Hey,
Probably like you, I like to watch (with intentional self-control) what people are “putting out there” online. And lately, there has been a lot of chatter related to firefighting and searching in vacant buildings.
One example: Some reacted negatively on social media to a recent post by retired FDNY Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn, author, instructor and world-recognized subject-matter expert, who stated that, “as an incident commander for over 25 years in New York City who fought many vacant building fires, I never found a dead squatter in a vacant building after a fire.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been fires where searches were done and rescues were made, whether in NYC or anywhere else. It means that it is what Chief Dunn has experienced as a seasoned boss and something we should keep in mind when making fireground decisions. Why? Because as we should know by now, nothing is “always” on this job, and it’s definitely not black or white when responding to fires. Really the only things all fire departments have in common are size-up, determining your conditions, and applying the immediately available resources.
Everything else depends.
DECISION-MAKING DIVERGENCE
Let’s break it down so you can understand why there really is no “always” in fireground decision-making. Consider ALL of these factors…In Your:
911 call-handling time…
Dispatch time…
Turn out time…
Turn out staffing…
Response time and your first-alarm time and distance…
First-alarm resources…
Training for members on the first alarm:…
My point: In North America, if you’ve seen ONE fire department, you have only seen ONE fire department. Like it or not, that’s just the way it is. Nothing is the same from community to community and nothing is “always.”
Here is more on this issue of “vacant” building fires … and occupied building fires.
Take Care. Be Careful. Pass It On.
BillyG
The Secret List 9/13/2022-1400 Hours
