Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Donald Morrow on May 8, 2011 at 8:47am

Not sure what you are looking for here but I'll try. Personally I believe that ALL Firefighters should take classes in building construction. The majority of the fire-ground injuries I read about are building collapse related. If only the crews understood how that particular building would behave under fire conditions, most of these type injuries would be avoided. Knowing what type of building you are dealing with should dictate what type of actions will be employed at that particular incident. Being ignorant of design types and characteristics of each type of construction is what causes us to put ourselves in situations we should not be in. For instance knowing that a bow string roof type building is highly likely to suffer collapse in a very short period of time during a fire should tell us that we are taking a defensive strategy from the get-go. But yet I read of firefighter injuries and fatalities in these type of structures still to this day. Education our personnel to the dangers of building types is "in my opinion" one of the most important things we can do. Especially with the "engineered" materials used in modern construction. Newer buildings especially in residential "cookie cutter" neighborhoods, are some of the worst. Built entirely of light weight materials and engineered wood and metal products that just don't stand up to the firelaod within. They offer a very short window for us to get in and do our job before they reach the critical point of structural collapse. These are the types of buildings that we need to handle differently. Vertical "roof" ventilation is usually out of the question, so we need to educate our firefighters how to identify and handle each type of building out there......Not sure if this what you are looking for but I hope it helps!!

Permalink Reply by Russ Marks on August 17, 2011 at 12:04am

We as a department visit new construction sites, bothe residental and commerical. We have a local contractor who is willing to share how things are built. The hans on approach seems to generate good discussion and if we do not know the answer, someone will "goggle it" and find out and share. Digital cameras are great, if you are out of your area, take pictures of different construction types, it makes for a great rainy day training.

Permalink Reply by John Jacquette on December 18, 2011 at 10:57pm

Bow String covers large spans  from side wall to side wall and extend to each truss another 15 to 20 feet by its rafters. The height of the Bow creates a large space above for fire and gasses to hide. This has created many problems when searching for the fire. 5 or 10 minutes pass then all hell breaks out and then the trusses begin to fail. Also be aware of the ends (front and rear of the building) if the roof ends are a hip style then the end walls will send debris with explosive force when the truss collapses. Allow extra room for the collapse zone on both ends of the building. This construct does command respect.