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How Do you respond?
This is going to be more toward the volunteer sector but you guy from the city are welcome to respond as well i now your answers will all be different.
You get toned out for a vehicle fire. The vehicle is in the drive way and no one inside and no exposure's. Lets say address is 10 miles from your station. Do you respond on a RED lights and sirens or do you respond on a White with out lights and siren. Then way do you respond this way?
Don't be afraid to answer here. This is not a who's right or wrong type of forum here. You will see were i'm going with this in a few days. If we get some responses up here.
All my remarks later will be based on New York State Emergence vehicle law. So they may not reflect your proto calls so don't get up set about any remarks i may make. Thanks in advance for your participation.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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We would go lights and sirens. This could be a possibility of 10 miles out if the only engine available is coming from the other side of the city and there are several other simultaneous emergencies going on.
Regardless of the location of the vehicle, if it is in a driveway, there really can be an exposure issue to contend with. This would be a single engine response for us, but lights and sirens regardless.
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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My career and POC FDs respond red lights and siren to car fires.
As for your no exposures comment, if the vehicle has a plastic fuel tank that lets loose and dumps a fuel tank of flaming gas on the ground what happens to your no exposures idea? What happens if the vehicle burns enough to start launching those little pistons that hold open the hood or the hatchback? I don't believe that you can have a situation with a car in a driveway in a residential area that you can 100% rule out exposures or danger from flying debris.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Chambers on
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Lights and sirens for us on this one. We respond lights and sirens to any confirmed fire, whatever it may be.
I agree with Don in that I don't believe you could ever rule out an exposure on a vehicle fire that is in the driveway of a residence. There are just too many things that can melt or go boom on some of these vehicles now days. Not to mention if there is a grade on the driveway and the brakes of the vehicle fail, you can have a whole different mess if that happens.
That call would get both of our Engines and a Tanker. We've had too many calls of "my car is on fire" and it turns out to be a car in the garage or right next to the house.
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Permalink Reply by Russ Gregston on
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All our responses are lights and siren even at night with no other traffic on the road. We live in an area where a moose could step out on the roadway at any moment. I've had positive results every time clearing the road of a moose.
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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Lights and siren anytime there is any hazard to the citizens or their property, even though the car will supposedly be toast.
We've been bitten by the "What if?" bug too many times. We've learned not to lollygag even when we think it's going to be nothing.
It's seldom exactly what the caller states!
Caller says there's no one inside...don't bet on it. No exposures...don't bet on it. Fully involved...don't even bet on that.
Just don't forget to place your own crew's safety above all other priorities.
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Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on
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Lights and sirens. There has been times the caller does'nt always give all the info needed. It could be the one thing the caller leaves out that bites you!
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Permalink Reply by Derek J Sinesi on
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I like and agree with your answers. Now do you respond the same way to a vehicle fire on the side of the road under the same call information the same way?
Russ, i can see your point about the moose. I hit a deer once with our tanker. It didn't due any damage to the truck but i'm sure a moose would have.
Norm, Has your response been different in the past?
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Derek, The same way! Where are you going with this? Is it, why are you runing lights and siren for a vehicle fire that wont be worth anything when you get there? Just wondering??
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YES! Any reported fire gets red lights and sirens until the status is upgraded by the first in apparatus. If it turns ut to be no fire then the rest of the apparatus will continue non-emergency or selectively be returned to service.
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Rusty, Pretty much. But don't worry there will be more to come.
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Yes, for most of the same reasons I stated in my other post. If the first due gets on scene and decides nothing further is needed or it is non emergent then the response will be downgraded. I think I understand where you're going with this and it makes sense to me.
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How about you stop playing games and just say what is on your mind?
The fact is information from the public, given to dispatchers, is unreliable at best. I can't begin to count the number of times in my 35 years in the fire service that the info given to us by the dispatcher was wrong, because the caller either didn't give enough info or was wrong themselves.
We will run hot, red lights and sirens until the first unit gets there and if additional help is no longer needed they are turned around, or if there is nothing showing and we are investigating sometimes we tell the other responding units to continue in non-emergency.
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