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TT Instructor Joe Brown put together an excellent video featuring his role at a recent fire as the tillerman of the 1st due truck (DCFD Truck 17). Much of his actions are dictated by DCFD SOP’s -- they show only part of the duties of a well coordinated “box alarm” assignment. Joe’s duties are essentially that of outside-vent and roof firefighter.
The video also features tips throughout. Be sure to take a look and post your thoughts below!
This past weekend we conducted a “Intro to RIT” (Rapid Intervention Team) class hosted by the West Hempfield Fire Department. Successful RIT evolutions are primarily the result of three things:
These ideas were the driving force of the weekend. A large amount of time was spent focusing on air emergencies – such as a missing face-piece, high/low pressure emergencies, mechanical failures, and use of a RIT SCBA-Pak. Keeping a downed firefighter on-air is absolutely essential during a rescue. Equally important, we covered a variety of techniques to locate the downed FF via modified search techniques and with tag-line (search rope) techniques.
Click the link for more info & pictures…
The right channel is important...
Last week, Danny Doyle brought up some good tips about radio familiarity. One thing we need to be able to do is know what channel we are on and change it if needed. This could become necessary during a MAYDAY where non-RIT units are moved to an alternate channel, or if you’re on the wrong channel somehow.
So how do you know you’re on the right channel? Follow the jump for a video of some helpful technology and some discussion on finding the right channel…
Smoke is showing from a storefront and we must make entry. Most of us are familiar with the traditional storefront door – glass in a metal frame… Pull handle on the outside, push bar on the inside, typically secured with an Adams-Rite style lock.
For many, the first forcible entry inclination is simple – break the glass! But is that really our most efficient, or expedient, method? I wager no…
Read on for why, and for a great how-to on Adams-Rite locks sent to us by Erik Eitel from the Robinsville (NJ) Fire Department.
How well do you know your radio?
Emergency buttons, channels, sounds, lights, knobs & buttons, and batteries. Depending on the particular make or model, all of these features can be a pain to operate with firefighting gloves on. 
Lets face it, sometimes its complicated with bare hands!
Your radio is an important tool in fireground communications and sometimes contributes to, well lets call it “over communicating”. In all seriousness, when things go bad it is a key survival tool!
When you need to call a MAYDAY the radio will play a huge part in the rescue process.
I’m not telling you anything we don’t already know but….
Again, depending on the brand of radio we could point out different things all day long. Some jurisdictions even have the same radio with different characteristics/modes/banks activated.
I encourage you to drill in low visibility, randomly during drills, while hanging around the firehouse, or just throw someone under the bus to prove a point! Its just a little something that most take for granted. There are no secrets, we only get better with practice!
A few days ago, I threw a link to a video on our Facebook page demonstrating the effects of debris in a standpipe system. We must remember that in many buildings, the standpipes are old and there are hundreds of feet of pipes. It is not uncommon for debris to accidentally, or intentionally end up in there. Often this will be some small object, other times it may be a bit more. These objects can very easily completely obstruct water flow in our hoseline.
A friend of ours from Wichita, Chad Cox, shared these pictures with us the other day on the subject… Read on for some pics and some thoughts on overcoming an object in your line.
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