in my gear pics, I have the means to connect my pump to a 2.5" NH outlet on a standard hydrant. That's not my first, second, or even third choice but I've always wondered how much of a shitstorm I'd be in for if I did... Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile No one will care unless you contaminate the water system. Remember though, the hydrant is connected to the water main, so if there is no/low pressure at the faucet, it will be the same at the plug.
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