FIRE ENGINEERING

FIRE ENGINEERING

JANUARY 1993

VOL. 146 NO. 1

33 FORT WORTH COLLAPSE: OUR CONTINUING LESSONS A near tragedy in Texas, in which firefighters were within seconds of being buried under collapse rubble, reminds us of the importance of continued education in the areas of building construction and collapse warning signs, and of aggressive pursuit of preplanning and incorporating full automatic sprinkler systems in new residential construction.

Jeffrey A. Harwell

45 APPLYING TECHNOLOGY TO PREFIRE PLANNING Your preplans must be accessible and used. The Austin ( I’X) Fire Department instituted a full-scale program to create a preplanning computer data base and transmit individual plans via fax to officers at the incident scene.

Bruce J. Kalman

50 FIGHTING FLAMMABLE LIQUID FIRES: A PRIMER-PART 1: THE FAMILY OF FOAMS Firefighting foams are a vital tool in your arsenal, yet for many they are a misunderstood resource. Are you experienced and trained in the tactics and procedures for applying foam on flammable liquid fires? Part 1 of this series starts at the with a discussion of what’s available to firefighters for dealing with Class B fires.

Leslie P. Ominis

63 STANDARDS OF CARE FOR DISPATCHERS Being a service provider means that ail personnel—including your communications experts, your dispatchers—are entrusted with the ultimate mission of increased service. By measuring up to dispatcher standards of care, you will deliver nett only the best possible service but the most defensible service as well.

Francis X. Holt

66 “BREAD AND BUTTER” OPERATIONS: THE RANCH-STYLE HOUSE Don’t let the size and low profile of a ranch house lull you into a false sense of security: A fire in this type of house will test the training and experience of even the most well-prepared fire department. Bob Pressler

74 EMS POINTS TO PONDER A selection of photos of emergency medical operations from around the country, with some corresponding operational considerations outlined. What are your size-up and operational concerns? We’d like to know.

Kicky Davlclson

79 CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION: RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF A DIVERSE COMMUNITY With an influx of non-English-speaking people in our communities, a cross-cultural communication program not only makes sense, it also helps overcome a significant emergency response hurdle.

Martin LaRusso

6 EDITOR’S OPINION

10 VOLUNTEERS CORNER

14 TRAINING NOTEBOOK

16 CAPITOL CONNECTION

22 NEWS IN BRIEF

28 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

83 HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

91 1993 BUYERS GUIDE

156 APPARATUS DELIVERIES

160 EQUIPMENT DIGEST

172 MANUFACTURERS’ LITERATURE