Residential sprinklers
In reference to “Residential Sprinklers: Opposition Despite Good Performance,” by Richard A. Marinucci (Fire Engineering, January 2012), I find interesting what I perceive to be the casual dismissal of the concept that a “man’s home is his castle.” Frankly, I am getting extremely tired of the old saw that if it saves one life it is worth it. My freedom from constant government prying is more important than any sprinkler system. There are many other problems with residential sprinkler systems including expense, maintenance, and the size of the water line leading into the structure.
Jim Kiser
Captain (Ret.)
Sterling, Virginia
Buckling up and more
When I picked up the December 2011 issue of Fire Engineering, I noted on the cover the condition of the personal protective equipment on the Detroit (MI) firefighters. I then read these words in the cover caption on page 4: “and prepares to advance the hoseline into the first floor.” I wondered how they could possibly do that without the protection of a hood or earflaps! Judging from the discolored helmets, well, I still wonder. The unbuckled self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) waist straps are synonymous with Detroit and the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), even though FDNY Battalion Chief (Ret.) John Salka Jr. advocates everyone “buckle up.”
Again, on page 44 of the November 2011 issue, author Mike Piper drives home in “How We Got Burned: Lessons Learned from a Wind-Driven Dwelling Fire” why using and donning personal protective equipment are necessary: “Note that neither injured firefighter donned the earflaps provided with the helmet, which likely contributed to serious burn injuries of the ears of the firefighter wearing the carbon hood.” Is there any good reason people don’t buckle up the waist strap on their SCBA?
“Training Scars Potentially Fatal Wounds” (Editor’s Opinion, December 2011) also hits home. Our department recently upgraded to the 45-minute bottles and has changed our instructions to state: “You now have 1,800 liters of air, and if you consume approximately the 60+ liters of air ….” Personnel now do the math and are more attuned to consumption rather than time.
Last, I want to comment on not putting out training fires completely: I can identify with that approach in training fires in both an acquired structure and a fixed facility; however, I absolutely stress complete extinguishment in the “real world” of firefighting.
Peter Bauer
Level 2 Pennsylvania State Fire Instructor
St. Marys (PA) Volunteer Fire Department
REVAS harmful and confusing
I am writing in regard to “Training Scars and Potentially Fatal Wounds.” I cannot agree with Bobby Halton more about REVAS (Rescue, Exposure, Ventilation, Attack, Salvage). REVAS is extremely harmful and confusing to company officers, such as me, who work in suburban settings where we do not have dedicated truck companies. I believe it is a problem in general. A few years ago, I chaired a committee to reevaluate our Preferred Operating Method for Structure Fires. The first suggestion I made was to remove this acronym.
I have just completed the book Suburban Fire Tactics for Fire Engineering in which I express this sentiment in multiple chapters.
Jim Silvernail
Captain
Metro West Fire Protection District
St. Louis County, Missouri
Volunteer fund-raising
As a volunteer firefighter in a rural Connecticut community, I thoroughly enjoyed “Become More Visible to Obtain Funding” by Stephen Charlton (Volunteers Corner, November 2011). He mentions that some volunteer companies “may run only 40 calls a year.” Let’s face it, regardless of the pristine efforts of fire officials, police, and prosecutors, there are always going to be brush fires in rural areas that require smaller, four-wheel-drive brush trucks.
Many a Connecticut community has an intriguing fascinating story on how it acquired funding for such vehicles. Lacking kitchen/dining facilities within its firehouse, one Connecticut volunteer company years ago “borrowed” the elementary school next door one Wednesday evening and threw a pasta supper to raise funds for its “new vehicle”—a six-year-old, four-wheel-drive skid unit-equipped pickup. Still others have had Sunday morning fund-raiser pancake breakfasts.
Having lived down South only a short time, I have had some relatives tell me, “Go to a volunteer firehouse for some of the best Sunday night cuisine.”
Going back a few decades before we had mandatory statewide recycling, some Connecticut volunteer companies held bimonthly paper drives in which they got $25 a ton for scrap paper.
Dave Titus
Volunteer Firefighter (Ret.)
Marietta, Georgia
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