BY STEPHEN MARSAR
This is it—the one we all think about, the one we train for every day but hope never happens: Your department is called out in the early morning for a structure fire. While you are responding, the dispatcher gives you additional information, “Multiple calls with trapped occupants.” You are first on-scene and confirm what you knew in the pit of your stomach to be a reality: On the front lawn, a woman in her nightgown is screaming frantically that her husband and two children are still “in there.”
How many of you have already decided to don your personal protective equipment and enter the structure or commit your crew to doing so? I’ll bet my career that most, if not all, of you have. There may be a minority of you who were unable to make that same decision because important information is lacking: Where is the fire located? Are flames coming out of every door, window, and crack in the structure? What is the smoke condition, and what is it telling us? What is the construction/stability of this building? Is it a private dwelling? A condominium with lightweight construction? Or is it a fire resistive occupancy? Is a rapid intervention team (RIT) in place, and are enough firefighters on-scene to mount an attack? After answering these questions, then and only then can you conclude the probable (vs. possible) survivability of any trapped victims that may be inside. Yet, most of you were willing to run in based on the initial information provided, right?
If you are a current subscriber,login here访问这些内容。
If you would like to become a subscriber, please visit ushere.
