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Burglar bars on windows
Since I just work on the medicine side of the house, I'm not familiar with fire and rescue tactics. The following is a link to a story about a woman in Oklahoma City who died in a house fire because she had burglar bars on her windows and the firefighters were not able to save her in time. My question is how often do you firefighters see these on windows/doors and what would you normally do to rescue someone inside? Also, why do you think the firefighters were not able to save her? I'm most certain they gave every effort and strength to save her, but something didn't work right (I know the article says the bars were not up to code, but we always have to expect nothing is up to code, right?)
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/1208/579791.html
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/1208/579791.html
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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I likewise have not had to ever rescue anyone, but this is getting increasingly more common. There have been several cases recently where these have worked keeping everyone out, including firefighters. I have now incorporated into my fire prevention programs, the importance of proper installation and emergency releases on burglar bars.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Box on
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We have very few houses with burglar bars. That can make them a bit more dangerous to my dept as FF's will not know what to do when they encounter them. We're trying now to educate our firefighters about bits of construction such as that.
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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The bars are a lot more readily viewable in the cities. We haven't had to cut many. We have an exothermic torch which will cut through them in about 40 seconds or so. I am not familiar with this call and don't want to divulge a speculation as to why they couldn't make the grab, nor do I feel it right for anyone without direct information on this call to speculate guesses.
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Permalink Reply by Steve on
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As you said yourself you sure they gave every effort and strength to save her. Sometimes you can do everything right and it just not work out. You can use a torch on them or even cutters for bvr's.
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Permalink Reply by Kayla Bartlett on
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we dont have to worry about burgler bars no one around here has them prop is a good thing though....
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Permalink Reply by Gordon "Gopher" Runer on
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Well I don't believe that we have any in my district but if we did I would probably take the K12 to it or depending on how they are mounted try to pry them away from the structure. I feel for the crews that were there knowing that they did everything that they could but that it was still not enough.
Gopher
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Burglar bars will definately slow down window access, but there are numerous ways to get through them.
One of the best ways is to use a power hydraulic spreader (Jaws of Life) from the side and simply pop the bars off of the mounting bolts.
You can cut the bars with an oxy-acetylene torch, a Petrogen torch, or an exothermic torch.
You can cut the bars with a rotary saw and diamond blade.
You can simply pull the bars off of the building with a vehicle-mounted winch if your winch is strong enough.
If you do this one, keep the vehicle far away, keep everyone else out of the way, and put a towel or something on the winch cable to keep it from whipping if it breaks.
You can also cut the bars with a commercial rebar cutter.
The problem is that most engine companies and even a lot of truck companies don't carry all of the above equipment.
Burglar bars are a good reason to have a well-equipped and well-trained rescue company handy.
That said, hurricane-resistant glass (Lexan, high-impact laminates, etc.) is a much bigger probem in my area than are burglar bars.
Ben
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