All posts by plamb

TACTICAL PROBLEM

Tactical Fire Problem – Strip Mall

Video

Use this week’s tactical problem for discussion.

 

1.) What does this type of occupancy present for challenges to YOUR department?

2.) What is the floor construction between floors? What do you think is the age of construction?

3.) Describe the actions of the first alarm response in your department.

4.) What is your ventilation strategy and tactics?

5.) What effect does the time of day have on this incident? It is daytime.

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The speed of social media

The speed of social media social media is a phenomenal thing. I think about in my lifetime when we didn’t have social media my goodness I was at the very start of message boards and all that stuff before the Internet was fully blossomed. Social media moves very quickly. just as it with fire photography Sparks involved in social media can be a friend as you can get information to the masses as soon as we need to get it there,  but it could also put out partial information very quickly I think that we underestimate the risk of partial information very quickly. I know that I’ve been a victim of that myself I know that in some cases I have watched a fire video from the scene I’ve watched fire photos from this the scene and I’ve made a judgments. I often talk in my podcast about being a witness rather than the judge using a court room analogy. I think that it’s critical that in the speed of social media we do not be swept up in this frenzy to get the first information on the first comment or the first challenge to what we saw “going wrong” in the video that was just published from the scene. Quite frankly I love periscope I love some of the active fire videos it allows me to see things as they’re happening. I can’t tell you how much that these videos have taught me in shaping tomorrow. The videos I saw made me a little better as I see things whether I am correct in my assumptions or not. I have used these experiences in the speed of social media to help me. I think that getting information early is important and I think that in some cases it allows us to get more educated as more information becomes relative to us we learn more. I think my point is use patience in social media don’t be trapped into making a comment as fast as you receive the information. Use patience, take it and absorb it and wait for the follow-up information so that your assessments may be a little more accurate than what they might be the moment you received instant information.

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International Firefighters Day & St Florian

May 4 is now known as International Firefighters Day. It is also the feast day of Saint Florian. I have always known about the feast day but I am not sure when International Firefighters Day started, but it really doesn’t matter.

I think it would be a great time for one day to all come together as firefighters with all of our training differences, all of our urban, suburban, or rural depaftments and focus on our common areas.

We are all members of the greatest professions in the world. I say profession even if you are not paid. This is one of a handful of careers that is really as much of a vocation as it is a job.

I am proud that I have served in lots of capacities for 40 years. I cannot thank the many hundreds if not thousands of firefighters I have met, and those meetings helped shaped me or my career in some way.

My podcast has served to shrink the world in many ways, as I now have listeners in Sweden, many places in Europe, Australia, Canada, Asia etc. My spoken word is able to have something in common with fellow firefighters all over the world.I am thankful for each and everyone of those listeners.

On this day, I am going to be thankful I have had the chance to serve others and be part of the brotherhood and sisterhood. I am thankful that I have had the ability to train and help mentor some young firefighters who want to get into the service.

Just sit back a little today and marvel at how lucky you are for the gift of the fire service in your life.

You are something special, you are a firefighter!

I also have included a piece about Saint Florian for those that are interested. This piece was written for my blog by Retired Fire Chief Jim Blanchard of Saugus Massachusetts. (Jim wrote a number of pieces for me and they can be found at the petelamb.com page with. A tab across the top that says history.)

Here is the piece:

Saint Florian Patron Saint of Firefighters

All firefighters are aware that Saint Florian is the patron Saint of firefighters. Many have purchased and are very proud to wear the Saint Florian medallion around their neck. These medallions are usually gold and many are shaped in the form of a Maltese cross with the image of Florian stamped in the center of it. If you ask who Florian was or why he is our Patron Saint, most firefighters don’t know. They assume it is because he made some heroic fire rescue or maybe he was a priest who was involved in the fire service. These answers are the typical response but neither is accurate.

Florian was a Captain in the Roman army. He was a brave soldier and a tenacious fighter. Rome recognized the danger of fire and was the first to employ a fire department. This first fire department was made up of slaves. They had no real desire to risk their lives battling the flames of their captors. Rome desperately needed fire protection. They called on Captain Florian to organize and train an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires. Captain Florian indeed organized such a group. They were highly trained and very successful at protecting Rome from fires. A brigade of firefighters followed the army and provided fire protection at their encampments. These firefighters were highly respected and easily recognized. They wore the traditional Roman soldier uniform except the skirt was green. The most famous picture of Saint Florian depicts him with a young boy pouring water from a pitcher onto a fire. This picture if seen in color reveals this green skirt.
Rome was very impressed by this young Captain and all that he had accomplished. They decided to reward him by making him a general. Generals were often given large tracks of conquered land to govern. The only rules were that they had to enforce the laws of Rome and collect the taxes. Florian’s area included almost all of Poland.
Rome began to hear some rumors about the way Florian was governing his land. It was reported that he was not enforcing Rome’s law forbidding Christianity. Rome did not believe this, but they did sent investigators to check. They reported back that it was true. Rome sent a group of soldiers to confront Florian. They warned and threatened him that he must enforce the laws of Rome and abolish Christianity. Florian not only refused he confessed that he had embraced the faith and become a Christian himself. Rome was furious. They tortured him and demanded he renounce his faith. Florian steadfastly refused. Rome ordered his execution.
Florian was to be burned at the stake. Soldiers marched him out and secured him to the post. Villagers gathered around to witness the execution. Florian begged his executioners to build the fire higher. He implored them to light the fire so his soul would rise up to heaven on the smoke from the blaze. The soldiers had never seen this kind of reaction from a person about to be burned alive. They were frightened. What if his soul did rise up, right in from of all the villagers? They could not afford a martyr. The fire was not lit. Florian was taken away by the soldiers who decided to drown him. He was placed in a boat and rowed out into the river. A millstone was tied around his neck and he was pushed over board and drowned.
After his death, people who were trapped by fire reported that they invoked Florians name and his spirit delivered them from the flames. These occurrences were reported and documented many times. Florian was confirmed a saint for his commitment to his faith and the documentation of his spirit delivering trapped persons from the flames.
It is only fitting, that firefighters, committed to their duty, and instilled with the spirit to dedicate themselves to the protection of life and property, should choose such a man as their patron saint.

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Why Are You Here?

In a previous time when we were using a windows computer there was a feature called a restore point. If some error was discovered you could go back in the computer to a previous point in time.

Hmmm, just imagine if we had such a device in real life at the firehouse kitchen table. When someone was disgruntled or out of sorts and complaining about any variety of topics, we could suddenly revert them to the time they were wanting to get on the job.

As you read this think about the pleasant stress of driving to pick up the application packet, the sharing of stories of each step of the step by step process, the butterflies in your stomach when you got called for the interview, and the sheer excitement and joy of gettghing “the phone call” that you were appointed.

Think about that first day in the firehouse apparatus bay. the smell of the turnout gear, the smell of the tires, maybe motor oil or diesel, the ever present puddle of where that appears on every fire apparatus floor.

I hope this brief paragraph was able to trigger your minds eye and senses to relieve these moments. While they were different for all of us there are some similarities I am sure.

While thinking of these moments, it is kind of hard to complain about the city government, the chief, the captain or whatever.

Think about the first time a citizen said thank you to you, or seent food to the station or sent a thank you card.

You see, my point here is that is so easy to be consumed by the bad and the negative we have forgotten why we are here in the first place. We do not have this restore button but a good companmy or senior crew member can serve that role.

One of the best things we can do is to stop the discussion early, and get folks to remember why they are really here.

As much as we think so, this job is lots of fun, and the greatest job in the world it is not about us…..it is about the crew, the department and those we promised to serve.

Thionk about it!