Maybe I should start giving Will a little more credit...

[Ba-Riedo]

Turns out I can't edit video very well at all. Here is some helmet camera footage from a burn we did yesterday up. The camera worked great, my editing abilities not so much.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6w4WqeeMHs[/ame]

[HeavyMetal]

is that the mini fire cam we talked about?

[Ba-Riedo]

Yup, I got one last week used it a bunch yesterday. It looks just like I have a flashlight underneath my helmet.

[HeavyMetal]

pretty cool perspective...i dig it

[Pedro]

Nice hydraulic ventilation

[tjramplebump]

now just curious...why did you extinguish it in bursts andnot consistantly untilit was out? steam? andid imagine you shooting out the window was to aid in ventilation...

[Ba-Riedo]

now just curious...why did you extinguish it in bursts andnot consistantly untilit was out? steam? andid imagine you shooting out the window was to aid in ventilation...

Since we were burning all day long we didn't want to totally put it out, it is up to my Captain (the guy in the red helmet who walks around me) on how far we put it out. Usually we just darken the room, ventilate (hydraulically - with the hose stream) do a quick search and back out.

[tjramplebump]

Since we were burning all day long we didn't want to totally put it out, it is up to my Captain (the guy in the red helmet who walks around me) on how far we put it out. Usually we just darken the room, ventilate (hydraulically - with the hose stream) do a quick search and back out.

ohh okay then...if it was a normal fire and a real situation (not practice or a drill) you would use a constant stream until the fire is extinguised correct?

[Ba-Riedo]

ohh okay then...if it was a normal fire and a real situation (not practice or a drill) you would use a constant stream until the fire is extinguised correct?

Yes and no, the idea is to put out the fire without steaming the room and burning yourself and the rest of the guys with you.

We have a couple of different ways to attack fire if we can't get to the base of the fire. So if we move into a building and have flames rolling across the ceiling we pencil them back (short bursts in a straight steam) until we can make our way to the base of the fire. Then we can do direct, indirect and combination attacks. Direct hit the base of the fire, indirect hits the ceiling and rains it down onto the flames and combination does both. If we do too much of an indirect or use a fog pattern instead of a straight stream then we risk steaming the room (which hurts a lot). We also try to ventilate as soon as possible to make searching for victims easier and also to make the atmosphere less toxic.

For big defensive fires, like boats, marinas, warehouses etc, we just dump big water on them and hope to cool them off enough to get close and attack them with hand lines.

[tjramplebump]

makes sense. steam was a factor that i thought of before posting and asking you, but instead of spewing ideas i wasnt sure of, figured id just ask...thank you for your detailed response, as i was fairly curious on this topic...

and...just for conversation...would some of those techniques prove effective with a fire extinguisher in any circumstances?

[Hudson]

Yes and no, the idea is to put out the fire without steaming the room and burning yourself and the rest of the guys with you.

We have a couple of different ways to attack fire if we can't get to the base of the fire. So if we move into a building and have flames rolling across the ceiling we pencil them back (short bursts in a straight steam) until we can make our way to the base of the fire. Then we can do direct, indirect and combination attacks. Direct hit the base of the fire, indirect hits the ceiling and rains it down onto the flames and combination does both. If we do too much of an indirect or use a fog pattern instead of a straight stream then we risk steaming the room (which hurts a lot). We also try to ventilate as soon as possible to make searching for victims easier and also to make the atmosphere less toxic.

For big defensive fires, like boats, marinas, warehouses etc, we just dump big water on them and hope to cool them off enough to get close and attack them with hand lines.

That sounds like some witchcraftery to me. I can see you guys dressed up in like wizard outfits cursing spells and curses at the fire. "GANDOR USE THE COMBINATION ATTACK!!!!".

[Ba-Riedo]

makes sense. steam was a factor that i thought of before posting and asking you, but instead of spewing ideas i wasnt sure of, figured id just ask...thank you for your detailed response, as i was fairly curious on this topic...

and...just for conversation...would some of those techniques prove effective with a fire extinguisher in any circumstances?

With an extinguisher you are probably going to be attacking a fire that is much smaller and you should be able to hit the base of it. Because of the size you wouldn't be worried about steaming a room if you have an extinguisher.

The plan for extinguishers is hit the base of the flames from as far back as you can to still be effective and sweep back and forth until they are extinguished. Most extinguishers people are going to have around their homes are going to be a dry chem (ABC type) that blanket a fire and put it out by smothering it. Water puts out a fire by removing the heat and cooling the material until it cannot burn. CO2 works by removing the 02, as does Halon and some of the other types.

[Pedro]

With an extinguisher you are probably going to be attacking a fire that is much smaller and you should be able to hit the base of it. Because of the size you wouldn't be worried about steaming a room if you have an extinguisher.

The plan for extinguishers is hit the base of the flames from as far back as you can to still be effective and sweep back and forth until they are extinguished. Most extinguishers people are going to have around their homes are going to be a dry chem (ABC type) that blanket a fire and put it out by smothering it. Water puts out a fire by removing the heat and cooling the material until it cannot burn. CO2 works by removing the 02, as does Halon and some of the other types.

Always consult the fire triangle

[Carlleen]

This is the best thread in a long time. Very interesting. Is there a point where enough water will cool down the room fast enough to prevent the steam? Like if you were able to just flood the shit out of it for an extended period of time. Or would that make it worse?

Fire, you scary.

[Ba-Riedo]

Well if you flood it then anyone who might be trapped in it or hiding near the floor wouldn't be able to breath.

If we have ventilation setup then we can don't have to worry about steaming a room. So if we have a roof opened up and then the heat and steam can escape without compromising our safety.

We use our CAFS whenever we can on a real incident (compressed air foam, basically we have a air compressor hooked inline with the hose streams and it adds a foam solution and pumps it full of air). These smother the fire and use considerably less water then we would if we were dumping straight water on a fire.

Peter- It's a tetrahedron now.