(fireengineering.com)

By John F. “Skip” Coleman, Technical Editor

A few months back, I wrote a blog on fireengineering.com and received a lot of negative feedback. My intent was to take a national problem that has plagued the fire service for more than 100 years and attempt to simplify it into very understandable and direct terms. Many departments and organizations have attempted to reduce firefighter fatalities. Some efforts are very parochial, while some organizations have written many pages on the subject, intended to culturally change the fire service as a whole in its tradition-laden practices. My blog provided three things that I believe a firefighter could do to lessen the chances of being killed while on the job: (1) drive your apparatus or personal vehicle as if your kids were riding with you; (2) develop and use a way to determine if the atmosphere you are in is getting too hot (especially too quickly); and (3) try to stay in shape physically.

This month’s Roundtable question is, What is the one best thing an individual firefighter can do to keep from getting killed on the job? You will find the Roundtable question and instructions on answering it on the Fire Engineering homepage at http://emberly.fireengineering.com. 

FIRE LIFE

This month on Fire Life (www.firelife.com), check out Anne Gagliano’s two-part series “Kids Are the Icing, Not the Cake” in her column “What Every Firefighter’s Spouse Should Know.” She suggests that your relationship should be your first priority, even over parenting, and that a solid marriage is the best gift you can give to your children.

Try Rip Esselstyn’s version of Shepherd’s Pie. He says, “Savory crumbles, green vegetables, and mashed potatoes make this vegan version of a timeless favorite a hearty, satisfying meal.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY: A worker from a billboard company suffered a medical emergency that required Ocala (FL) Fire Rescue personnel to remove him after he became stranded 50 feet off the ground. In this photo, taken by Captain Alan Peters, firefighters transfer the patient onto Tower Ladder #1. Send Photo of the Day submissions to Pete Prochilo (peterp@pennwell.com).

FEATURED ARTICLES

Michael Gurr writes in “Mother’s Day Trench Rescue”: “What had been a relatively quiet holiday shift suddenly turned into a call that would be talked about for years to come. As I was driving toward the call, several things were going through my mind. One was that my department was trained only in trench rescue awareness, so I knew we could not make any entry. We were trained approximately 10 years ago on a grant for trench and confined space rescue. I remembered that the quality of the soil in South Florida was the worst grade concerning trench rescue. So I knew that beach sand was possibly the worst-case scenario. We also had very limited supplies and equipment for this type of operation.”

Frank Viscuso and Michael Terpak write in “Dumpster and Trash Fires”: “On December 29, 2009, several Wisconsin firefighters were injured and one died from injuries sustained when a large explosion occurred while operating at a dumpster fire in the parking lot of a manufacturing plant. This could have happened anywhere in America. When it comes to dumpster and trash fires, there is typically no civilian life hazard; you (and your fellow firefighters) are the life hazard. Because of this, the primary concern of an IC and all who are working on the scene should be to take appropriate precautions to protect fellow firefighters and prevent injury.”

Paul Shapiro, in “Water Management Officer: Taking Charge of the Water,” writes: “Battling a working fire requires many coordinated tasks to be successful. One of the most important parts of the overall strategy that has the potential for making or breaking an operation is being able to obtain adequate water delivery. Notice that I said water delivery instead of water supply. Water supply implies that we are only interested in finding the water. Obviously, that is half the battle, but what about getting the wet stuff on the red stuff? Isn’t that really the overall goal?”

COMMUNITY MEMBER OF THE MONTH

Name: Rich Kukac.
Department: LaGrange (IL) Fire Department and Orland (IL) Fire Protection District.
Title/rank: lieutenant (ret).
Years of public service: 42.
Agency structure: Combination department.
Top issues in your department: staffing, funding.
Areas of expertise: building construction, developing hiring and promotional processes.