Fire Ventilation

Fire Ventilation by Stefan Svensson was originally written to support ventilation training delivered by the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (Räddnings Verket). However, the English translation of this text is an excellent resource for any firefighter or fire officer. Stefan does an excellent job of integrating practical fireground experience and the underlying science of thermodynamics and … Read more

It’s the GPM!

I recently read an article in the October issue ofFire Engineering magazine titled Improving Preconnect Function and Operation. The author, LT Bob Shovald, described how his department approached the process of improving operations with small, preconnected handlines and focused on three critical factors in effective engine company operations: 1) Hose diameter and flow rate, 2) … Read more

Smoke Explosion or Backdraft?

What is a smoke explosion? Is it the same thing as a backdraft or is it a completely different phenomenon? In one form or another I have encountered this question several times during the last week. In one case, I was asked to review a short article about an incident involving a smoke explosion that … Read more

Ventilation Tactics: Understanding and Application

Second only to the great solid stream versus fog debate, ventilation strategies seem to create the most discussion and disagreement among fire service practitioners. Vertical or horizontal; natural, negative, or positive pressure; vent before, during or after fire control? These are all good questions (many of which have more than one answer). The Importance of … Read more

Lessons Learned: The Way Forward

Quantitative Analysis Quantitative analysis of firefighter injuries and fatalities uses statistics to describe what has occurred and identify patterns and trends. Annual reports and longitudinal (multi-year) quantitative studies provide one way to examine firefighter safety performance. Firefighter Fatalities in the United States 2007, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) U.S. Fire Service Fatalities in Structure Fires, … Read more

Peer Review & Lessons Learned

In May 2006 US Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management published a briefing paper on Peer Review Process. Later that year, a peer review team used the process to investigate a near miss incident in the Shoshone National Forest and issued a report titled Little Venus Fire Shelter Deployment. This report provides an interesting look … Read more

Entrapment Investigation & Lessons Learned

Structural firefighting agencies can draw some valuable lessons from the wildland firefighting community. Fire behavior training in many structural agencies often begins and ends in recruit academy. For wildland firefighters, fire behavior training involves an extensive, multi-level curriculum (S-190, S290, S-390, S-490 and so on). The wildland community is also more substantively engaged in analysis … Read more

That was close!

What is the difference between a fairy tale and a firehouse tale? Fairy tales generally begin with once upon a time, while firehouse tales begin with you wouldn’t believe what happened last shift and no, this really happened. This post begins with a firehouse tale. A crew of firefighters advances a 1 1/2″ (45 mm) … Read more

Near Misses, Injuries, and Fatalities, Just Part of the Job?

In 2007, twenty firefighters in North America lost their lives due to extreme fire behavior while engaged in interior structural firefighting operations. The United States Fire Administration Report 2007 Firefighter Fatalities in the United States and the NFPA Report Firefighter Fatalities in the United States-2007 provide analysis of firefighter fatalities that occurred during this year. … Read more