In this section we are going to cuss and discuss Ground Ladder Operation on and off the fire scene and the proper techniques used and the safety that must be done, when working on or around ground ladders. For you lifers out there like myself feel free to give some insight and share your knowledge and lead the way and mold some of these young minds in here...
Training is knowledge!!!! And knowledge keeps us safe!!!!
One of the first things we need to understand or when we are at the station is take a little time and look over your ladders and get a basic understanding of what each ladder is you have in your department and the functions of each ladder..
In this picture you can see the firefighter on a roof ladder with an extension ladder down below. As you can see his safety zone is the roof ladder. In the case he had to exit his safety zone is from the top of the peak of the home down to his exit of the extension ladder.
Pay close attention to the rungs above the roof on the extension ladder. The rungs are the cross Pieces of the ladder, or should I say steps...As you can see there up above the roof...
Roof Ladder: A single section ladder with hooks on the tip end that can be folded out for securing to a roof.
Folding ladder or Attic Ladder: A small ladder that folds for storage and is compact for use in tight areas such as accessing an attic from inside a structure.
Extension Ladder: A ladder consisting of at least two (2) sections that can be extended to various lengths.
Ok now comes the technical stuff- In the picture above with the roof ladder and access ladder. It is to short, the access ladder. A ladder that is used to access the roof should (and I quote from 5th ed. IFSTA FF Essentials Chap. 10 page 484)-
-Extend the ladder (three to five rungs) beyond the roof edge to provide both a footing and handhold for anyone stepping on or off the ladder.
The extension ladder in the photo is barely 2 rungs above. Just pointing it out. ;) Looked a little slow on the responses. ;)
You are the man!!!! Good job Capt...He is right...Three to Five rungs...For the ones dont understand what the Capt. is saying is just like I said look at the extension ladder coming from the ground, What there should be is three to five steps or rungs above the roof platform...In most situations the four to five is what you will want for the case of having to get off as quick as possible.. Now keeping in mind what is above you and to the side of you like power lines and power poles...
Hi chief norman.
Will you be discussing proper maintenance and checks of such ladders?
A couple of us did a check of all the ladders that are "supposed" to be checked every week and found 2 of our extension ladders to be faulty. In one, the pawls were stuck. And in the other, the halyard cable pulley was stuck.
Just wanted to point out that routine maintenance is a MUST for ALL ladders for safe operation.