August 2022

Officers who embrace their responsibility to train and mentor must be creative when it comes to finding time for that—for example, while out doing a preplan or during or after a shopping trip to the store.

Aug. 15, 2022

Steve Prziborowski is adamant about a company officer's, battalion chief's and shift commander's responsibility for crewmembers' education and preparation.

Ensuring that mentorship programs are diverse helps to diversify the fire service because of the tendency for people to share more and learn more when they establish a relationship with someone with whom they identify and/or share common ideals.

Careers & Education

Mentorship: Women Should Seek It, Women Should Provide It

Tiffany D. Green

Aug. 15, 2022

Tiffany D. Green recalls the importance of mentors to her fire service career and how that's at the root of her dedication to mentorship for women and others, all for the sake...

Firehouse Expo

Firehouse Expo Preview

Firehouse Staff

Aug. 15, 2022

Details about the Bronx Twin Park Fire and guidance for firefighters and their families are among the additions to Firehouse Expo 2022, as we work to make the event more useful...

Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) put three plans into action simultaneously to rescue a trapped individual from an 18-inch drainage pipe. Plan B, which ultimately was employed, called for members to enter a sewer a grate that was located on a sloped area above grade from the drainage pipe. This would give rescuers access to a vault that was 150 feet from the end of the pipe.

Confined Space

Technical Rescue: High-Risk Drainage Pipe Rescue

Bob Atlas

Aug. 15, 2022

Bob Atlas digs into the details of Contra Costa, CA, Fire Protection District's Technical Rescue Program's extrication of a man who was trapped in an 18-inch drainage pipe.

UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute’s study to characterize airborne contaminants that might be encountered while investigating a residential fire scene revealed that elevated and hazardous levels of airborne particulate might be encountered during post-fire scene investigation as many as five days after the fire. As such, the feasibility of using alternative respiratory protection measures, including powered air purifying respirators, should be studied, if not considered.

Safety & Health

Research Corner: Airborne Contamination During Post-Fire Investigations

Gavin Horn

Aug. 15, 2022

Gavin Horn explains UL FSRI's study to characterize airborne contaminants that might be encountered while investigating a residential fire scene.

Aug 22 First Due Author Pic 62cf31a6247b6

Careers & Education

First Due: Operating in Today’s Media Environment

Robert Leonard

Aug. 15, 2022

Robert Leonard taps his years of public-information work for FDNY and his lead public and life-safety efforts for a public relations firm to explain fire department officers' ...

Leadership

Live to Fight Another Day

Jared Renshaw

Aug. 15, 2022

Jared Renshaw tells why transparency and embracing change can be vital to fire chiefs' ability to deal with problematic people who are above them in the chain of command.

Health & Fitness

Health & Wellness: Building Psychological Safety for Inclusive Firehouses

Shara O'Neal Thompson

Aug. 15, 2022

Shara Thompson describes four ways that fire chiefs and company officers can make their firehouse/department a place in which diversity of perspective contributes to the enhanced...

Hoselines & Water Appliances

The Fire Scene: Speed Kills—or Does It?

John J. Salka Jr.

Aug. 15, 2022

John J. Salka Jr. is adamant when it comes to rapid fire attack at structural fires, even if it means forgoing widely held beliefs regarding the second hoseline and the second...

EMS

EMS: Blast Zone 101

Richard Bossert

Aug. 15, 2022

Richard Bossert warns that first responders must maintain a high index of suspicion on every terrorism event that involves an explosion.

The alarm levels of the oxygen sensor on a four-gas meter are considered IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health) atmospheres. The low level is 19.5 percent oxygen. At this percentage, SCBA should be used because of possibly toxicity, flammability or hypoxia hazards.

Atmospheric Monitoring

Metering for the First Responder: Oxygen and LEL

Scott Russell

Aug. 15, 2022

Scott Russell explains why firefighters--yes, firefighters, not just hazmat technicians--should be completely familiar with the operations of the oxygen and lower explosive limit...

The fireground commander, or FGC, (right) used a thermal imager (TIC) to confirm extension and the overhang from a car fire. He then ordered the exterior tear and the interior to be opened up more and water to be applied based on exterior use.

Operations & Training

Command & Control Success: Fireground Commander: Understanding the Impact

Curt Isakson

Aug. 15, 2022

Curt Isakson pulls no punches when it comes to impressing upon chiefs who arrive first at a fire that they are 100 percent of the solution for the immediate saving of lives and...