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Residential Basement Fire- You make the [safety] call
First: You arrive at a single family residential structure fire, with smoke showing, under pressure from the Charlie [C] side basement windows. The Kitchen and Grand Room occupy the first floor space above this basement area. The occupancy is a two story, four bedroom house of approximately 3,500 square feet of living space. There is a high probability that the structure may have an engineered structural support floor system;(but you're not sure).
What are you thinking about [as a firefighter, company officer or commander] related to risk factors, and what is your projected safe “operation window related to time?”
Secondly: Assuming a well seated fire in the basement, no civilians in distress or at risk, what is your incident action plan [IAP]?
Don't forget to check out the NIOSH reports and lessons at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/
What are you thinking about [as a firefighter, company officer or commander] related to risk factors, and what is your projected safe “operation window related to time?”
Secondly: Assuming a well seated fire in the basement, no civilians in distress or at risk, what is your incident action plan [IAP]?
Don't forget to check out the NIOSH reports and lessons at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on
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Any time you have lightweight construction in buildings there is a high risk that an interior floor collapse is imminent. There's no telling how long the fire has been burning, and one must assume it has been long enough to substantially weaken the floor.
With this in mind, as a commander I would deny entry to the building and attempt to fight the fire from the outside. Breaching a wall on the C side may be a possibility if it allows access for a big line or CAFS application. But in no case is it worth risking any one's life for a structure that is already doomed itself, and that can be replaced.
The reason why I would take this approach will be illustrated in a post I'm working on, and hope to finish very soon. -
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