Would you go into this?

I bring this up because many departments are straying away from interior firefighting. I know that some do not have the staffing or experience to do it very often, but there are plenty that do. This is a fire that happened at 14 T St NW yesterday in DC. Several reports of heavy smoke and fire showing upon arrival. Rear was almost fully involved. However with an agressive interior attack using 1 1/2" hand lines, they were able to get a knock on the fire and extinguish it within under 10 minutes and save this persons house. Here's a pic after the bulk of the fire on the first floor was knocked down.

My main point is just to show that aggressive firefighting is still something that should be practiced when possible. Standing outside with a 2 1/2" would have probably meant the loss of this house and possibly others.(These are all row homes which means easy extension) Thought this may get some people thinking and be an interesting discussion.

Story from fire with pics: http://www.dcfire.com/history.html?view=1&id=70519

http://www.dcfd.com

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Permalink Reply by Mike Gemberling on March 24, 2011 at 12:01am

First off you'll never see a fire like this in my area. What you will see is either light weight McMansions, 100 + year old balloon framed homes and log homes. All of which require alot of thinking when we roll. 600 sq miles we cover. There is no regular fire. Urban interface can be a trip.

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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on March 24, 2011 at 4:52am

In your case, with the 2nd due Eng Co taking the rear, the 2nd due Eng Co Officer can report the conditions of the rear of the building. Nonetheless, the 1st due Co Officer will still hear about the conditions in the rear and he/she can based their push on those reports.

I'm very familiar with how DCFD operates and I completely get it. By no means am I questioning the tactics but the differences in the cultures of Departments is what makes us a truly dynamic and eclectic group of professionals. I love the differences and the diversity of procedures.

For me, as a Truck Officer, I rely on the Driver/Operator to position the apparatus such a way that allows me a 3 sided view of the structure. I also rely on the OVM(Outside Vent Man) to make the rear of the structure and report his findings. We usually arrive with an Eng Co and they would already know to stretch in unless otherwise advised. Thanks for clearing up who made the quote too.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Vogt on March 28, 2011 at 3:19pm

capcitys jop

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Permalink Reply by WestPhilly on March 28, 2011 at 3:45pm

OK.

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Permalink Reply by Cory on March 28, 2011 at 4:28pm

I was not there but I would say we would probably go in, I think they pulled the right line, and the reason I say that is I'm not affraid to pull a 2 1/2 and go interior but for this type of structure, I think you will make more headway with a smaller line, the rooms aren't going to be to big so a smaller hand line will be easier to move around and advance threw he structure. Good job D.C.