The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Police rushing into the fire...glory hounds, ultimate freelancers, or what?
We all know what cops and firefighters have in common....both want to be firefighters. But at what point is it too much?
First of all, this is not to bash cops or the jobs they do, and many cops have had some great saves prior to the FD arriving. In my city, the cops somehow get dispatched to calls prior to us getting the calls, there is some stupid delay in dispatch, but that aside yes, PD do go into buildings and since they are out and about can get on scene sooner. About a month ago there was a fire where two PD officer did make some good saves and did risk their life and had a positive outcome.....Problem is I believe the coverage on these officers has turned others into glory hounds.
Here is what happened yesterday. Fire tones go off for a structure fire and a report of people still inside. This was a house in our downtown area and very close run for 2 stations. As I was pulling out of the station a cop car goes flying past the intersection...well above 60 mph in a 35 zone (discussion for another day). We made our response and maybe a few minutes from toned out to on scene. The first in pump and battalion chief arrived seconds before we did. The first in pump went in, encountered high heat in the hallway, we set up positive pressure attack. Fire was extinguished quickly and as visibilty increased the crew found a person in the bed...obvious DOA. From a fire standpoint goes, it was a room and contents, confined to the room of orgin...great stop and this was the shortest on scene time we ever had for a fatal fire.
Problem is, 2 police officers went rushing in and had to get treated for smoke inhalation. While I can see their efforts if they are on scene for awhile but we literally were pulling up on the scene when they went in. They rushed in maybe 30 seconds before we were on scene...meanwhile our 5" LDH was run over because the street wasn't closed down. (charged LDH BTW)
See the thing is, we don't rush into a domestic disturbance, altercations, weapons calls, stabbings, shootings etc until the scene was secured. In this case the cops rush in and no gun, taser, vest, cuffs or baton is going to protect you from smoke, heat and flames, this scene was not safe for them to go in, but 2 officers rushed in literally seconds before FD arrived on scene. Problem is one day we will be pulling a cop out of a fire because they just rushed in.
So at what point do you say enough is enough? We have brought this issue up before and was addressed, but since a few good saves, there seems to be more undue risk from the PD. So I know many have similar types of experiences, would you address this stuff or just let it go?Is it worth it?
First of all, this is not to bash cops or the jobs they do, and many cops have had some great saves prior to the FD arriving. In my city, the cops somehow get dispatched to calls prior to us getting the calls, there is some stupid delay in dispatch, but that aside yes, PD do go into buildings and since they are out and about can get on scene sooner. About a month ago there was a fire where two PD officer did make some good saves and did risk their life and had a positive outcome.....Problem is I believe the coverage on these officers has turned others into glory hounds.
Here is what happened yesterday. Fire tones go off for a structure fire and a report of people still inside. This was a house in our downtown area and very close run for 2 stations. As I was pulling out of the station a cop car goes flying past the intersection...well above 60 mph in a 35 zone (discussion for another day). We made our response and maybe a few minutes from toned out to on scene. The first in pump and battalion chief arrived seconds before we did. The first in pump went in, encountered high heat in the hallway, we set up positive pressure attack. Fire was extinguished quickly and as visibilty increased the crew found a person in the bed...obvious DOA. From a fire standpoint goes, it was a room and contents, confined to the room of orgin...great stop and this was the shortest on scene time we ever had for a fatal fire.
Problem is, 2 police officers went rushing in and had to get treated for smoke inhalation. While I can see their efforts if they are on scene for awhile but we literally were pulling up on the scene when they went in. They rushed in maybe 30 seconds before we were on scene...meanwhile our 5" LDH was run over because the street wasn't closed down. (charged LDH BTW)
See the thing is, we don't rush into a domestic disturbance, altercations, weapons calls, stabbings, shootings etc until the scene was secured. In this case the cops rush in and no gun, taser, vest, cuffs or baton is going to protect you from smoke, heat and flames, this scene was not safe for them to go in, but 2 officers rushed in literally seconds before FD arrived on scene. Problem is one day we will be pulling a cop out of a fire because they just rushed in.
So at what point do you say enough is enough? We have brought this issue up before and was addressed, but since a few good saves, there seems to be more undue risk from the PD. So I know many have similar types of experiences, would you address this stuff or just let it go?Is it worth it?
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
-
Most definitely John. We have had issues similar to this in the past and the next opportunity I was in my good buddy the Police Chiefs office and we resolved the issue immediately. The last one we had with PD (about 8 years ago) died about 5 years latter from cancer. Hummm?
-
Permalink Reply by brandon glander on
-
where im at the cops have a bad habbit of opening doors feeding the fire before we ever get on scene. i dont mind their efforts. but they need to be a lil more aware of fire behavior before they go breakin down doors
-
-
Brandon, there's your opportunity for a little education........................
-
-
me teach the police haha
i dont think that will work out
-
Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on
-
This isn't a FF-Cop discussion but a chief to chief pow-wow. Fortunately, I have never heard of a PD LODD as the result of a rescue attempt. For the most part, PD does go on scene before FD. But your last fire is a good example of not having situational awareness. I'm not putting myself at risk if I can hear the sirens a few blocks away.
-
Permalink Reply by Andrew Dalgarno on
-
This doesn't really solve your problem, but here's another version...
The instructor from my HazMat course said you can always tell how bad the scene is by the number of police officers laying on the ground between you and the hot zone.
Andrew
-
Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on
-
Just had this a while back. The problem was that the alarm went to dispatch as a burglar alarm. When PD arrived, they made entry into a house full of smoke. The problem after that was the officer put the visible fire out with an extinguisher and tried to disregard all incomming apparatus. We went ahead and proceeded lights and sirens to the scene to find fire in the attic of the house. The fire was started by a vent fan in the bathroom that had overheated. This is the reason I am leary about taking a disreagard from PD.
-
Permalink Reply by Travis on
-
I thin it should be a law in every state that cops can not run into a burning building.They don`t have all the proper stuff to go in.I agree with you firefighters don`t rush and go on the scene to a stabbing,robbery,or shooting.Firefighters don`t get into that stuff so why do cops have to go in and be the hero on a fire scene let the firefighters do there job.If those cops wanna be the hero on a fire scene then why did they even become a cop in the first place they should of just been a firefighter.But in every state it should be a law that no cops can go into a burning building.
-
-
God made firefighters so Police would have hero's
-
-
If you can't take the heat, become a cop!!!
-
-
yeh! they have to pack the heat. lol!
© 2024 Created by Firefighter Nation WebChief.
Powered by
