Simple Ladder Trick

This one will be short (seriously!).

Since I was a rookie, I've always been taught, with extension ladders, we carry it to position, untie the halyard, extend the fly, ensure the dawgs are secure, and re-tie the halyard. THEN we could climb it, provided it is at the proper climbing angle, footed securely, etc.

The whole un-tying and re-tying the ladder has bothered me ever since. It always seemed like a waste of time. That's because it is. What do we do when we arrive at a working house fire at 2AM, and a mother is SCREAMING that her child is IN THAT ROOM RIGHT THERE! If you have never heard screams such as this, consider yourself lucky.

So now the pressure is on. What do we do? Grab the ladder, carry it to position, walk it up, untie the damned halyard, extend the fly... do we re-tie it with mom screaming right there? I don't...

I've also not bothered tying it again on other, more routine (if there is such a thing) fires over my career, and gotten ass-chewings for it each time. "It's a trip hazard." Ok, why are we walking under ladders? We're not supposed to, but we all know it happens. 

There has got to be a better way.

I have thought this for years. YEARS! For over 23 years now. I'd asked others, especially the senior, respected members, and do you know the two most common answer I've gotten? I'll bet you do. "We've always done it that way" & "It's in the IFSTA manual".

We've always done it that way... There are good and bad points about that. When I am told that, I want to know WHY. Have other methods been tried, & did they work? Why or why not? I feel the "we've always done it that way" CAN have merit, IF it's backed up. I hate it as an absolute blanket statement.

It's in the IFSTA manual... Yeah, and so is a lot of other stuff. IFSTA may have printed the materials, but they don't set the standards. NFPA does. There are other companies out there who also sell training manuals. I feel it is high-time that we as a fire service let IFSTA know this. I'd go on about that, but I'm digressing from this blog's point.

Yes, it is in the IFSTA manual. I have seen it in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions. I happen to have a 4th edition here in front of me as I am writing this - on page 300, second column, second paragraph. It explains when and how to tie the halyard, and explains that it "prevents the fly from slipping and prevents anyone from tripping on the rope". I can't argue the part about tripping. I've heard it my whole career.

Can someone explain to me, just how is the halyard going to prevent the fly section from slipping? (By slipping, I am taking it to mean retracting on it's own.) Aren't we supposed to be sure the dawgs are set? It's basic ladder use. It's also easy to do. (Dawgs are ladder locks for my non-fire service friends reading this.) If the dawgs are properly set, the ladder isn't going to retract. If the dawgs fail, I think it's going to take more than a halyard to prevent catastrophe.

Ok... so fast forward through that boring stuff into present day. A few weeks ago, I saw a video of a firefighter in the Washington, D.C. area doing a VES operation. He carried the ladder to the window, set it up, extended it, set it, and climbed up, doing the drill. What caught my attention is that he didn't fuss with un-tying and re-tying the halyard. He just pulled it and extended the fly, set the locks, and went to work. 

I watched it several times. Not so much about the VES part of the drill, rather, the halyard.

Then it hit me: That company secured the end of the halyard around the bottom rung of the base section and to the anchor on the bottom rung of the fly section!

So, last shift, I pulled our extension ladder out (I'm on an engine company now, and we only have one 24ft extension ladder) and messed around some. It turns out that the halyard was the PERFECT length to do exactly as above. So, I secured the rope, and tried it out while still on the bay floor, and it worked perfectly. I went and got the other members of the company and showed them. They all said it seems good, but, agreeing with my thoughts, let's take it outside and try it on the wall. So we did. It worked like a charm!

Here you can see the halyard ran under the bottom rung on the base section.

Here, you can see the halyard secured to its anchor.

The best way to build up efficiency is to - wait for it - TRAIN! TRAIN! TRAIN!

Stay safe.

Thanks for reading. God bless.

Ken



"Class A" Foam

The other night I was sent to another station to pick up the brush truck to go to a dump fire. It was maybe an acre(?) of logs, tree stumps, fallen trees, discarded Christmas trees, and the like. Our job was to contain it. We did, with the help of a couple dozers. We knocked down the edges of the fire and they dozed a line around it. Then we let it burn out on its own.

Our brush trucks have a Class A Foam system on them, which worked pretty slick! I was quite impressed! We were using it on our truck (my partner and I) and the other brush truck wasn't. The trucks are identical, both have 210 gallon water tanks with built in foam cells and there is a proportioner built in to the water pump, so you can dial in the percentage you want. On our CAFS pumpers we use 0.3%, so that is what I dialed it to.

It worked like a charm! Our tank lasted almost 2.5x longer than the other brush truck! (Remember, they were using plain water, not the foam mixture.) When we put out a fire in our sector, it went out faster than I am accustomed to (remember, I'm new when it comes to Class A Foam) and here's the cool part - it stayed out! We only had one flare up in our sector, and that was because we initially didn't realize it was seated five feet deep in that particular pile.

Fire Showing: Triple load

Here's a link to my friend Jeremy's (at I.F.D.) blog, Fire Showing, with some excellent tips for companies that use the triple load.

Fire Showing: Triple load: Couple quick videos on how to stretch and reload the triple load. Everyone who uses these loads should know this and know how long they are...

Winter Firefighting

'Tis the season - winter is upon us. Today I am on duty, detailed to an engine company as the acting captain. The weather forecasters are continually saying "SNOW". Oh well, the good weather had to end sometime. We're in somewhat of a drought here, so moisture will be good.

As the acting captain, I checked with my crew to make sure they are ready for it. Some of the things we double checked:

• The apparatus' automatic tire chains.
• Extra socks/other assorted attire, so we have something warm & dry to change in to in the event we catch a job.
• Slip-on spikes for our boots.
• Ice melt.

It's the little things that can make a big difference.

Other things to consider in cold weather operations:

• Take enough time to be safe and to do it right, the first time.
• Use caution when operating on/near ice.
• Don't run.
• Remember to leave the nozzles cracked just a little so the line won't freeze.
• Eat right.
• Keep properly hydrated! Just as our hydration affects how we cool off in the hot weather, staying properly hydrated will help us to keep warm in the cold weather.

Cold weather doesn't add or take away from a fire; it only affects the flash point of some substances, but none of that stuff matters when it is already on fire! Wet gear freezes. Wet surfaces freeze, increasing the fall risks for firefighters exponentially.

I'm keeping this one short. Feel free to comment and add more suggestions!

Stay safe.

A Fireman’s Little Girl

I didn't write this, although I enjoy it very much, and it does fairly accurately describe me. I wish I knew who did write it, so I can give proper credit. Any fireman out there with a daughter will appreciate this.

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I am very dedicated to my work. I wear firefighter shirts every day, even when I’m not on duty. The fire department is my second home, and my second family. It often seems as if my life revolves around the fire department, but it means nothing compared to my little girl. I am normally a very friendly person, but if you hurt my little girl you will make me mad.

I know my little girl is growing up, even if I don’t like it. She seems to like you, so I’ll tolerate you dating her, but here are a few things for you to think about while you’re with her:

First of all, I go into burning buildings to save people that I’ve never even seen before. If I do that for strangers, you can’t begin to imagine how protective I am of my little girl.

I sometimes break people’s sternums & ribs by accident while doing CPR to save their life. If that’s how I help people what do you think I do when I’m pissed off?

I investigate arson fires. I know exactly what clues to look for to prove it was arson, so I also know how to make sure nobody can tell how a fire started. I know where you live. Remember the movie Backdraft?

I’ve worked more car accidents than you’ll ever see, and the sight of blood doesn’t bother me one little bit.

It’s normal for me to carry chainsaws, axes, and various other extremely sharp tools in my car… touch my little girl, & we take a little ride.

When we burn down a house for training, nobody looks in the closets.

I use the jaws of life to tear doors off wrecked cars. They cut though solid metal like a hot knife through butter. Watch your paws or get the jaws!

Sirens and air horns can really muffle the sounds of someone screaming.

Most of my friends are cops, paramedics, or firefighters. WE ARE 911. If you make me mad, who do you think you’re going to call for help?

I have access to explosives.

I am well trained in emergency medicine. I know exactly which arteries are the easiest to sever and which ones bleed the most. (You remember all them sharp tools?)

Even though my little girl insists that you are a “nice guy” and not like most other guys, I know better. I was once your age, I know EXACTLY what you’re thinking. Because of that, I already have plenty of reasons to not like you. It wouldn’t take much at all to push me over the edge, and I just sharpened my axe.

So if you want to date my little girl you better keep these things in mind. Firemen are protective by nature, and there is nothing we are more protective of than our little girls. Whenever you're alone with her, you better remember that someday, you may be alone with me.

(Author unknown, but I like this, and would gladly give credit to the author.)

What's in your pockets?

One topic that often comes up between firefighters is "what's in your pockets?". I personally enjoy those conversations, as I learn from the experiences of others.

Over the years, what I have carried has changed. I will periodically go through my set-up (aside from daily checks at shift change) and evaluate what I carry vs. what I use vs. what I need that I don't carry, and change things up. So, what's in my pockets?

From the top down:

On my lid:
I keep a few 16# nails tucked inside my helmet band, and my FD Passport tag. That's about it.

In my coat:
Left front pocket: A pair of 7/8" cable cutters. They were put there with the intended purpose of self rescue, if I were to get caught up in wires, etc. I have used them plenty at car wrecks to cut the battery cables. They are quite inexpensive, and actually quite rugged.

Right front pocket: A pair of safety glasses.

Left lower pocket: CPR mask in a case - if I make a grab, and they need mouth-to-mouth, it'll be mouth-to-mask-to-mouth.

Right lower pocket: A 10 ft (+/-) roll of webbing and a carabiner. Comes in handy, with a million potential uses.

In my pants:
All I keep in my turnout pants pockets is my fire gloves.

Truckie Belt:
A few sprinkler wedges, a TFT Res-Q-Rench, a six-in-one screw driver (two large and two small phillips and flat head tips, plus a 1/4" & 3/8" nut drivers), a four foot piece of webbing (not looped, but does have looped handles), a vice-grip, and a pair of channel locks with modified tips for use with the through-the-lock techniques of entry.

Ok, so that's what I have. So, what's in YOUR pockets?

Here I Am

Ok, so I'm getting started with a blog now.

My name is Ken. I'm an Engineer on a truck company in suburban Kansas City. My FD has five companies, one being the truck, the other four are pumpers. We also run three ambulances, one with the truck company and one each with two other pumper companies. Our shift minimum is 25, including the shift chief and fire inspector.

I'm no hero, I do nothing super amazing. I am just an ordinary fireman. I am also a paramedic, and I rotate onto our ambulances. My FD runs about 6500 +/- calls a year, mostly medical, as one would assume. We get our share of fires, and despite our suburban status, we are seeing more and more of the types of calls that would be considered "city" calls. Oh well, job security, right?

My interests in EMS are purely professional. I know we're gonna get sent on those calls anyway, and I got tired of feeling helpless when confronted with a serious patient, and I wasn't allowed by my EMT license to do the stuff that needed to be done. So, I went to medic school. I've been a medic for ten years now, and I feel confident about responding to any medical call. Not God-like, just confident, meaning, I no longer shit my pants cuz I caught a run.

My real professional passion, however, is firefighting. I'm a third generation fireman. I started in 1988 as a Junior FF on a small volunteer FD in Camdenton, MO. I worked for two years at St. Joseph, MO FD and have been at CJC Fire for 14 yrs. Thats 23 years, more than half my life.

Personally, I prefer what is considered to be "truck work", which is everything that goes on to support the hose work that the engine companies do. Forcible entry, search and rescue, venitlation, overhaul, etc. My favorite tools are the 6' hook, 30" Halligan bar, and the 8# flat-head axe.

Firefighting changes from generation to generation. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. It has to, especially given the trends in construction, constructing buildings with lighter weight materials that use math instead of mass to support loads. Fine and dandy, until there is a fire in the building. I'm not at all advocating to not go in. What I am advocating is FDs need to train, train, & train, then train more. Train on construction. Tactics. Basic firefighting skills - forcing entry, ventilation, V.E.S., opening up walls and ceilings quickly, and hitting the fire with maximum punch.

I'm not a huge fan of the 2.5" attack line. If it were me, I'd have all my attack lines using smooth bore tips. My ideal pumper (wait, I thought you said you like truck work over engine work? Yes, I do, but that doesn't mean I don't know anything about engine work) would have a large pump - 2000 GPM - and three 1.75" attack preconnects; with three more 2" attack preconnects; a pre-piped deck gun; a tailboard mounted portable gun with a 500 GPM rating, preconnected to a dead-bed of two- to five hundred feet of 3" hose, and a large capacity hosebed of five inch supply hose. More on that in another blog.

Another passion of mine is teaching firefighters fireground survival skills. I have tought several Rapid Intervention classes, and I have found that about half of those courses are survival skills teaching. How to breach a wall and get to the next room (or the outside) when the shit hits the fan. One of my favorite things to do is set up a maze for the class to go through, and then when they've all gone through it, have them change it up and have me go through it. One thing it does is build confidence with the students, and it keeps my skills sharp, because - let me tell ya - they are EVIL!!!

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. If you have any comments or questions, please contact me.

Stay safe!

Ken