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Posts Categorized: Building Construction

Morning Lineup – May 14

By in Firegeezer at May 14, 2012 at 7:41 am
Another fire chief has been added to the Firegeezer Hall of Fame for his unflinching forthrightness in telling his citizens the truth about the wood-chips-and-glue method of home construction. Read More »

Morning Lineup – April 29

By in Firegeezer at April 29, 2012 at 8:57 am
More Corrective Press Responses From Canada. Read More »

Morning Lineup – April 27

By in Firegeezer at April 27, 2012 at 8:09 am
Look Around This Weekend Read More »

Morning Lineup – March 26

By in Firegeezer at March 26, 2012 at 8:17 am
Solid wood construction might be making a comeback soon, but not like you would expect. Read More »

Fire Dynamics Simulation of 2011 Baltimore County LODD- 30 Dowling Circle

By in The Company Officer at March 25, 2012 at 7:42 pm
Fire Dynamics Simulation model provided insight on the route of fire spread, the rapid fire growth leading to flashover of the second and third level, and the benefits of compartmentation on slowing fire and smoke spread. Read More »

Baltimore County (MD) Firefighter Falkenhan Line of Duty Death Report Issued

By in Command Safety at March 25, 2012 at 9:55 am
"Firefighter Falkenhan was a well-respected and experienced firefighter. He died performing his duties during a very complex incident with severe fire conditions and unique fire behavior coupled with the immediate need to perform multiple rescues of victims in imminent danger. It would be easy if one particular failure of the system could be identified as the cause of this tragedy. We could fix it and move on. Unfortunately it is not that simple. No incident is “routine”. Mark’s death and this report reinforce that fact". From the Baltimore County (MD) FD LODD Report. Read More »

Leading Causes of Residential Fire Fatalities: Unintentional/Careless Actions, Smoking

By in Command Safety at March 18, 2012 at 8:30 am
A new USFA topical fire report, Civilian Fire Fatalities in Residential Buildings (2008-2010), examines the characteristics of civilian fire fatalities in residential buildings. Unintentional/careless actions and smoking are the leading causes of these fatal fires. Read More »

The Ides of March: Learning and Remembrance

By in The Company Officer at March 7, 2012 at 7:23 pm
Take the opportunity to identify the common themes and apparent causes of some past events. Read More »

Structural Collapse Insights and Aides from NIST

By in Command Safety at March 4, 2012 at 9:45 am
A primer on past Structural Collapse research and insights. Read More »

Residential Fire Injures Seven Firefighters: Wind Driven Conditions Suspected

By in Command Safety at February 25, 2012 at 2:09 pm
Residential Fire Injures Seven Firefighters: Wind Driven Conditions Suspected. Apparent wind driven condition contributed to rapidly escalating fire conditions resulting in extreme fire behavior during initial fire suppression operations being coordinated at a single family residential dwelling (SFD) fire Friday night February 24th in Riverdale, MD Read More »

The Fireground; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

By in The Company Officer at February 24, 2012 at 8:58 pm
The Fireground; Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow It will always still be about….. The Brotherhood Honor Courage Protection Fortitude Duty We have assumed that the routiness or successes of past operations and incident responses equates … Read More »

San Francisco FD Berkeley Way Double LODD Report Issued: Routine Fire….

By in Command Safety at February 24, 2012 at 3:23 pm
This incident appeared from the onset to be a routine “room and contents” fire that the SFFD encounters on a regular basis. As the Companies were performing standard fireground operations, the incident rapidly deteriorated due to a hostile fire event. The failure of a window in the fire room allowed fresh oxygen to enter the room, providing a fire that was deprived of one of the key elements of combustion to rapidly intensify. Read More »

Looking Back at One Meridian Plaza High Rise Fire: 1991

By in Command Safety at February 24, 2012 at 12:01 pm
On what began as an uneventful Saturday night twenty-one years ago, a fire on the 22nd floor of the 38-story Meridian Bank Building, also known as One Meridian Plaza, was reported to the Philadelphia Fire Department. Read More »

Massachusetts Nixes Home Sprinklers

By in Firegeezer at February 24, 2012 at 10:51 am
ADD THE MASSACHUSETTS BOARD OF BUILDING Regulations and Standards to your list ethically-challenged state agencies Read More »

Building-Occupancy Relationships and Firefighting

By in Command Safety at February 16, 2012 at 6:34 pm
Knowledge and proficiencies related to building construction are formulative to all strategic, tactical and task level assignments. Without understanding the building-occupancy relationships and integrating; construction, the compartment, occupancy ris… Read More »

The New Rules of Combat Fire Engagement: Random Thoughts

By in Command Safety at February 15, 2012 at 8:10 pm
The New Rules of Combat Fire Engagement: How do You Measure  Your Effectiveness on the Fireground? What are Your Rules of Engagement Based upon? Are Your Operations SOP Driven? Are they Aggressive or Measured? What is Employed in your Size… Read More »

Hose Streams and Fire Suppression Research from the NIST

By in The Company Officer at February 1, 2012 at 9:28 pm
Little, if any, fire suppression research has been conducted on the effectiveness of fire streams from manual hose lines during the past 50 years. Read More »

Wind Driven Fires

By in Command Safety at February 1, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Wind blowing into the broken window of a room on fire can turn a "routine room and contents fire" into a floor-to-ceiling firestorm. Read More »

Truck Into Bedroom Kills Driver

By in Firegeezer at January 20, 2012 at 10:28 pm
The most unusual wreck was a freight truck that suddenly slid off the road in Meiningen and jacknifed into a house with the truck cab crashing through a bedroom. Read More »
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Pre- Planning a tool for Fire Ground Survival

By in Firefighter Basics at January 16, 2012 at 10:42 am
Often times firefighters have to gripe when being told they have to conduct Pre-Planning. During this time firefighters should understand the opportunity that has been afforded to them. Firefighters have to take notice of the construction , and hazards w… Read More »

Buffalo Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Streets; December 27, 1983

By in Command Safety at December 28, 2011 at 8:16 am
Remembering Buffalo Box 191 North Division & Grosvenor Streets; December 27, 1983 Read More »

The Same Mistakes: Newspaper Reports Common Issues Affecting Fire Operations

By in Command Safety at December 11, 2011 at 6:59 pm
Four years after nine firefighters died battling Sofa Super Store fire, a report details an eerily similar set of breakdowns in a March blaze. Read More »

New Sensor System Tracks Firefighters Where GPS Fails

By in The Company Officer at December 6, 2011 at 9:05 pm
New Sensor System Tracks Firefighters Where GPS Fails. Portable device locates missing firefighters--saves time and maybe lives Read More »

High-rise fires cause quarter billion dollars of property damage a year

By in Command Safety at December 6, 2011 at 8:22 pm
High-rise fires cause quarter billion dollars of property damage a year according to a new NFPA Report. Read More »

USFA Releases 2010 Fire Estimate Summary Series

By in Command Safety at December 6, 2011 at 7:31 pm
USFA Releases 2010 Fire Estimate Summary Series which presents basic information on the size and status of the fire problem in the United States as depicted through data collected in USFA’s National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS). Read More »

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