Rope device saves firefighter's life

[E40FDNYL35]

January 1, 2008 -- Nearly three years after two New York City firefighters jumped from a burning building and plunged to their deaths, a 24-year FDNY veteran Monday became the first to use a widely hailed safety device to escape from a Brooklyn house fire that almost engulfed him. Raymond Pollard, 50, of Brooklyn, rappelled away from searing flames that had trapped him near a fourth-floor window of an apartment building on Willoughby Avenue, fire officials said. The fire was reported at 3:41 a.m. Pollard drove the second unit to arrive at the scene, Ladder Company 102 from Bedford Avenue. Within 10 minutes, officials said, Pollard broke three fourth-floor windows facing the street and entered the building to look for occupants. When he moved to the hallway, fire surged up the stairway and over his head, blocking his exit. He moved to the next room, where the fire forced him to retreat to the window. "Just as the fire was blowing over his head, he took the hook out and jammed it into the windowsill" said Stephen Raynis, safety command battalion chief. Pollard rappelled two feet below the ledge and firefighters slid a bucket ladder towards him and lowered him to safety, Raynis said. Around 5:50 a.m., the roof collapsed onto the fourth floor. Pollard, who declined to be interviewed, was treated for second-degree burns on his left hand at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, officials said. Three other firefighters suffered minor injuries. The emergency device, called a personal safety system, was developed by FDNY members in the wake of the deaths of Lt. Curtis Meyran and firefighter John Bellew, who jumped from a window of a burning Bronx building in January 2005, when they could not find the fire escape. Four other firefighters who also leapt from that building were critically injured. The lifesaving invention consists of a forged aluminum anchor hook that can penetrate brick, a 50-foot rope, a descending device operated by a trigger, a carabiner, and a waist belt with leg loops.

Since January 2006, it has been distributed to about 11,500 FDNY members, including all 8,500 firefighters, officials said.

[backsteprescue123]

Thats great to hear.

I had an oppourtunity to have a crash course in the operation of the system and "bail out" of a window about 12 ft high at Firehouse Expo and it seems like a great thing.

[frenchfireball]

i read about it,this morning:

http://www.firefighterspot.com/2008_01_01_archive.html


i like the video,it explains very well,the device.

[BLSboy]

Glad to hear our Brother is OK!
I have trained with the Crosby hook, and I was impressed so much, that I now own one!
I am waiting to to get the training for I can get the Petzl EXO.

If you do not have a personal safety system.....GET ONE

[PureAdrenalin]

I have a bailout bag, but..I think it's time to upgrade my anchor to the Crosby hook. Good to know the FDNY system works under actual fireground conditions too, not that I would think it wouldn't.