Article by: Michael A. Wieder One common fall, winter, and spring nemesis that faces firefighters in many parts of the United States and virtually all of Canada, is the chimney or flue fire. The terms "chimney" and "flue" tend to be used interchangeably in many jurisdictions; however, they...
Brick veneers have been around for a long time. They are used on both new construction and old construction. They are basically, as I heard someone say, brick siding. We see it on many older buildings of wood frame construction, but it is also the exterior front wall covering newer homes and...
We seldom see the trajectory our lives are taking while in the midst of making the decisions that set that trajectory. You decide to go for ice cream instead of coffee and you reconnect with a childhood friend at the coffee shop. You reluctantly say “no” to a new job, fearful that it was the...
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Here is a good example of exposure protection. The Rule of 15 certainly applies here, at least from the distance point of view. In many older cities, it is rare to have a fire without an exposure problem. In North Hudson, the Rule always applies…usually to several of the exposures. Here,...
In an attached building of any age, consider that there will be shafts between buildings. If you have an old, attached building, you must both expect and anticipate fire spread via shafts. Virtually all old, attached buildings will have light and air shafts somewhere. Your Roof Division should...
Read part one here . Let’s address attached exposures. These are more of a challenge to protect, but once again, if you forecast where the fire is going, request enough personnel to address your forecasted issues, and decentralize your command to keep your personnel safe and the fireground...
Have you ever experienced the issue of having personnel or teams that are trained to a standard, yet struggle to effectively apply their training when necessary at an actual incident? Perhaps the issue is not that there is a need for retraining, the issue is in applying what they have learned....
Free online training derived from more than a decade of firefighter safety research aims to improve informed decision-making on the fireground (Columbia, Md.) June 29, 2022 – The International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) and UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI)...
Let’s discuss exposure issues and tactics over the next few installments. Where I worked in North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire & Rescue, we almost never have a fire without an exposure concern. This concern must cause the Incident Commander to recognize that the stakes of the game have been...
Wishing everyone at the ISFSI and beyond a healthy and happy New Year. This month I want to talk about the cycle of competence and how it relates to everything we do in the fire service. I learned about the cycle of competence when I was taking Tai Kwon Do. My master instructor or Sa Bum Nim,...