LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Venting the peaked roof
In Letters to the Editor in the September 1990 issue of Fire Engineering, Deputy Chief John Maasz contends that peaked roofs always should be opened on the lee side.
There are two flaws in his statement: First, ventilation should be made as close to the seat of the fire as possible. If you’re over the fire you can draw it right out the vent hole, effectively stopping the spread. If you put the vent hole on the other side of the roof due to the wind, you may draw the fire to the unburned portion of the roof.
Second, if there are rooms under the roof, you may vent over a room that is uninvolved. At best it may have no effect on the fire; at worst you may draw fire into the room.
We should not set hard-and-fast rules in the fire service—only guidelines.
Gary Harrod Fire Chief Township of Dummer Fire Department Ontario, Canada
Operating from an aerial
I would like to comment on your October 1990 cover, which showed a firefighter operating a ladder pipe from the tip of a Jersey City Fire Department aerial truck.
From his vantage point, the firefighter on the fly of the aerial can extinguish spot fire that would be far too dangerous to accomplish internally due to the collapsing roof and floors. The following observations of a safe operation should be noted:
- The truck is on a flat surface and properly chocked.
- The outriggers are extended and the truck is properly stabilized.
- The truck is out of the building “collapse zone.”
- The aerial ladder is a safe distance from any electrical wires.
- There is a safe operating angle of the aerial ladder (above 70° F).
- The firefighter on the fly section is standing on the kick plates.
- There is a firefighter at the turntable controls monitoring conditions.
- Both firefighters are in full protective gear, including bunker pants.
- The pipeman is secured to the ladder with a life belt.
- Smoke and products of combustion are blowing away from the ladder pipe.
To sum it up, there is nothing wrong with this picture, except that it may conflict with some individuals’ personal opinions.
William C. Peters Battalion Chief
Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department
The forgotten fracture
I have been in the fire service since 1967, an NREMT since 1972, and a paramedic since 1981. I find great fault with the assumptions made by Jeffrey A. Busch in “The Forgotten Fracture” (October 1990). We use MAST trousers on a regular basis. The use he suggests is very impractical for a patient entrapped in a vehicle. Most often the patient’s legs are under the dash or the seat. Application of the MAST requires access to all of the legs and the ability to raise the patient’s hips in order to adequately secure the abdomen section. I realize Busch is only talking about the legs, but the abdomen section is not detachable. Proper placement of the MAST is governed by the top edge of the abdominal compartment. Adequate pressure cannot be applied until the victim’s legs are straightened. Most probably severe pressure will be applied to areas of the legs where it is not needed. Application of the MAST as he suggests would require some acrobatic positions by the rescuers.
I have worked many incidents with entrapped patients where the legs are the last to exit the vehicle after successful extrication. Furthermore, I have never seen an entrapped patient who did not have pieces of glass or sharp plastic and metal fragments around and under him. We should be aware that the MAST is easily cut by these fragments as well as rescue personnel, even with the use of leather gloves. From a practical standpoint, if I damage the MAST trying his technique, I may have a unit operating one day to one month without the use of the MAST, depending on replacmcnt time.
Editor’s note: While we have known for some time that our readers are a very involved group of people, response to our November communications issue surprised even us. Frank Holt touched on two areas of current interest with his articles “Shared Dispatching” and “Enhanced 911.” We have received many letters from people whose departments are considering implementing such systems. Thus we are asking readers who have had experiences in these areas— good and bad —to share them with us. Please include a phone number so Frank Holt can get back to you.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The MAST has a unique place in prehospital treatment of accident victims. Proper application is most often done after the victim has been removed from the vehicle or place of entrapment.
Perhaps Busch should spend more time working accidents where he can observe the victim’s position. A good rescue/extrication team does not cut off parts not needed to be removed for access to the victim. In our area KMTs are trained to always check the other doors before assuming the victim is in fact trapped. I am sure that most working paramedics are appalled that a colleague would suggest this technique.
Roger B. Williams
Mobile Intensive Care Paramedic
West Virginia
No standpipe on bridge
This letter is in reference to the article “Writing Specs for Mobile Water Supply Apparatus” by William F. Eckman that appeared in the October 1990 issue.
The article stated that the Francis Scott Key Bridge (1-695) in Baltimore has a standpipe system for fireboats to supply water to land apparatus. This is incorrect. When the bridge was constructed in late 1975. a standpipe system was proposed to the Maryland Toll Facilities by the Baltimore City and County Fire Departments, but the state did not provide binding for the system. Recently interest has been revived in this project.
Denis G. McMahon
Battalion Chief
Fire Communications Bureau
Baltimore, Maryland
Fog vs. solid stream
I am writing to you in regard to the article “Choosing the Right Nozzle” by Gene Carlson (Volunteers Corner, October 1990). I would like to congratulate Carlson for taking on such a controversial issue. To many of us on the West Coast, the use of solid-bore nozzles—like the use of leather helmets—has somehow become symbolic of nonprogressive, dinosaur firefighting (both erroneous conclusions, I believe). Those of us who use solidbore nozzles are convinced of their benefit.
Carlson’s article, although excellent, failed to address several important points. First, he states with regard to fog streams, “The room or area is now filled with steam or water vapor at a temperature of 212° F.” He then goes on to say, “Firefighters want to walk into a burning structure and use the nozzle from a standing position or while in a doorway. It is no wonder they get burned when the steam is generated —even a crouch can be too high!” letter he says that a proper attack must be made from your belly, “since crawling on your hands and knees can be too high.” All this leads me to my first question. How is all this 212°F steam going to affect any potentially entrapped, untrained, nonturnoutand SCBA-protected occupants? 212°F steam everywhere, except possibly the bottom 10 inches of the room, will almost certainly have a devastating effect on them. What about the effect on the search team? Even if they are not burned by an advancing cloud of steam, searching from their bellies in zero visibility isn’t very productive.
Next Carlson says, “This type of attack generates steam that will penetrate into concealed spaces and often extinguish hidden fires.” It is important to realize that the penetrating abilities of steam are not always an asset. The smoke-mud-steam that we find inside burning structures has a tendency to penetrate into every pore of every piece of property in the room or area. If you desire to steam-inject mud into every book, photo, or piece of clothing that might otherwise be salvageable, then steam is your tool. If. however, you hope to extinguish the fire and save as much property as possible you might then want to use a few quick strait stream blasts on the fire and not produce any more steam than is absolutely necessary.
“Fog streams also can be used to push heat ahead of advancing firefighters and provide protection against heat,” says Carlson. The question must be asked, Where and toward whom are we pushing all this heat? I know that most firefighters try to answer this question before they attack, but many still do not.
Finally, I must ask: If both solid and fog streams are effective in extinguishing fire, shouldn’t simplicity of use become an issue? Fog-based attacks, as you must have concluded from the article or foreground experience, are just more complicated and require greater coordination. This means that there are more things that may potentially go wrong.
I hope I have not seemed too critical of the article. I think it was excellent and did the fire service a great deed by raising this issue in a widely read forum like Fire Engineering. I hope we will be hearing much more about the fog vs. solid stream controversy in the near future. Keep the articles and letters coming.
Mark Cohen
Firefighter
Bakersfield (CA) Fire Department
The future of the volunteer fire department
I have been a member of the Sauk Village, Illinois Fire Department for 21 years. Several years ago I read an article that addressed the future of the volunteer fire service, asking if such departments w ere an endangered species. Based on my personal experiences and role within my department, I would answer that the volunteer fire service will continue far into the future.
The costs involved in maintaining even a small full-time paid department are forever increasing due to wages and benefits. It is nearly impossible for small towns and some mediumsize cities to generate enough revenue to provide the necessary funds. I predict that in the future most towns and cities will have a combination department, consisting of both fulltime and volunteer members, with the majority of members still volunteer or on call. We already see this type of organization throughout the country and it will continue to grow in popularity.
Both volunteer and paid members must assume responsibility for fire safety awareness and fire prevention. America is shamefully ahead of most countries in fire losses both to property and life. If we put as much effort into preventing the fire as we do in suppressing it, those of us who work in the fire service can truly be proud! I very seldom feel good after working a fire because we were too late! It is much more satisfying to hear of a child or family who took action to avoid a fire or tragedy.
If our fire safety campaign is successful, many towns and cities may require less full-time firefighters on staff. Every individual who aspires to be or is now a member of the fire service —full-time or volunteermust develop the attitude that “I will do everything in my power, whatever it takes, to prevent that fire from ever getting started!”
The volunteer fire service can be a tremendous ally in the war against rampant fire. It is much easier and less costly for all concerned to prevent that fire than to put it out! When will we all realize that?
Joe Inorio
Captain Sauk Village (IL) Fire Department
Allocate more funds
As a federal firefighter with more than 20 years on the job, I want to take this opportunity to speak out on the matter of public safety. For a number of years our nation has been under a considerable amount of budget restraints and reductions of public funds. This has affected every form of public safety from the volunteer to the federal fire departments. There have been budget reductions in the purchase of equipment, daily operating expenses, training equipment, personnel, and benefits, while there has been a steady increase in the cost of purchasing equipment and apparatus. There have been reductions in manning levels as well. Firefighters are required and expected to do more with less.
It’s time to stop the budget cuts in the fire departments and make available more public funds to purchase more equipment, apparatus, and training and to put more firefighters on the job nationwide. The various forms of federal, state, county, and local governments must take a step forward and not two steps backward and allocate more public funds for fire protection. emergency medical services, rescue services, and hazardous-materials operations. The firefighters of this great nation of ours are the front-line defense for the saving of lives, property, and natural resources from the destruction of fire.
Paul M. Linville
Federal Firefighter Albuquerque, New Mexico
