There has been a lot of discussion about vacant, abandoned and unoccupied buildings.
The reason is that there are differing schools of thought on the amount of risk that is applied, our moral/ethical obligation to know with some certainty that no one is inside and to fulfill our mission and commitment to the public we serve.
So when is a building, you know...vacant, abandoned or unoccupied?
Here is an interesting NFPA report just released. http://www.nfpa.org/assets/files/OS.VacantBuildings.pdf
Despite any NFPA findings or reports the bottom line is you may know your homes or uildings in town and which are vacant or abandoned however How do you know?..how do you know some kids weren't in there playing..or a squater is staying warm or a person with memory loss just wandered in , I will agree we should be less cavalier to run in but none the less a very fast and rapid search is not to be forgotten, or at least considered unless the building is way to dangerous or near collapse you gotta do a run through
It s all about the knowing. Knowing when to go in and knowing when its not afe to go in. If its a bread N butter room and content when we say its clear its clear. If its a well involved commerical or light wieght construciton when its safe to search we will.
We risk a lot to safe a lot, but we have to know how to tell if it is savable, and if there is a safer way then heading straight in.
We need to commite ourselfs to knowing how to read the building, the smoke, and the conditons and when the conditons are going to change. Because they will!
this is a hard one really
if the building is supposdly vacant or unoccupied why is it alight
a search should be done if at all possable. if its well involved on arrival ant there is no chance there is no point risking a ff life
Mick:
Should we scrutinize the fact that someone "could" be in the building; which could be the case EVERY TIME or should it be determined by the fact that, based on type of building, time of day, etc. someone SHOULD be in the building at the time?
We are getting closer to the moment of truth.
TCSS.
Art