Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 9, 2011 at 9:40pm

There is no kind of "practically useless" like a house that has been completely burned.

We need to take reasonable care to avoid unnecessary property damage, but...

1) Most water damage can be dried out and damaged drywall, etc. can be replaced.
2) Window glass is easy and inexpensive to replace compared to additional fire and heat damage if the heat is contained in the structure rather than letting it out.
3) A fire that is stopped prior to damaging structural components will be much less expensive and time-consuming to repair than a fire that seriously damages structural components...even if the result is a house that is temporarily unliviable.
4) Most important, a lot of "fire control damage" is oriented toward protecting the firefighters who are inside or atop the structure extinguishing the fire under conditions that the homeowner will never experience, no matter how upset he or she is after the fire is out.

I'd never advocate for intentional damage that doesn't have a good reason, but keeping firefighters alive and unhurt is a good reason.

It's like a doctor that makes a child cry because of the needle stick that an immunization causes. That timy amount of pain and distress is much preferrable to that same child being made seriously ill or even dying from some contagious disease later on.

Permalink Reply by Michael Meadows on March 9, 2011 at 9:50pm

How about using common sense? Don't rip down the whole ceiling of a house for a grease fire on the stove that you put out with baking soda. Try before you pry that door open or break the sliding glass. Don't pull the sheetrock out of the garage when the fire was in the bedroom on the other side of the house and was contained to that one room and no signs of extension anywhere else. Don't cut the roof on that same grease fire on the stove that you just put out with baking soda. COMMON SENSE PEOPLE. Sorry I sometimes get on a rant but geez louise. Some guys don't have good sense to get in out of the rain.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on March 9, 2011 at 10:24pm

common sense comes a long way so how do you tell a man who puts his life on the line to save the life and yet risk his own to let the person live comfortably i don't know even if we should, but the bottom case of the scenario the people don't appreciate it and they are the ones that are paying us they're also the ones who got stuck with a needle and crying so how do you also help them.

Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on March 9, 2011 at 11:00pm

Alexander,

You appear to be confusing necessary actions on the fire ground with wanton destruction. Moreover, it would appear that you are making rather outrageous statements to support your proposition, to wit:
I have heard many complaints about many departments on where they say the firefighters are damaging their homes.
If I read correctly, you're a junior firefighter, so exactly who would be discussing with you this *unnecessary* damage? And "many complaints about many departments", come on kid, I think you're making this up.

What may be thought of as unnecessary damage by the homeowner may actually have been necessary in the course of mitigating the incident. If you haven't heard of "salvage" and "salvage covers" then you need to do your homework.

Another comment of yours: ...too a degree to where the home is not repairable or within price of repair
If the home is NOT repairable it's a result of a little thing called FIRE, perhaps you've read of it? And what do you mean, "..within price of repair.' This is what insurance is all about. A homeowner needs to make sure that they have sufficient insurance coverage to cover all repairs up to and including rebuilding the entire house. It's called replacement coverage. So unless the homeowner had NO insurance, in which case they are going to have to pay out-of-pocket, their insurance will cover it.
Are you suggesting that a homeowner could pay for a cleaning company to come in and suck up all the water, repair any water damage, repair all damage from the fire inside and outside, wash and/or paint all interior surfaces to seal any smoke odor, pay for cleaning all clothes, toys etc, pay for a place for them to live while all this is being done, but they CAN'T afford to repair/replace the front door and a few windows?

Given that you're only a junior, your experience and knowledge of what goes on on the fireground is very limited. Your knowledge of what goes on in other departments is, I suspect, mostly imaginative.

Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 9, 2011 at 11:23pm

Whose common sense would that be? The common sense of the homeowner who generally will not understand what we do and why we do it, much less the conditions under which we do it...or our common sense, which means breaking windows, cutting holes in roofs, removing wall coverings until the entire burned area is exposed?

Permalink Reply by Chris Moyer on March 9, 2011 at 11:29pm

Jack the kid asked an honest question. You dont need to kump down his throat. How else is he gonna learn.

Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on March 9, 2011 at 11:46pm

Chris, read the first part of his post. He made a pretty wild accusation simply/mostly to prop up his question. Kid or not, he should stick to the facts. And based on what he appears to be asking, he seems under the impression that when we do our job we create unnecessary damage. At least, that's what he's heard from many people about many departments.

Secondly, he's posted other questions before and I answered what he asked.

He wins one, he loses one.

And sometimes, a person needs to think through what it is their asking and not make wild assertions in the process.

Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on March 10, 2011 at 4:03pm

The accusations are crazy from the stand point that the people making the complaints,unless they are firefighters,haven't a clue of how fire behaves or fire suppression works.i agree they may see a guy ripping a piece of facia or soffet off and say why the hell do they have to do that but that's because they don't know that there is fire up in them ther trusses.
I believe you may have heard it once but I don't suspect you've heard it several times and I would say that te statement(s) that you heard were made from complete ignorance of fire.Disregard them and when you ge to go to an actuall fire and run a hoseline someday you'll remember this post.

Permalink Reply by Richard Armstrong on March 10, 2011 at 4:17pm

P.S.---- when are you guys going to learn how to ignore Jack? This is who and how he is.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on March 10, 2011 at 4:27pm

I agree that some things are definitely needed to be truthful and straight to the point. If Jack believes that it is necessary to call my accusations imaginative this is fine. I personally ask people who have had fire damage on their homes and read articles on the subject and was saddened to see the populace being not of the happiest moods. This isn't a competition so score I am confused on. I am here posting this to learn. This is an open question seeking open minds to the scenario. If you are saying that people are grateful always for our services than i am confused because I have heard different from other areas. I'm not calling on any certain department this is widespread all across the fire service. That is why i'm asking this now, so that one day I can take in what you say and remember it for what I need to do to make the public happy and feel protected. SO THEY ARE NOT SCARED TO CALL 911.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on March 10, 2011 at 4:30pm

I totally agree people are not fully aware of some of the acts of the fire service and why what we do to their homes are unnecessary i am saddened to say though it is not only once heard. I am stating this from more than 1 and I do agree most are ignorant of the practices, though i have heard some that sound fearfully like an act that was more unnecessary than some actions. I only posted this to state of the very few percentage of the people who are displeased with the excellent service of the Fire Service.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Korsunsky on March 10, 2011 at 4:35pm

P.S. Every action done by a firefighter I have seen was fully understandable and if I didn't understood it I asked the reason and was given a fully reasonable response. I find the department I am near and every other department a great one for me to be able to observe and I am proud to be able to be with in the ability to watch their responses.

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