Apartment Bars
Jerry Smith from Baltimore City (MD) Truck 15 sent in these photos of some easily to defeat window bars.
Drilled Mullion
Jerry Smith from Baltimore City Truck 15 sent in these photos of homemade supplemental lock. While the crew of Truck 15 was out doing some area familiarization they ran across this double door set-up at a local school.
Many Bars, One Pin
A friend from North Carolina sent in these photos of an interesting find. At first glance, someone with tunnel vision would focus on the bars, and start cutting. But this one is so much easier than that
Drop Option Dormer
Christopher Moe, AC from Bladensburg (MD) and FF with Montgomery County (MD) Engine 2 sent in these pictures taken in Elkridge (MD.) The picture shows a common townhouse occupancy with dormers. Dormers always prompt an interesting discussion. How do you know when they are real and lead to a occupied space, or how do you know when they are only decorative? One of the most common responses to that question in more than likely: “knowing your area.” Obviously knowing your area is your best chance of figuring out the dormer question (or any other building construction question), but it’s never an absolute. As you can see below, these dormers “almost” lead to a occupied space. they lead to a loft, but the loft is set back from the dormers. This was done to allow the dormers to allow light in the loft area, and additional light for the second floor below. This could lead to quite a surprise to someone performing VES. (This is way the floor should be sounded before dropping in) Well here is the twist to this one. Christopher used to live a townhouse very similar to this one, and the dormers lead directly to the loft area, without the drop to the second floor. So in this particular case, relying only on “knowing your area” would have let you down. Knowing your area is an essential part of being prepared for the job… Learning the trends in your local building construction can provide you with a tremendous amount of valuable information on the fireground. Just as importantly, this example proves that we should never rely on one source of information. We should use our preincident knowledge to assist us in making better decisions on the fireground, without blinding us from what we see right in front of our eyes.
Hittn’ the Bottle
Firefighter Plunkett, who has sent in a few submissions in the past, sent in this photo of a useful way to store utility rope. This simple, yet effective idea of using a bleach bottle to carry the rope is used heavily by FDNY. It involves 50 to 75ft of 3/8 or similar rope in an empty and thoroughly cleaned bleach bottle. A hole is cut into the bottle with a razor knife in order to insert a weight in the bottom to ensure proper deployment of the rope. A large washer and gorilla glue does the trick. The hole also facilitates the reloading of the rope. A snap link or carabineer finishes of the end of the rope to allow quick attachment of the end of the rope prior to deploying it. Carry the rope up, attach the end, and throw the bottle down. It’s a simple, cheap, and effective way to carry and deploy utility rope.
Fifth Birthday!
It’s that time of the year again, it’s hard to believe that time goes by so quickly. Today is VES’s Birthday! Five years ago this website was created as a neutral, unbiased and un-intimidating medium were we could share ideas, methods, and techniques of this great profession. We truly believe that Truck Company functions are an art, and have become The Lost Art of The Fire Service. It is imperative that we protect this art for generations to come. The fire service is changing right before our eyes, we need to take it back! The avenue to a safer fire service is by being proactive rather than reactive in both our training and our tactics. We need to bring back the aggressive yet safe attitude to the fire service, in order to continue to protect each other on the fire ground. This can only be accomplished through sharing the knowledge and educating each other. We can honestly say this site has been much more of a success then we could have ever possibly imagined. This website was started with the intentions of sharing some information on the local level. Thanks to each of you, it quickly became so much more than that. We have gotten emails, comments, and material from people all over the world! The overwhelming success of this site would not be possible without each and every one of you. No amount of thanks could possibly be enough. It is because of you, our loyal readers, that this site is what it is! We know the posts have slowed down quite a bit, but we’ll be picking up the pace again shortly. We have some big things in the works for the future. In the mean time, take an opportunity to look back at some of the great information in the archives . We have over 340 posts contained in there all the way back to day one. Thank you for your continued support an understanding as we continue to expand the site. Stay safe, and train hard!
Valuable Time
Flip Fierro from City of Raleigh (NC) Ladder 1 sent in a door he found that proves a very valuable forcible entry lesson. Forcing the door may be much simpler than you think. At first glance this door appears that it has two drop bars installed, as indicated by the carriage bolt heads. But as you can see from the photo below, the supplemental drop bar has been removed. If you look close the photo below you can even see that the door has a significant bow in it where the drop bars used to be in place. This should be a good clue that the door needs to be further evaluated prior to selecting a forcible entry technique. Simply “gapping” the door with the irons (near the suspected supplemental lock) would verify whether or not the bars are installed. It would only take a second. Valuable time could certainly be lost trying to defeat a supplemental lock that in not in service.
Hide and Seek
Daniel Crump from Catlettsburg (KY) sent in this interesting photo of another hidden child’s play area. As you can see from the photo, there is a large area underneath the bed that could easily conceal a child during a search. We have shown various “hidden” areas that could be difficult to find on a primary. While firefighters frequently have differing opinions on whether these areas should or should not be searched, it always leads to a good discussion. Regardless of opinions, it’s something to discuss during training, and at least keep in mind during an actual search. Another interesting thing about this bed, it that in a low visibility situation, it may not feel like a bed at all. The ladder in the middle should always serve as a good indication that there is something else worth searching.
One Handed Cutters
Here is another great modification of entanglement cutters. Kevin Kalmus from Austin (TX) sent in this photo of his cutters, not only with a leash added to the handle, but with a spring from and over-sized clothespin obtained from the dollar store. The addition of the spring makes using the cutters a single handed operation. Anyone who has ever used cutters in an entanglement knows that having them “spring” back into the open position after a cut has been made is extremely helpful. The picture also shows the handle of the tool covered with some paint on electrical “tape” for additional grip with a gloved hand. The benefit of the painted electrical tape is that it doesn’t get sticky and gunk up the inside of your pocket. Besides a picture of the modified cutters, Kevin gave us the heads up on the IAFF Fire Ground Survival (FGS) Program. The FGS program is a comprehensive survival skills and MAYDAY prevention program. The FGS program applies the lessons learned from the NIOSH fire fighter fatality investigation program. The program is available in both online or hands on formats. The HOT format is taught by IAFF certified FGS instructors. The course manual and materials have a section that discusses the benefits of having cutters like this available during an entanglement. The online version of the FGS program is available for FREE to all firefighters, career or volunteer. Additional details about the program and a link to the free online training component of the program can be found on the IAFF website by clicking here.
From the Jump Seat to the Front Seat
Jimm Walsh, owner and webmaster here at vententersearch.com will be presenting From the Jump Seat to the Front Seat on Thursday March 3rd in Gilford, New Hampshire. The class is being hosted by the Fire Instructors and Officers Association of New Hampshire. This extremely motivational and informative class will focus on much more than basic leadership principles. While there are some basics of leadership that are applicable for any rank, this class will cover some specific principles for each rank from the bottom to the top. Click here to download the class flier.