Stan Wilson’s Last Call
The tragic recalling of a Dallas firefighter’s death at an escalating condominium fire and lessons learned. STUART GRANT
Stuart Grant
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Building Construction – Luxury Apartments: Is Your Department Ready?
Today's apartments have evolved into small communities all their own. Stuart Grant
Do We Really Do RIT Justice?
The best thing that we can do in memory of our fallen brothers and sisters is teach others from their incidents. Stuart Grant and Bret Stidham discuss an intensive training program for rapid intervention developed by Dallas (TX) Fire-Rescue.
Holders, Keepers, Standpipe Alternatives
Several techniques presented below may help you get the job done more efficiently.
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Are We Our Own Worst Enemies?
Have you ever felt that we firefighters are our own worst enemies? Have you ever heard the members talking about “how” and “why” we don’t get this or that? Sometimes, it’s eye-opening to listen to what firefighters say around the kitchen table or in the watch room. The talk will revolve around how this company can or can’t do this or that and how the members need to train more. They’ll talk about how administration is putting out more memos or directives and is killing them with paperwork. They will finally digress to how “they” are micromanaging them to death and how “they” don’t trust “us.”
Commercial Building Fires: When To Go Defensive
No decision made at a working structure fire is more basic or advanced than “offensive” or “defensive.” No other decisions can or need be made before the incident commander (IC) determines the strategy that will be employed. You might think the decision to “go” or “not go” would be simple and straightforward, but nothing could be further from the truth. No other decision made during the course of an incident places firefighters in immediate danger or calculated safety more than the offensive or defensive decision. Nowhere else is the potential for immediate catastrophic failure and subsequent multiple injuries or deaths more present than at a commercial building fire—a fire in an occupancy that is not classified as single or multifamily residential.
Strategy and Tactics at Commercial Fires
The crucial decision whether to use an offensive or defensive strategy determines whether firefighters will be put in a position of immediate danger or one of calculated safety.
Miracle on the Freeway: Story of Survival
On Friday, April 11, 2008, at approximately 2:30 p.m., a driver was traveling south on State Highway 183 near Interstate 35E in Texas with a full load of cement in his truck, estimated to be more than 98,000 pounds. He was en route to a cement pour when, according to him, he swerved to avoid a car that had cut in front of him. This simple act set off a chain reaction that cost one life, sent three people to the hospital, and required the response of urban search and rescue (USAR) specialized equipment and personnel.
Prying and Opening Tips
Firefighters are ingenious people and are always trying to improve the way they do business.
Tips for Safety and Firefighter Rescue
It never ceases to amaze us how adept firefighters are at finding ways to improve or modify existing ideas, practices, or tools.
Give Them What They Are Paying For
HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED that there aren’t any volunteer police departments, volunteer garbage men, or volunteer road or water department employees? Now, before you quit reading, hear us out.
NEAR MISS HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM
A four-alarm fire in the northwest part of Dallas, Texas, in September, 2005, was a near-miss for Dallas Fire-Rescue.