Lou Angeli's Blog – January 2009 Archive (3)

Cold Weather Firefighting Quiz

With much of the nation locked in by cold and ice, I thought it would be useful to share a quiz that deals specifically with cold weather firefighting. If you're game, here's the scenario:

It's 0212 hours and the crew of Ladder 9 have been dispatched as the 2nd due truck on a building fire. For Ladder 9's crew, this will be the 4th response of the evening, two of which were working fires. Because of the previous jobs, there's some standing water remaining in the ladder pipe and the… Continue

Added by Lou Angeli on January 28, 2009 at 9:42pm — 1 Comment

Disorientation and the Interior Firefight

by: Lou Angeli

(Anytown, USA) -- The fire service here in the USA is extremely fortunate to employ some of the bravest firefighters and most knowledgeable fire officers in the world. But firefighting is inherently a dangerous profession, and things will and do go wroong. When a firefighter loses his or her life in a burning structure it is usually a result of unanticipated or unexpected fire development, not the inadequacies of command or even a firefighter’s… Continue

Added by Lou Angeli on January 23, 2009 at 5:47pm — 7 Comments

A debt is owed to all who volunteer to fight fires

This is my response to a stinging series of features recently published in the Wilmington, DE News-Journal regarding the failure of the volunteer system in the state. The News Journal writers printed a great many inaccuracies, manipulated response times and, in general, skewed their stories to place the volunteer fire service in as bad a light as possible.

Here is letter to the editor -- published as the series was being presented.

"America’s volunteer firefighters and… Continue

Added by Lou Angeli on January 13, 2009 at 8:46pm — 6 Comments