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Company Apparatus (New!!)
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Alarms for 2008
All practices will start at 6:30 promptly. First half hour of all practices will be airpack drill and ropes and knots. Memo: The Hazmat class for April has been moved to August the dates are as follows. The last class has been moved to September 7. Monday 11 - 4 hours Sunday 17 - 8 hours Monday 25 - 4 hours Sunday Sept. 7 - 8 hours
Training pictures for the year ** All of the above is subject to change Any ideas and suggestions for training or the training page contact Nathan Baker 724-681-0184
Quote of the month Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
Question of the Month Can you name the different types of fire alarms? Mays Question How do you protect evidance for the cause of a fire? As first responding firefighters there are several things you should pay attention to right away. What do the contents of the room look like? Are they ransacked or unusually bare? Are the windows locked or open? Are there signs of forced entery prior to arrival? Are there indications of unusual fire behavior or more than one area of origin? Are vehicles or people present in the area? Pay attention to the time of day. Are there people that are at the fire that normaly wouldnt be there at that time of day. What is the weather like is it storming, cold, hot? Look for man made barriors. Such as blocking fire hydrants to delay firefighting efforts. Alot of these reasons here could possibley point to arson. Firefighters should report all facts concerning the fire to the officer in charge as soon as possible. The officer should take a chronological list of all the information given to them. This could prove useful if asked to testify in court later. Delay any salvage and overhaul in the are where the cause of the fire is beleived to have started. Conducting salvage and overhaul in those areas could possibley destroy crititcal evidence. Firefighters should take great care in overhaul. They should not move any more than what is necessary. Doing more can damage possible evidance this is very important in the area around the possible cause of the fire. Never through extra debris out the window this could burry possible evidence for the fire that may never be found. Always remember that fire personell may remain on scene as long as they like but once they leave the scene of a fire that is potentially arson they may not be allowed back. If fire personell leave and want to come back they will be required to have a search warrant.
Aprils Question What is the Proper way to vent on a 2 level residential wood construction house with a pitched roof that is on fire? Ventilation can be done for 6 main reasons: Rescue Operations, Fire Attack, Property Conservation, Fire Spread Control, Reduce Flashover Potential, and Reduce Backdraft Potential. Before you begin to vent you have to answer a couple questions. Is there a need for the ventilation at this time? Where is ventilation needed? What type of ventilation should be used? Do the fire and structural conditions allow for safe roof operations? Once these questions have been answered and it is deemed necessary and safe you can continue to the venting operations. A team leader should be appointed to the crew. He will be in charge of saftey of the crew and communications with command. Before you make access onto the roof sound the roof for stability so that you are sure that it can hold your weight. What you are also looking for are the area that the rafters would be in. The reason is so that when you are cutting you do not want to cut through a rafter. The rafter is acting as a support for you. When transporting the saw from the ground to the operation point it should always be off for saftey reasons.The hole she be a square or rectangle no smaller than 4x4 feet. The first cut you make should be a vertical cut and the farthest cut away from you. The next cut should be a horizontal cut and will be the highest cut you will make. Once those 2 cuts are made cut out the top corner of those 2 cuts this will create a triangle and will be an inspection hole to give you an idea of whats on the other side. Once you are sure its correct and safe to continue make a horizontal cut at the lowest point and then a vertical cut closest to you. When you make this last cut though be careful because there will be lots of smoke that will billow out of there and there can be fire that can come up through.
Marchs Question What are the 4 classifications of fires and what materials do they involve? The 4 classes of fires are Class A, B, C, and D. Class A fires consist of your solid fuels. These materials include wood, paper, rubber, and plastic. Class B fires are your non-solid fuels such as liquids, greases, and gases. Class C fires are your live electrical equipment. For the equipment to be considered live it must have a power source feeding it. If it does not have a power source feeding it it is then considered a Class A fire. Class D fires are fires involving combustable metals such as aluminum, magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, potassium, lithium, calcium and zinc. Before you begin to put any Class of fire out make sure you know what class it is. If you dont you could end up hurting your self or someone else. Some examples include: If you were to put water on to live electrical equipment you risk electricution. Also putting water onto a magnesium fire will only make it worse. Magnesium burns hotter when it is wet. Februarys Question Can you spot the signs of a back draft? What are the signs of a back draft? Signs of a back draft include smoke stained windows in the structure. Smoke puffing at intervals from the building. This will give the appearance that the building is breathing. Pressurized smoke coming from small cracks in the structure. Little visible flames from the exterior of the structure. Black smoke becoming a dense grayish yellow color. Confinement and excessive heat.
Januarys Question What is the differance between life line and utility line? So what is the differance? Well life line must conform to NFPA 1983, Standard on Fire Service Life Safety Rope and System Components, which defines life safety rope as "rope dedicated solely for the purpose of supporting people during rescue, fire fighting, or other emergency operations, or during training evolutions." Only rope of block creel construction (meaning with out knots or splices in the fibers) using continuous filament virgin fiber for load bearing elements is suitable for life safety applications. Rope that is made of any other type of material or construction should not be used. Utility rope can be used to hoist equipment, secure unstable objects, or cordon off an area. Although there are industrial standards concerning the physical properties of utility rope, there are no standards set forth for utility rope applications, however, common sense should prevail in its use. Utility rope just like Life rope should be inspected regularly to check for damage.
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