Passion Show’s

Good,Hot, afternoon from the jumpseat.  It’s truly amazing how sometimes I can find inspiration in the weirdest of places to share here on the views.  As I attended, my daughters swim meet today I noticed how some excelled at the sport while some just seemed to “be swimming through the motions”.  Then it hit me like a runaway Michael Phelps joke, BAM!  How many of you just go through the motions at your firehouse.  During my career, I have seen many firefighters’ who could care less about learning their trade and just go through the day without a burning passion for the job.

What is YOUR passion?  If you don’t put your heart and soul into something are you truly giving it you’re all?  Just like the kids whose parents make them compete in a sport they don’t like you will just swim through your career not knowing what you could achieve.  It takes passion, passion for helping people, passion for learning the job, and passion for honing your skills to the point of proficiency. 

All the great athletes, just like firefighters, hay a burning desire to compete at the highest level.  Whether it is the Olympics or NFL they all want to be on top.  Do you want to be on top of the fire service?  We all should put our heart and soul into learning our trade, then climbing the ladder of rank, then take our passion and share it with the thousands of firefighters who come after us.  This is where your passion will shine through.  Taking a class from a passionate instructor makes learning a joy for the student’s and gives the instructor pride when the student’s do well.  

In closing, do not be unhappy swimmers!  Put your passion into the fire service and who knows what it might give back to you.  It pays me back every time I see one of my students on an engine, ambulance, or rescue truck because I know without a doubt that when I taught them my passion shined through. 

Be safe everyone and thanks for the visit to the jumpseat!!!

Join the Views and Dr. G for FREE

Very excited to announce the “View’s Crew” will be joining Chief Rich Gasaway (Ret.) on June 19^th 2012 for a conference call about anything firefighting.  The event is brought to you by SAmatters.com and it is FREE! 

Come join in the conversation during the 2012 International Fire/Ems Safety Health Week and share experience, training, tips, and commentary with Dr. G. Rich is the leading expert on Situational awareness and has presented around the world on this exciting topic.  Mix Dr. G in with the “views Crew” and we will have a wide range of advice from the jumpseat to the Chief’s Desk. 

DATE:  Tuesday, June 19, 2012

TIMES:

1200-1300 EST

1100-1200 CST

1000-1100 MST

0900-1000 PST

Conference Call Ideas

Schedule a drill during the call and put us on a speaker phone.

Schedule an officer’s meeting during the call and put us on a speaker phone.

Schedule a health and wellness committee meeting during the call and put us on a speaker phone.

Record the call and play it back later for your members.

Conference Call Agenda

There will be no formal agenda set by me. This will be an open forum for asking questions or sharing situational awareness ideas and best practices. It would be helpful if you sent me your questions when you register. This would allow me prepare and ensure we make the best use of our time together. I will then post the questions I will be addressing here so you can see how the topics are shaping up.

Conference Call Registration

Since my conference call system can only handle 100 callers, please register by sending me an email to:

Webinars@RichGasaway.com

When you register, include your name, rank and department (just so I know something about the people attending). If you have a specific question or issue, include a brief summery or question in the email and I will do my best to address your issue during the call.

Conference Call Logistics

1. It’s FREE. There is no cost or obligation for participating.

2. Each registered participant will receive an email with the call in number and access code.

3. The call may be recorded and rebroadcast at my discretion at a future date.

4. The conference call system is a third-party vendor. I cannot control glitches in their system. So, if for some reason you can’t get connected on the scheduled date/time, I will apologize in advance.

Link to sign up:http://www.samatters.com/2012/05/23/free-situational-awareness-conference-call/#more-2634

Does your Fire Department have a "Medal Day"

Does your department have a "Medal Day"?  FDNY did a great job with this video honoring the firefighters who went above and beyond.  Recognizing  people who do their job above and beyond usually don't cost you a thing but the reward to them is immeasurable. Congrats to all the recipients of medals today in the FDNY.

If you are a chief officer take the time to give your members a pat on the back.  It doesn't have to be a life or death situation. You will be amazed at their reaction!

"A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

Guest article from Chamberofhoarders.com

 Good morning from the Chamber of Hoarders.  The stories from responses in hoarded conditions keep streaming in and there is a tactic that needs addressed.  Many times when a hoarded home is on fire the crews must switch to a defensive fire attack.  This is not new, but will be more complicated due to the amount of belongings inside the home.  It has been well documented that fire departments have called on salvage companies to bring in excavator's to tear the building down. Without these machines the fire may burn for days or weeks.  With this in mind, do you have a demolishing crew in your speed dial.  What if they are needed at o'dark thirty on a sunday morning?  Let's spend some time in the chamber to add another  tool in the tool box.  So back in the chamber we go.....

Building after..

Pre-Plan For This Need 

In the fire service we all know the value of a Pre-Fire plan of our commercial and multi-family dwelling's in our territory.  Have you ever thought about the need to plan for that low-frequency need that you may encounter?  You need to add one more special circumstances to this list.  A demolishing crew needs added  in case of a Hoarder Fire.  With the amount of stuff inside a hoarding environment the rapid fire spread can push firefighters out of the structure is a hurry.  Chosing to go defensive on a fire with these conditions is often a wise choice, even from the beginning.  A problem with the defensive attack is the inability to penetrate deep inside the structure to put out all the fire.

Once you have added gallons and gallons of water in a defensive operations the structure may not be stable enough to send firefighters inside.  Now what? This is where the Incident Commander has some decisions to make.  Is it safe to send firefighters in? Are we going to let it burn?  How are we going to get inside to put this fire out.  This is where often the decision is to bring the building down.  The density of the belongings inside will not allow the fire extinguished completely. One story that has been shared with the chamber's crew, was an example of this, where the houses structural members including wall, roof, and roof trusses burn completely away leaving only the hoarded materials.   

So, now you have decided to demolish the building and you have decided to call in the wrecking crew.  Preparing for this occurrence should be handled before the fire happens for a couple of reasons.  One is who is going to pay for their services?  Often the fire department can be charged for these services unless your agency has access too these types of machines.  Second, this building is still on fire.  The operator needs to be aware and trained to coördinate the demolition with the hose streams. Using elevated streams will be a "best practice" and offer the operator a greater level of protection.  Another consideration for the operator is respiratory protection inside the cab.  One shift in wind or debris can make smoke conditions bad enough to harm the operator.  Training the operators in the use of an SCBA will be invaluable if this happens.

A good working relationship with these crews before the fire happen is key in a successful demolition of a building that is actively of fire.  Fire managers need to be aware of their available resources on any given day of the year.  Training these crews in the tactics used and protection equipment will prepare you both for a hoarder fire that needs demolished.  Reach out to your local business and ask about their services costs, call out numbers, and locations so you will be  #jumpseatready to demolish a house with fire that can't be put out otherwise!

Hoarder Survey Results

  Here are the results of the recent Hoarder fire survey sent out by the Chamber of Hoarders Staff.  Huge “thank you” to the USFA for sharing survey with the fire service community.  The response was overwhelming.

1.       Have you ever responded to a fire with Hoarder Conditions:

Yes: 100%             No   0.00%

2.       How long did it take you to realize that you were facing a hoarder house fire:

Minute: 52.4%               5 Minutes: 35.4                 Start of Overhaul: 11.0%               After Fire:2.4%

3.       Were their occupants trapped:

Yes: 11.0%           No: 89.0%

4.       Did you crew communicate to the incident commanders that they had Hoarder Conditions?

Yes: 39.0%           No: 43.9%            Not Sure: 13.4%                Didn’t Hear: 3.7%

5.       How many personnel did you have on the scene of the Hoarder Home:

5-10: 11.0%   10-20: 52.4%    20-30: 3.7%  30-40: 3.7%         50 or more:1.2%

More than normal: 6.1%

6.       How long did it take to overhaul after the fire was under control?

Longer than normal: 43.9%          10-15 Minutes: 1.2%       30-50 Minutes:  14.6%

60-90 Minutes: 14.6%                     2 Hours or More: 28.0%

7.       Was structure demolition required to extinguish the fire?

Yes: 13.6              No: 86.4%

8.       Would your department benefit from a Hoarder Training Program?

Yes: 79.3%           No: 22.0%

The numbers do not lie that we are all seeing fires in hoarder conditions.   The last two questions are coming soon.  They contained short answer questions and the responses were great.  Stay tuned in to the chamber to see the exciting answers.

 Thank you to all who took part in this survey!