Michael Cox from Rock Hill (SC) Fire Department sent in these photos of an interesting fire that the crews from Rock Hill were recently faced with.
The crews quickly discovered that it was the roof decking that was burning; however, they were having a difficult time accessing and extinguishing the portion of the roof decking that was on fire. The roof system they encountered is called a Ventilation Rib System. The system consists of a corrugated metal decking, 4 inches of Styrofoam insulation, 7/16†OSB, and then finally covered with asphalt shingles. The system is designed to maintain a steady airflow under the shingles to keep them cool.
In this particular fire, the insulation was burning in-between the metal decking and the OSB, making for the stubborn fire and difficult access. The crews discovered that once the main body of fire was knocked down, simply backing out the 6†screws was the most effective way to open it all up for overhaul. Several crews spent nearly 9 hours removing the decking and performing overhaul.
Oh Jesus, here we go…..
Ya gotta stop posting this “interesting and informative” crap. I wanna see leaf blowers and PPV failure type stuff…
Sorry…I just can’t help myself (it’s that damn DMAN72’s fault!!!!!!) ;o)
Nice catch, by the way.
I’m on the busiest engine and have never seen this before.
I guess you’re busiest engine doesn’t work outta Rock Hill, SC.
We have had 3 roof fires like this on 4 story new construction. Our causes we welding on the underside. We have made mock roofs to get the best k-12 blade to cut trench cuts to gain access (Piraya Diamond Blade). Shovels and cordless drills to remove shingles and plywood is the best option but the screw takes a special star bit.
We’re starting to see more and more of this in our area, always wondered what problems it woud cause. We’re also seeing it combined with a newer type of metal truss that looks like stamped steel members (think stop sign “u-post” but thinner) and held together with machine screws. Good to know somebody figured out an “easier” way to expose the decking…nine hours…whew!
Yep. And it only took them 24 hours to put it out.
Well if these guys would have had the same training As Charlotte fire dept it would have not taken them 24 hours. Get in the attic and put the fire out u wimps
I’m sure this is not the oddest thing out there. Adapt and overcome, isn’t that what we do on every call?
Obviously Bigman is ignorant and doesn’t think attacking from the attic was tried. Ever heard of working smarter not harder? Amazing how it can work to your advantage and not get people hurt or killed. You might want to try it sometime, unless you would rather show off your tough guy image.
Well firechick, all I was saying was I have never been to a fire that took that long to put out! 24hours??? Come on. Maybe a wildland fire, wich I am sure neither u nor I have been to. Just face it that it has nothing to do with being a tough guy. It all comes down to Rock Hill having a lack of training to fight big fires like that. Rock Hill is very stubborn and hard headed. Come on firechick don’t take it personal I am just stating the facts. Plus the guy that wrote this article could probably use some more training himself. Was he even at the fire? If so where was he? In the parking lot with a camera, filling air bottles, or is he with the auxillary? Just asking here since you jumped right in. Thanks for the input
Damn Bigman…Ease up. If you don’t like RHFD or Mike that’s fine, but don’t get pissy about the way they train or fight fire until you’re in the same boat. He’s just trying to share information of new construction that some people may not have seen before. Think about it, RHFD doesn’t have unlimited resources and can’t put 200 personnel on a fire scene initially because they don’t have it. Try fighting the same fire under the same circumstances with minimal amount of people and I bet your scene would be close to the same. Lastly, we all could use more training! Remember…Bottles are for babies, tanks are for the military, and we use cylinders in the fire service.
Jeez another fire in a building that isn’t in my first due…….. 😉
Anyways ……
Bigman, 24 hours? I thought it said 9?
Apparently the attic was never involved.
Quote: “Rock Hill Fire Department determined that the fire started outside the building on a small section of flat roof located where Owens Hall and Bancroft Annex join.”
Marked is a section of flat roof where the fire may have started.
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e193/funepics/OwensHall-2.jpg
As you can see there is a lot of roof connecting to that area, well over 15,000 square feet. As stated these ffs had to disassemble the roof.
That said, I don’t know how much was actually involved.
For anyone interested:
http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/03/09/2005075/damage-to-owens-hall.html
Hey I am just the messanger for a lot of people. Rumor has it the fire could have been controlled very quickly with the proper training. Where I am from that doesn’t require 200 people. Damn that’s alot of people. Poor mike
I think the term would be pawn. Anyway, The initial response only had 15 personnel. Is that the same where you are from messenger?
Bigman, you must not run much fire if you have enough time to listen to and participate in the rumor mill. Maybe you need to shut your trap and do a little work. Unless YOU were there and YOU were working I don’t think YOU have much room to criticize anybody.
It appears that this type of construction is a growing trend. Thank you to the original poster for sharing the difficulties they faced.
O irons man don’t get your thong in a wad. There u go taking it personal. I happen to know for a fact that rhfd has trouble putting there fires out. We heard this morning they renamed it. It is still rhfd but the r changed it is now rekindle fire department
Why is it that trash talking is beginning to take over this site? Aside from dogging out a fire department, the only thing that makes a post creator look more ignorant is the lack of grammatical skills and poor spelling that they use to communicate their nonsense.
Ahem, Bigman, if you are gonna call out a fire department, at least have the stones to not hide behind a nickname.
New version of a Rain Roof, know your territory stop and get out of the Rig and see what is going on your life and life of others depends on it……
I thought beer comes in bottles and we get water from tanks 🙂
13 truck. It’s all in fun little guy. Now u have taken it personal. Bigman is the nickname my mom gave me so call it hiding if u wish. I am just very overweight. As for the spelling I am doing it from my phone so I really don’t give a sh$&? What u think about the spelling. Thanks for the input tho this is what blogs are all about
Bigman…Well if these guys would have had the same training As Charlotte fire dept it would have not taken them 24 hours. Get in the attic and put the fire out u wimps
Another comment from a brainwashed Charlotte firefighter. Nope, CFD would have put 150+ FF’s in the attic and cut off the oxygen and saved the day. It’s the idiots like Bigman who give that FD a black eye.
Amen truckee 13
“simply backing out the 6†screws was the most effective way to open it all up for overhaul”
How many drills do they carry on their truck?
Hey, Bigman, I’ll retract the brainwashed CFD FF comment. Don’t know if you are with the CFD or not. That’s not right of me, made it out of anger. Got a lot of friends on that FD. Sorry. Just remember, fires burn the same in Charlotte as they do all across the country. It’s about the amount of people you can throw at them and CFD is blessed with manpower. We all are doing the same job in the end.
Hey bigman. As you stated “renamed there FD rekindle”. I know of no rekindles that has happened to RHFD, so the best thing you can do is get you facts straight before saying anything. By the way you must have got your training from the so call rumor mill you listen to or better yet lack of training!
Why is it that everytime there is a post on here anymore, people turn in to a bunch of high school girls only not hot? Grow up, @ssholes! And, I can’t believe no one has mentioned the lack of PPE yet!
Damn at the bitching!
Looks like they did a good job, since nothing burned up other than the roof.
Thanks for the view of something that we don’t all get to see.
Getting back to what this site is about: What is the best way to open that mother up for ventilation?
I just checked, this address is in fact almost 600 miles out of my trucks running area.
Regardless, here’s another picture for scale.
..which btw, is how I get paid. 🙂
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e193/funepics/OwensHall2.jpg
I have been to several fires that have taken multiple hours to be extinguished….the most recent was a warehouse with 4000 pallets, and 2 fork lifts on fire…fire was through the roof on our arrival and it eventually collapsed on top of it self. So we protected exposures and waited for heavy equipment to come in so we could fully extinguish the fire. I went to a fire in a cookie factory that took 3 days to put out, and I went to a fire in a tractor trailor shop were 4 tractor trailors were on fire inside the garage area that took 2 days to put out.
Moral of the story sometimes no matter how big, or well trained your FD is your gonna go to fires were you have already lost when you get there.
This is a great find and I have not seen it in my area yet but will definetly be on the look out for it.
Lastly the only thing big on Bigman is his mouth and ego….both of which he needs to check at the door.
Keith102,
The best way to vent these are to use natural openings such as skylights or roof access doors if availible. K-12 is the best bet if you have to cut it. Remember you have shingles, Osb or plywood, foam and then metal. A vent saw cut to the metal and then the k-12 would also work. The main problem is fire that runs through the foam and underneath the plywood and shingles due to the metal rib vents running horizontal to the pitch of the roof. A great roof to trench cut in that situation.
Thanks smokeyjoe.
After a second look, it is not as thick as I thought it was. I wasn’t sure if the K-12 would cut deep enough to get all the way through the vents. I’m just glad that I wasn’t on that roof. That just looked terrible.
i went to this universtiy and attented my classes in the very building. its a very nice looking buidling good stop RFD and al the mutal aid
Did they pull the meter before begining roof ops? Also, a centaur stomp or donkey kick should have been able to remove the roofing materials.
One more thing…. Altho I think this is going to open up a can of worms, but, PPE?? Or lack there of?
Tough work. Poor access to what’s burning, large area. Anything under plywood/OSB is protected from water. Structural support is corrugated steel, shouldn’t cut it. Suggest cutting a trench ahead of suspected fire area (defne with TIC), working back. Insulation board is somewhat hydrophobic, 1/2% A-foam would help with wetting, like a tire fire.
Extended operations (9 hours) on roof, consider fall protection.
Good post.
LAD288, Power was controlled at the building prior to ops. There is a little more involved than just pulling a meter with a building this size, however power was cut off. PPE. Roofing shovels were used to remove the shingles. You must be talking about the roof ops picture. Any good officer will allow his operations to decide what ppe is required. Under these conditions these guys were working in 70 degree heat, on top of a roof. The main part of the smoke was B/C corner. To maximize your people they need to be kept in working condition. The screws were spaced appr. 6″ apart and 8″ wide A k12 was tried, but with around 16 screws per every 2 sq feet cutting trenches were pointless. Going into the attic and hitting it like some people have said, was tried. Unless they invent water that will go through about 12″ of concrete then it wouldn’t work. The crews had appr 2-3 hrs of daylight to operate before it turned dark. From 6pm-8:30am the fire was contained to the structure and not allowed move to 2 adjoining buildings. It’s kinda funny to listen to people that have 30 something firefighters respond to a house fire talk about how they are so superior in firefighting. Maybe they need to work on their pt instead of going to so many classes, because every time they have a fire 2 or more usually goes to the hospital for heat exhaustion.
Aaaarrrggg….aarrggg. I can’t take criticism so Im going to insult everyone and their firefighting abilities. That’s what real men do! Hey, remember that time the guy in Indy had to bail out the window?
Dang DMAN who is the new crap sturrer he makes us look like good guys LOL
ANYWAYS…..
Brought this up to the crew at AM Tailboard for discussion… Questions we had:
1- Was the insulation “glued” to the OSB, like what we find in SIPS construction?
1B- If so, was the skin of the OSB offset from the foam to produce a “tongue & groove” / interlocking panel, like what we would find on some EFIS siding on many commercial constructions?
2- Would a sawzall (with like a 6″ blade) or a circ saw been able to be used to plunge next to the screw head and cut @ 45* angle to ‘pop’ the head off, like what we would do on carriage bolts of a drop bar assembly on a outward swinging mandoor?
Definately looks like it was a pain in the @$$. I’m not going to lie on feeling a little uneasy with the crew working in what appears to be a non-urgent stage w/o fall protection. That is just coming from my contractor days and OSHA/workers comp view… It is a bit of a drop down there working with wet OSB, loose materials, bunker boots, etc… It’s not the fall that hurts, it’s that sudden stop at the end. Again (before some of our younger posters comment).. It is just an observation from someone who understands how we “take care of business” in the Fire Service, but also would consider so that everyone makes it home and could enjoy a good brew off duty…
Just a few productive questions is all.. Thanks for the post.
This is for Bigman, you can reach me at Rock Hill fire station 5 on 3-27-10 and just about every 3 rd day after that just give me a call and i’ll be happy to assist you with setting up a training session for you to come teach us your superior ways. We are always open to a firefighter of your caliber to come and train us. I look forward to hearing from you. Just ask for BIG
Please God, don’t let this site become Firehouse.com…
Fear not my son(s).
Besides Jimm won’t let that happen. 😉
We’re also starting to see these roofs covered with Spanish tile as well as with the stamped metal trusses (makes me nervous about weight issues). Interestingly enough, the next town over just built a fire station with this type of roof construction. Definitely something relevant to my area, as we also found another one on a preplan visit this week.
To answer some of the valid questions that have been posted, I will try to address the overhaul process. When we began our efforts the next day there were still some areas burning on the roof. Fall protection was priority #1. Anyone working on the B side of the roof were wearing ladder belts and tied off if they were working past the peak. The D side had a flat roof just below where we were working and this is actually were we found our anchor points. Some of this can be seen in one of the pics. Two handlines were stretched from a platform set up at the A/D corner. Water was used for extinguishment, cooling hot spots, and washing debris off the roof that was either burned or part of the removal process. Since this was not an emergent process at this point it was an easy decision to systematically remove the roof materials above the ribbed metal roof. There was minimal damage to the attic except were the 2 buildings connected so to provide customer service to the university we wanted to keep the metal roof intact. Using 3 cordless drills and corded battery packs(power came from the platform, L5)we backed out the screws. To get to the screws though we had to remove shingles and tar paper with shingle shovels and flat shovels. Each 4ft x 8ft sheet of OSB had a 4ft x 8ft x 4in sheet of Styrofoam insulation board attached. Where each row of screws were there was an additional strip of 1/2in foam to keep the layers tight and still allow air to move around between the layers. It did not appear to me that the layers were connected in any other way, but screwed together. Cutting the screws at 45 degree angles is a great idea, but since we were not in emergency mode and again, providing customer service, we chose to back out the screws. I hope this helped with some of the questions. BTW, yes I did assist in filling air cylinders too. We are a small department and everyone pitches in where the work needs to be done. 🙂
Great post Mike
Im back…. Big you sound upset. Are you trying to steal my nickname that i hide behind? what would you guys like to train on first? I train people every day so i will get you on the schedule as soon as possible. I will have my secretary Lil Man call you as soon as possible. Just be patient i understand that yall are undertrained and need help soon. Fear not BIG help is on the way.. Thanks in advance for accepting my skills
Thanks for the post Mike. Sounds like an interesting experience to say the least. Nevermind the “trolls”, seems like it’s becoming the sign of a good post these days 😉
Though I’ve never worked alongside RHFD, I would show little apprehension if given the opportunity. To me they are a pretty well oiled machine with the same little problems that eveery paid service faces. The initial IC of this fire taught me my fundamentals and is pretty much my hero. I proudly represent the volunteer service provided in York County in the Lake Wylie area. Even though red tape has formed between our rural and urban fire services throughout the county, I would still contact the RHFD before CFD. If we were ever faced with a major deflagration in Lake Wylie, atleast Rock Hill would show up. CFD won’t cross the bridge without a check waiting. If I’m wrong, please prove me wrong. All I know is everytime we need help, we have to call Steele Creek and CFD is closer. Please don’t think I don’t respect the CFD. I respect anyone who is willing to help others, especially volunteers.
scfireemt – The electric meter comment has been an ongoing joke on here for sometime now. I know that a comm bldg takes more than just a meter being pulled. I don’t need a lesson in that… As for the PPE, I will agree, that yes at times, it is difficult to work in warmer temps, however, it needs to be worn. That being said, looks like the brothers did one hell of a job.
FTM-PTB-RFB
Hey guys, Im a little late on this one but I have a question. In the post it says “The system consists of a corrugated metal decking, 4 inches of Styrofoam insulation, 7/16†OSB, and then finally covered with asphalt shingles.” And looking at the second picture im confused.
I see the foam and the osb, but what is the other in between, is it two 2″ foam or what?
the cross section in the pic is taken at the roof access door coming from the attic. The layers of Styrofoam are obscured due to metal flashing. You are looking at the 4in Styrofoam with the 1/2in(maybe thicker in this area)strip where the 6in screws are,then OSB, tar paper and Shingles. The metal flashing keeps you from seeing the entire layer of Styrofoam board. I hope that helps.
Uh…am I the only one that noticed the 3rd pic with a bunch of people standing on an exposed roof that has just been burned to hell?
…just making sure I’m still sane…
I have done some searching and can’t seem to find much on this roof construction type. Is the benefit mainly just the advanced cooling properties? Would this construction type only be expected in areas with high heat issues? It would not appear to be inexpensive.
And IronCan, just my $0.02 but from looking at the pictures and the bit of info posted, I would assume that the OSB (the burned material) is not part of the structural support. It looks to me like the structural stability comes from the metal sheeting over the metal trusses. I would assume the OSB is simply a medium for mounting the foam and shingles. I iniitially thought the same thing.
Kudos, brothers, for putting in the extra hours of work to deliver that higher level of customer service. Glad to hear a challenge was overcome successfully and safely.
LAD288, I kinda figured you knew with the way you were asking questions. I would say I was being “facetious” but can’t spell it.
Ironcan, If you noticed in the pic, anyone standing on the B-Side has a safety belt on with rope attached. Operations allowed anyone on the d-side to go without. There was no chance of the roof collapsing. The fire never burned to the steel trusses. The roof was no more than a 5/12.
Bigman, I usually try and stay out of childish rants and raves, but you kinda remind me of some people that I’ve met over the years. They yell the loudest, scream how much they know, but every time the poop hits the fan their bottle seems to malfunction, their boots slip off, face mask falls off, sits in rehab for 2hrs, feet hurt or always seem to be missing when it comes to actually getting into the heat. Remeber, we do not judge ourselves as firefighters, but are judged by our brothers. Listening to you chat away, I can tell what kind of firefighter ( I use the term loosley )you seem to be. Shut your mouth for a bit around your station and listen to what they say. I bet you would be surprised that you are not quite as good as you think and nobody really likes you. Just saying!!
Big, Don’t give out your info anymore.
LAD288: now now dont go getting your panties in an uproar. All thos e things you said about me, were you standing around the corner watching me? Man you got me pegged how did you know all that stuff about me? My mom doesnt know that much about me!!! You are good i bet everybody around your firehouse likes you. You were probably the most popular guy in school. But maybe since i am a division chief somebody liked me or maybe as you would see it i probably got that rank somehow. But you are rite i am scared to death of fire and i run when the big stuff comes. But guess what i get paid alot of money to not know SH@#$…. Thanks for bringing my bad skills to light you have just crushed me amongst all the fans i have on this site…. Poor Mike he never saw this coming..
Bigman, you are clearly not a DC, and if you are you should be stripped of rank. I’m sure the citezens in your community would love to know how you feel about other departments, and how you interact with other members of the trade. It really, clearly shows how you are as a person. I pity anyone that works with you, or under you.
Mike,Thanks for the info and pictures! I found this to be very informative, and sure hope most everyone else learned something through all of this too! Man that Mike is a real Jam Up kinda guy! I wish there were more like you out there!
RYAN, come on man how did you figure it out so fast. now you are one smart guy. How do you do it. You know what i am gonna call the city council members and turn myself in. Tell them what a bad person i really am. Thank you for opening my eyes to that. Ryan Ryan Ryan, thank you so much for helping me out today. Man i feel so much better. Well gotta run the phone for the Best Firefighter in the world just rang and i guess i have to answer it…… Thanks again talk to ya soon. Hell ya never know may run into ya at a fire sometime. You will know me when you see me i will be the guy that his shield on his helmet reads “BIGMAN”
Keep on posting Goober! P-town is proud!
Please don’t feed me.
As I said, I am already “overweight”.
I will not feed the troll, I will not feed the troll, I will not feed the troll…
Bigman, come to a fire of mine, your attiude is what causes people like me to “accidentally” knock you down the basement stairs..
Ryan thats not nice… You are turning violent. But guess what you are feeding the troll you just dont know it…
SmokeyJoe23: What in the world is P-Town? And Who you calling goober? i am fat thats why they call me BIGMAN not Goober.
They did good and by not damaging any more than they had too. Isnt it life then property protection. we get paid for 24hours, and as long as we have a good ics system and rotate crews then its not a big deal. each there own. I bet they probably learned a lot from this fire, far more than we learned from the post, but we still learned.
bigman hit the gym, obviously you are unable to be taught or teach. learn your trade from the rumor mill and over weight. if anything you should know that heart disease kills more of us than anything else and you already have one MAJOR risk factor. obesity is usually coupled with hypertension, and diabetes. so i am going to bet you have 3 risk factors.
stay safe, have fun and learn on every call…oh yeah dont poison the new comers into the field.
the above post is from mike s not the mike that started the trend to clarify
Mike mike hes our man if hes cant do it then nobody can!!!! GOOOOO MIKE!!!(The one that posted the pics)
He called you a Goober!Ha ha ha.
I logged onto VES to see if there was anything new…rather I see some things never change IE Fireman are our own best worst enemies. Lets bring this site back to what it was intended to be, interesting, educational, and fun to read. I’m not going to mention any name but for a “Division Chief” to carry himself (or herself I don’t know?) and speak the way he/she does on a public forum (or private) I too would use a different name in fear of being demoted. You got that position for a reason please continue the jobs tradition of passing down lessons learned with out slapping everyone around here with elementary BS. All your input is apprecaited but show your professionalism? starting now. I’m not looking for a fight or a comeback, I know your “whitty” and will suggest a thong in my pants, I don’t care, a good instructor? awesome! Lets learn and bring Lets bring VES back to a professional site it was intended to be. If someone wants more firehouse banter go visit Firehouse.com and waste everyone elses time there.
Now…. back to having the GREATEST JOB ON EARTH!
Be safe Brothers! IAFF PROUD.
Hope everyone made it home safe from this event that recieved 66 comments that were half useless, and the next fire will be easier for someone who may go “wait there may be an odd void space under the roof sheeting, I saw that once on VES. I best go back to enjoying my off day.
Since this topic seems to be taking off and no doubt there have been a lot of people looking at it, I would like to take a moment and say congrats to Jimm and his wife on their new baby girl!
Keep the great info coming Capt. and enjoy your time off.
Now, back to the bickering.
bigman more than likely has no affiliation with CFD. CFD is blessed in so many ways…manpower being one.
How about FULL turnouts?.. Hitting hot spots during a roof operation… This stuff should be basic FF1. The officer needs to lead by example.
I guess another way CFD is blessed would be that bigman has no affiliation with them. Surely this thread isn’t over.
At a new school construction in Burien WA they had a roof fire just like that a couple years back started by welding. I think at one time they had 8 ladder companies working by the roof piece by piece. Someone finally got a hold of the contractor who had an excavator there with a thumb on the bucket and he just started peeling it off. No use to beat yourself up if you don’t have to.
Medic what does FF1 say about operating for extended periods with a core temperature over 100.The turnouts are designed to protect ff’s during interior operations and/or extreme fire events and does this quite well.The downside of course is that turnouts;even with all the modern”breathable fabrics” still keep alot of heat trapped in with the body.Working while having elevated core temperatures is very stressful on mind and body(elevated BP,Pulse,lethargy,fatigue,heat exhaustion ,poor decision making,sloppy work and any number of other maladies can be associated with an over stressed body)Lines are in place and other safety equipment is being worn(helmets,bunkers,gloves) the chance of some catastrophic flare up is basically nill. Letting the body cool off naturally during extended overhaul in a low risk environment IMO far outweighs any benefit of always being in full turnouts all the time in any situation.Looks like common sense prevailed for these hard working crews.
Sorry MFD and some others on this site but if you don’t have the needed resources then get them rather it be personnel on a hot day or apparatus.. Shortage and working environment which leads to over working of personnel is no excuse EVER for shortcuts. That is why and how we continue to kill and injure fire fighters every day.. May I suggest you go to billys site or niosh, read a couple of incidents and if it does not make you say WTF and shake your head you are on a fast lane to a LODD or a injury. I know it is much cooler to be on a roof for a day making unsafe shortcuts but it is way way overdue for a change in the service. No offence or disrespect to the brothers on this job or the officers, there is a million ways to do a job and we all have our own ways to get the job done. Can you tell I am a courage to be safe instructor,, if you don’t know who we are check us out,,, Everyone goes home is a lot more than a cool warm and fuzzy feeling saying..
Be safe
Hose
Well brickcity I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.I did not say ,do not call in extra resources,what i’m saying is anytime you are working completely packaged up you will be overheating and putting great stress on your body.The sooner you can get out of the gear the better.A large part of those LODDs and injury are due to heart attacks and heat stress.I think in cases such as this(exterior overhaul in hot conditions with smoldering fire) that fully packaging up has a much higher likelihood of ending in an LODD or injury resulting in everyone not going home.Than if you are working sans coat and allowing your body to cool itself.So I don’t look at this as an “unsafe shortcut” but rather,a safer alternative
I’m late to the bitch fest but I was one of many in the attic and it was a hard fire to get too. As far as Bigman goes RHFD trains. Go back to listening to your scanner and armchair firefighting.
Excellent job Mike. Thank you for taking your time to share all of this information. You are an excellent firefighter and I am proud to have had the chance to fight fires and work with you for six years. Keep up the great work and this information will surely help us all in the future.
Bigman. I hear your Minitor going off!!!!
WOW, so much bickering, just a guy sharing information about construction that nobody has seen and it turns into a battle over whos fire department has the biggest kahonas and who has more training, its not about that, quite frankly big or small department, you may have issues like this arise, bashing someone b/c their department supposedly lacks the training and manpower, geez cmon guys we all do the same job.. (Last time I checked). I am from a very small career department, our county had 4 people to a 24 hour shift and we have to rely on volunteers that normally dont show up, so at night and over weekends, we may see on an initial dispatch for a fire, 7-10 people without mutual aid response, I garantee a fire like that woulda taken several hours. 9 hours isnt bad, used to work in a big city with 250 plus firefighters on the job and had ome fires that took 16+ hours to put out because of the size and complexity of the incident.
Kudos to Mike for the information on the rib construction, something i definitely dont see where I am from but have the potential too I am sure..
I have encountered this before on a fire about a year ago. I will tell you that you definitely need a ton of manpower to overhaul this, especially a larger roof. Bring your carpenter knives as well!
Why aren’t those guys in full bunker gear with air packs
im guessing that its a hot day, but fireground safty
should outway comfort