The following are some indicators to watch for and or consider that give some indicators of collapse.

Review them your self, and pass them along for a discussion among the troops.

It certainly is not all inclusive, but it is easily remembered because it spells the word COLLAPSE.

Construction of the building – Know the five types of building construction as defined by NFPA 220. Know that certain buildings, wood frame certainly, will fail quite readily under fire conditions. The mini-mart store of cinderblock with a bar joist roof will certainly fail pretty early under high fire conditions. Look around your response district.

Occupancy Loading – Does the building have contents such as paper, fabric etc., that will absorb firefighting water and add weight to the already damaged structure.

Lightweight building materials – We covered this one pretty good last week, but the bottom line is this one. While we understand that mass of the building unit adds greater weight, a larger mass will take longer to deteriorate ( IN MOST CASES, BUT NOT ALL) then a structural member that has less mass.

Length of burning time – No one person knows the answer to when a building will fail, but common sense tells us that the longer it is attacked by fire the sooner we can expect failure. How long has it been burning prior to your arrival, and how long since you have been here. This is another great use for the 15 minute status report.

Ankle deep water or accumulating water – No mystery to this one at all, water weighs 8.34 pounds per gallon, we add it to the building in 100 gallon increments. If it is not running off and just standing, let the building drain properly before completing overhaul activities.

Parallel Chord truss beams – Any team we see this type of beam, whether steel or wood, it should raise some degree of concern. Again I am not talking about the larger member chords, but certainly any lightweight beams of this type.

Special Matter – Look around your community for the telltale signs that a building may already being braced and supported from falling, without a fire inside. Corner angle braces on buildings, old fashion star supports, additional temporary columns in place are all indicators of building weakness.

Exposed steel – Again we have heard about this forever. Exposed steel will begin to lose strength when exposed to about 800 degrees. When you are doing a pre-fire inspection or survey and you see the steel beams over your head, think about that under fire conditions.

Just a couple of quick points to enhance firefighter safety and make you think. Easy to remember because each point spells the word….

Stay Safe, stay thinking!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

This is a link to a must see video for all firefighters. I saw the post in the Google + firefighters community.

Get the message out as the Providence fire department did after conducting their own study on cyanide many years ago.

Use cyanide and carbon monoxide meters on scene.

See the VIDEO HERE

Show it to the troops and see if we get that “observable behavioral change” called learning.

Thanks, stay safe, and stay thinking!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

We are all handling more CO alarms than ever. In fact when many of us started in the fire service there was no such thing as a Carbon Monoxide alarm at all.

I have a concern that many of the alarms we are answering are false, and / or malfunctions. This can lead us to a false sense of security on our parts, so I felt a review of CO would be a good one.

Carbon monoxide is colorless, odorless, tasteless, toxic, and flammable gas, generated by incomplete combustion.

Carbon monoxide inhibits the ability of the blood to deliver oxygen throughout the body.

Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, nausea, drowsiness, vomiting, cherry red skin color, coma, and death.

Monitors and detectors used by the fire service should be calibrated per manufacturer’s instructions but every six months would be an absolute minimum.

Meters and monitors should be tested on a weekly basis as a minimum and test should be documented.

Actions upon arrival should include but not be limited to:

Evaluate occupants for CO Poisoning.

Determine if any combustion devices have been in use.

If the unit (home detector) was purchased prior to 10 years ago then suggest a replacement.

Determine if a smoke detector is or was sounding as well.

Personnel shall wear full PPE and have SCBA at the ready for donning.

Document all the readings you receive in the structure, and near the various sources.

Check all of the following: Car in garage, chimney obstructions, furnace area, BBQ grill to close to residence and open windows, gas, wood, and coal fireplaces, kerosene heaters,gas ranges, stoves, ovens, gas refrigerator, portable heaters, gas dryer, gas hot water heater, non vented heater, and others.

Remember to treat these as serious calls, don’t become complacent. Create and use a form for documentation for you and the resident if necessary. If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen!

This is not a complete SOP and it is not supposed to be, but just an overview and some thoughts. Give serious trout about creating someway to record readings so if the event happens again you have a baseline.

Stay safe, and stay thinking!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013