Does your volunteer dept do interior attacks on fire runs? Some volunteer departments do not do interior attacks. Does your department? Our department always look at safety first however if your department feels that they can safely go in do they? Some volunteer departments feel led to do only exterior attacks. What does your department do?
Thanks to everyone for the comments didn't mean to ruffle any ones feathers we are all on the same team simply trying to understand things a little bit better.
If it's a one-room fire accessible from the outside, why take the risk of an interior attack?
Lightweight construction changes the equation. With a zero to 20-minute collapse time for engineered structural components, if you can nail the fire without risking an interior attack, that sounds like a smart move.
That was exactly the mindset of virtually every South Carolina fire department prior to the Sofa Super Store fire. Afterwards, however...
To put it another way, load up your family - your spouse, kids, parents, and a cousin or two in the minivan. Drive around your 1st due area and point out a variety of structures. Then tell them "THAT is the building I'm willing to die for."
I'm betting that the reaction will be a little more pointed than the one you're getting here.