Brennan Firepics Comments 5

Click Thumbnail Above
to Return to Firepics

Click Here to Return to Photo Lessons Intro/Index

FIRENUGGETS encourages readers to submit feedback to Tom. Your name and department will not be printed unless requested to do so. CLICK HERE to e-mail your comments to Tom.

TOM BRENNAN has more than 35 years of fire service experience having responded to 33,000 fire alarms. His career spans more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (Conn.) Fire Department. He has a bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude, John Jay College; Alumnus of the Year Award, John Jay College; chairman of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association and a charter member of the National Fire Protection Association, Fire Service Section. He has delivered courses and seminars throughout the United States and has instructed at the National Fire Academy. He was the editor of Fire Engineering Magazine for eight years, is currently a technical editor, and his column “Random Thoughts,” is a regular monthly feature. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition. He is the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CODE RED

Well, here we are again. Portable ladders! These guys sure shut my mouth. My old adage, "There are never enough portable ladders on the fireground," looks a little weak here.

However, let’s look a little further. We know (because we are veterans of firefighting) that this is an overhauling picture. But, what if it weren’t?

If this were the beginning of the firefight and all the windows were “in” and not trimmed as they are here, which of these ladders in this photographic instant in time in your district would be in the right place for entrance, search, removal and exit?

Well, if the objective is to get to the second floor, for the ladder on the left, the choice is too long a ladder. (Remember let’s talk about what we see and not what we think is going on or will go on or went on.)

Portable extension ladders and their choice for use at the ladder truck have a short rule. Take the ladder that has a total height that begins with the number of the floor you want to get to. A 24-foot ladder may be too short for the third floor, and, conversely, a 35-foot ladder is too long for the second floor.

The ladder at the right side of the photo is a graphic example of a problem. If you raise a portable and then extend and drop into the window, take the time to reposition the fly section so that the tips just about reach the sill of the window. The firefighter trying to enter here as part of a search for the rear of the fire compartment will not have the best chance for success — neither success for entering (because of the high heat at entry, as he is higher in the venting window) nor success for removal of a victim (how would you get him, her, or it out of that window and onto the ladder?). More importantly, how do you get you out of the window alone?

Okay, okay — the ladder that is in the best position for all the things talked about above is the one to the third floor: the ladder in the center of the photograph.

On the side, I know a lot of you are picking out mistakes here and criticizing rather than making a positive effort to “grab the good stuff.” I am telling you that if you have photos of a fireground where all is going well, proper, safe, according to the “book,” you are looking at one of two things: 1) it is a staged shot! OR 2) it ain’t your fireground!

Keep smiling.

BACK TO PHOTO LESSONS TABLE OF CONTENTS