All Units standby for an important transmission; Thursday October 05, 2017 the premier episode of BuildingsonFire’s Taking it to the Street Launches on FireEngineering.com / Talk Radio. (Here) Host Christopher Naum leads a timely discussion on Emerging Trends in Building Construction and their Impacts on Firefighting Operations with scheduled guests; Battalion Chief Jerry Tracy, (ret) FDNY, Division Chief Peter […]

Lessons from the Fireground: Buffalo (NY) Fire Department On August 24, 2009, 45-year-old Lieutenant Charles “Chip” McCarthy and 34-year-old Firefighter Jonathan S. Croom died in an early morning fire after a partial first floor collapse at a mixed occupancy commercial/residential structure.   Basement fires in both residential and commercial occupancies are one of the most […]

Before Making Entry, while in the street; Has someone completed or assigned the reconn for a 360 of the building? Have you looked at the Building and its Profile and Understood what you’re looking at? Made a Rapid Risk Assessment? Assessed the Building’s Anatomy? Considered the Compartment? Considered the Fire Dynamics? Assessed the Predictability of […]

Don’t neglect to look at the little things when conducting a Building Size-up and assessment

Defined by your actions on the Fireground and in Quarters.

Light Weight construction has given way to Engineered Structural Systems (ESS) which in today’s evolving fireground, have an even more extensive array of performance, operational and integrity issues that affect a building’s performance under fire conditions.To unequivocally state that nothing has changed in buildings, occupancies, fire flow delivery rates and demands for increased proficiencies of […]

It’s not about NOT fighting fires, but rather fighting fires smarter.

Understanding the building – its complexities in terms of anatomy, structural systems, materials, configuration, design, layout, systems, methods of construction, engineering and inherent features, limitations, challenges and risks – is fundamental for operational excellence on the fireground and firefighter safety.

This special weekend edition of Ten Minutes in the Street TM is being offered on CommandSafety.com and is taking advantage of a training video produced by the LAFD in 2009 that involved a basis initial dispatch to a report of a rubbish fire that escalates into two structure fires and resulted in multiple alarm operations. Challenge your personnel and discuss and tabletop the incident scenario based on your operational and orgnizational profile and resources.