When a secondary means of egress is not enough…
These photos are of Boston Fire making it happen. We count 5 devices in the first picture. Judging by the second photo, they just about needed a shoehorn to get all the rigs in there! These photos are from firefighterclosecalls.com, originally taken by Chief David Traiforos of Franklin Park, IL.
Now thats getting it done. Be safe
I love it!!
That is what the Boston Jakes mean by ALL Levels and All Sides.
LADDERS, LADDERS, LADDERS, this brings a tear of joy to my eye. It still amazes me that I see a lot of scene pictures with to few or no ladders placed or thown at all. I think as the fire service in general we are getting better but still have a long way to go in reinforcing the importance of laddering buildings. If for nothing else than to give ourselves a fighting chance at getting out alive. I always hear “well there is nothing showing so why thrown ladders” anyone else ever hear this or better yet roll up with nothing showing side A and have crews operating on upper floors to find rapidly deteiorating conditions on side C quickly advancing to side A? Even if you don’t need them the practice you get from throwing them / placing them can’t hurt.
AND THE REST OF US CAN’T EVEN GET 3 GROUND LADDERS UP TO A SINGLE FAMILY DWELLING. GO BEANTOWN!
wow, thats getting it done. great example of how to do it.
Bless the Brothers!!!
That’s what I call True R.I.T. operation’s. If you can’t appreciate that you really need to evaluate your career choice. Stay safe out there Boston sure is trying.
Just was wondering whats going on in this picture and what the point is to having 2 Ladders and 3 Platforms?
Wasn’t Boston taking some heat at this very website a few months ago for their ‘lack of ladders’ at a 3 story? This should more than take care of those that said BFD lost it!
I’ve been pushing our guys to throw ladders anywhere. What I’ve told them is that if your company arrives (engine-truck-squad-ambulance-go kart) and you are not told to advance a line then bring a ladder off some rig and throw it to side A. The strategy is this: A ladder (any ladder) against side A can be moved to a brother in trouble on an upper floor than a ladder still on a rig back at the street. For us, 90% of the fires are in private dwellings or small 2-3 story apartment buildings. I’ve been pushing this for a few years with mixed results. My goal is that it will become as second nature as bringing tools with SCBA. Eventually guys will read the building and smoke as they approach with the ladder and make an educated guess based on conditions as to where to throw the ladder.
I am all for laddering the building but how many folks commit someone to foot the ladder when they bang it?
If you throw that ladder and then it gets bumped, falls and hits a brother what was the point of it being there?
In my area, Dont bang it if you cant foot it.
Mark you miss the whole point!! The ladder is not being manned for active use it is a means of egress for US. So here your choice chance its on a un-footed ladder or bail out the window and now it you vs the ground or burn. I be the guy going down the scary ladder. Footing the ladder is done when active work is being done.
See Ya on the Roof ( Maybe )
Tasmo hit on a great point. This is a great example of par-for-the-course laddering (whether ground ladders or aerial devices – or usually a ton of both) for the BFD. After the mixed comments that Boston companies received in regards to the Mattapan job, it’s nice to see them get their due respect.
How many of us have the ability to get this many trucks to a scene in a practical amount of time, as well as the ‘truck orientation’ within the department for engine companies to leave room for the trucks to position and deploy to best advantage?
Is the engine taking a hydrant? If they’re laying a line, as the ladder company chauffeur, we might as well set the jacks as a bare minimum and think about raising the aerial if we have a stick. Whether the incident turns out to be anything or not, at the bare minimum we were ready and had a good little ‘drill’ in setting up…this parlays to setting up quickly, smoothly and correctly the first time without having to think about it when the company rolls into a real job.
Be safe.
Lots of depts. are throwing up ladders…thats a great habit to get into…..thats only one part of the solution…throwing them up correctly for emergency egress is the second part…..and training (over and over) on how to use them in an emergency situation is the third.
Awesome photos by the way….if ya got’em…use’m.
This is truck company work at it’s best…Ladders, Ladders, Ladders…there can never be too many ladders. I am thoroughly impressed with the ladder operators getting these trucks in the positions they are in…Awesome Job!! This is the stuff that keeps us safe Brothers…Yes, we save lives, but we save ourselves too!! God Bless The Brothers of Boston Fire.
As it turns out reps from Playboy had rented the upper floor of this building while they were holding auditions for their future photo essay, “The Girls Of Beantown”.
🙂
Nothing like a little motivation to get the job done.
This looks pretty good. It makes for a great picture. Raising the big, hydraulically powered aerial ladder does not seem to be a problem in most places. In fact, look at the fire in Mattapan. There was one ladder to the roof and it was thru the fire. I know if that fire was where I work, they would have had a second aerial ladder to the rear of the building, thus providing that much needed second means of egress (remember that from your very first ladder class?) The problem seems to be when we go to the 2, 3 and 4-story buldings or when the fire is below the 4th floor on a high-rise. You know, like where we need to throw the ground ladders. Yeah, the manual powered ground ladders that might slow us down from getting inside and smokin up our helmets.
this pic is good to go. there are a lot of companies/departments that should take a hint from beantown fire. well done boys.
That picture is of a wrap up to a 4 alarm fire. We haven’t lost our laddering ability, no matter what people of been writing about. TCDCFD, do you actually think that aerial was placed thru the fire? The chauffers job, which is our roof man, is to get to the roof and vent. The reason there wasn’t a ladder in the rear was because both ladder companies were rescueing 13 people from INSIDE the building. So please keep your cute little sayings to yourself. I’ll stack our truckies against anybody. By the way thanks for the ladder class…
Great pic, especially from a chauffer’s standpoint. This goes to show what regular training, knowing your equipment capabilities, and determination to get your company into the game can do. 4 Roof is dead on when he says “Truck oriented department.” It’s nice to see the engine co’s didn’t waste space with their rigs and hoses. In the 1st pic, the 2 Trucks to the far right(D side) are in a great position to sweep multiple windows & balconies on the upper floors for victim rescue. This is especially important since it appears ground ladders would probably not reach the top floor, if not the top 2 floors. BFD Truck you guys definitely have NOT lost your laddering ability! Great Job Boston.
I don’t want to question the pics but no sign of smoke/fire or fire fighters working?? Looks like a PR pic to me, and a bit overkill by the way, maybe three areal devices, question how many fire fighters were working (if any) in the structure? I guess the fire blew itself out because the engine could not make the block to put the fire out!! Come on guys you have got to be kidding me !!
BFD Truck…EXCELLENT JOB to you and Boston Fire!!!
Keep up the good work and maintain the pride in your department:) I am sure Boston Fire knows all about how to use ground ladders. A former truck captain of mine told me to use our aerial if I felt we needed to use a 35 foot ground ladder or above. He taught us to deploy our aerial so rapidly that we could have the aerial placed well before several firefighters could get the 35 foot, 3 section ladder off the truck and properly placed. Truck work is dynamic…that’s what makes truck work so awesome!! If this photo had shown ground ladders to every window, and every side, then we would be sending KUDOS for that reason. This photo is deserving of the awesome aerial laddering that has taken place. A true truck company knows what they are doing, and we should definitely support great efforts like the photos in discussion here. Boston performed an outstanding job here, lets congratulate them on a job well done.
I like your idea DREW… Ill be noting this in my company as well as the surrounding ones we work with to make sure this also becomes a second nature for our guys. I was remembering a fire last summer which we only through a 24 ft. and roof ladder on the A side and at the end of the fire we had to run back and grab a 35 ft. for the C side because one of our men could climb back up the roof to the front. Nice picture by the way Boston.
This is a video of a two year old VESing his playhouse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HiF_IqhVAU
Hey brickcity1306, it was a 5 story occupied residential bldg, with fire in the walls everywhere. The fire origin was on a balcony on a VERY windy day. It was a 3rd alarm, which means appx. 80 firefighters INSIDE the fire building stretching lines, opening walls and ceilings, chasing it down. Maybe that’s why you don’t see anyone. It’s called agressive interior attack, by the way.
Brothers, Brothers, Please… Let’s just talk fire!
I’m sorry, but I had to edit two small parts of people’s comments to this post. I hope you understand why… We have kept a positive tone on this site for over two years, and would like to continue to do so. You don’t have to agree with each other, and you don’t have to agree with us, but please let’s not start personal attacks. Everyone is welcome on this site, and everyone has different opinions. That’s what makes this site educational and entertaining. We can all get our point across without direct personal attacks on each other. Remember we are all here for the same reason…
-Jimm-
I wish some of the truckies here would learn to work as a truck company. I would kill for this many aerials and the right placement in our area. Great job.
Jimm,, I understand but in the fire service we are brutally honest as I am sure you know.. I am not trying to put down bash or question any depmarent. It kills me how some people on this site get there panties in a bunch when questioned or apposed, the same mindset is what holds some depmarent’s back. Boston is a very proactive depmarent and I am sorry but it still seems like overkill to me.. That being said it is a truckles wet dream!!
Impressive is all I can say. Good job Boston.
Just as food for thought…
If all of the aerial devices deployed at this job were ground ladders instead, would anyone think that it was overkill, or that it was an outstanding laddering job?
Just curious.
If one wanted to get a little philosophical, they could make the statement that a ladder company comes equipped with four main facets/area of capability.
A – THE CREW – trained, motivated and with a plan.
B – The tools. Anything and everything from hooks to shovels to hydraulic rescue tools…everything on board that can be used to do work by the assigned members.
C – Ground ladders. Portable means of entry and egress that take a relatively minimal amount of space to deploy.
D – The aerial device. The longest ladder on board, another means of entry and egress that one member can set up and deploy and maneuver; a means of shuttling people and equipment and for delivering water from an elevated position if necessary, among many other capabilities.
The way I see it, ladder company members (like people in all companies) should be thinking about ways to use all of the capabilities of their company to best advantage to mitigate the situation. While the crew, tools and ground ladders don’t really need to be spotted as close to the fire building(s) as possible to do their job, the other 25% of the truck’s capability – the aerial device, does.
Keeping this in mind and barring orders to the contrary by the IC, the truck crew should make every attempt to get their rig into a position to use the aerial. While we may not always be able to get the ‘real estate’ for a variety of reasons, if we routinely decide to forget about raising the aerial and use the rig as a taxi, we might as well trade the ladder company apparatus in for a crew-cab pickup truck with some sort of heavy duty ladder rack on the roof.
Now…we’ve got the people, the tools, the ground ladders and the aerial. Most of the people have taken their tools, have likely thrown a ladder or two and are now using their tools in and around the fire building. Again, barring other orders, the driver might as well put the remaining 25% of their rig’s capability to work by throwing the jacks, taking a look at the situation and putting their aerial device at a location that will provide a (hopefully) proactive means of egress for members working either on (porches, roof) or inside the building.
Again – being cut off from your roof egress in changing conditions and finding another aerial device waiting for you – or having to find another (previously unplanned) way out of a building and finding a ladder at a window can turn a MAYDAY into a calm descent, a cylinder change and a rapid return to getting some work done – without the increased heart rate and RIT deployment.
If we brought it with us, we’re in a spot to use it and can provide some added security to the folks working at the fire, we might as well use 100% of our truck instead of 75% (or 50%) and put some metal up in the air.
A final thought on getting position:
It takes a lot less time for the engine to add on a length or two that it does to tack weld an extra fly onto the aerial.
Be safe.
Very well said 4 Roof,I hope you don’t mind I am taking some of that and adding it to my PowerPoint.
Hi,
can anyone help me out with some contact details of the photographer in order to ask if this pictures could be used for publications?
Thx in advance…
Try this:
Chief David Traiforos
firedept@vofp.com
Now THAT’S TRUCKWORK!! Nice Job Boston brothers! I would love to see ladder work like this in our department. A building of that size has multiple places where FF’s can become lost or disoriented; so why not have multiple avenues of egress and/or entry for firefighters doing their jobs. If ya’ got it, use it! Stay safe!
I wouldn’t expect any less from such an old & established FD that does this kind of work on a regular basis. Great pic, BTW NOBODY is perfect every time!
I’m hoping everyone knows the BFD’s reputation for excellent truck work which explains the use of so many aerial and ground ladders for a single incident. My FD has to aerials and it’s only if the right crews are working that we can come close to something like this. If you have the resources, this is what it should look like!
If we all take a look at the placement of all the aerials, there’s nothing out of place here. 2, possibly 3 means off of the floor (judging by the aerial least visible) and 2 means off of the roof. There might be more on the C side of the building that we can’t see. dj, I can’t agree with you more. Everyone knows the great reputation of the BFD truck companies. I’m suprised we don’t see just as many ground ladders!
Good Job!!!!
This is almost pointless there is no reason that there should be this much of a cluster on the fire ground. Unless theres 5 Trucks on everyside of the building its pointless.
What if fire took the entire side of that building not only would you be trapped but the rigs would have to move and in the time that takes you would be dead inside…
OVERKILL
Oh boy Jason look out!!!! Some knuckle draggers in here take offense to criticism. I will admit at first I agreed with you, but after reading some posts and finding out more about the job I am not sure. I am still leaning toward overkill but what the hell, if it’s there and you got a good shot put it up.. It is a good example of what a well trained schoffer can do with minim space.
Nice job! and about the “manual” ladder comments….be a stretch to get them safely operating to the third floor and up here would’nt it?….know that i’d much rather come down a bucket/arial…especially with a grab!
the more ways out the better and I’m seeing lotsa options here!
great pic.
Big fan of the very small outrigger spread of the E-One as compared to that of the Pierce. E-One is the way to go for aerials.
That’s just impressive. Nice job Brothers…nice job.