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WEBSTATS 2003 NEW
AUSSIE
FIREYS!
ARGENTINA
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Updated:
05-20-2004 02:52:31 PM |
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BRUCE SCRUTON ALBANY --
A fire lieutenant was burned early today when he was caught in a
backdraft explosion on the second floor of a house next to one that
was already burning on First Street. Lt. Eric
Schindler, of Rescue 2, was treated at Albany Medical Center
Hospital for severe burns to his neck and ears, said Battalion Chief
Rick Rafferty. The fire,
which went to three alarms, was reported at 2 a.m. at 334 First St.,
and Schindler was among the crew that had entered the house next
door at 332 First St. when it exploded in a fireball. The explosive
force was enough to bulge the front and back walls of the building,
the chief said. Rafferty
said explosive gases created by the fire next door had seeped from
one attic into the other. The heat and pressure built up and
exploded in what firefighters call a ``backdraft'' when it got a
burst of oxygen. The
chief, who said this was the first backdraft he has seen in all his
years on the department, said another fire crew was ventilating 334
First St. when the backdraft occurred. Ventilating is a technique by
which a hole is cut, usually in a roof, to give smoke and gases an
escape route and to draw a fire toward the hole.
The chief
said the first units to arrive found the rear of 332 First St.
burning and soon put in a second alarm. The third alarm came at 2:28
a.m. About 60 city firefighters were called to the scene, while fire
units from Green Island, Watervliet and Troy were brought in to
serve the rest of the city. Rafferty said an arson dog from the state Office of Fire
Prevention and Control found nothing during a search this morning
of 332 First St. The fire appeared to have begun on the back porch
of the first floor, he said. Paul
Grimwood – This incident displays all the classic signs of a
‘smoke explosion’ scenario and not necessarily a 'backdraft'
where venting of the adjacent
structure, prior to venting the fire involved structure, may have prevented this outcome. The venting of the fire structure possibly
caused the fire to be ‘drawn towards the vent hole’ as well as
the point where accumulating fire gases had entered the adjacent
structure. Further discussed in '3D FIREFIGHTING' training manual & CD from IFSTA/FPP www.ifsta.org available October 2004 What are the
basic requirements for a 'smoke-explosion' to occur?
There are three basic requirements that must be met before a smoke
explosion can occur; they are: 1. A contained
smoke layer (not necessarily existing within the fire compartment or
structure) that consists of enough unburned pyrolyzates that places
the mixture within its limits of flammability. For example, the
flammability limits for carbon monoxide are 12.5% and 74%, for
methane the range is between 5% and 15%, (SFPE, 1995, 3-16). 2. To ignite the
flammable mixture an ignition source is needed; there is a minimum
amount of energy that will ignite the layer. 3. The last
requirement is enough oxygen to support combustion. NB; It
is also possible for super-heated gases to ignite (auto-ignition),
without a source of ignition being introduced, as they exit and mix
with an air supply at various points, doorways, windows,
stair-shafts etc. This form of Fire Gas Ignition may also be termed
a smoke explosion if the ignition burns back into the compartment. Further
reading - |
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This website introduces 3D Firefighting techniques developed by firefighters in Sweden; UK; Australia; and the USA. The techniques enable firefighters to take control of the interior environment of a fire-involved structure. These methods are taught through CFBT programs that use safe but realistic means to enhance a firefighter's knowledge of fire behavior. These techniques are described in detail in the new manual and CD rom (with amazing video footage) available from FPP Oklahoma State University published October 2004 (Delayed publication) - for pre-publication details or to purchase the training package
e-mail international@osufpp.org
NEW! FEATURED PAGE OF THE MONTH (MAY) HERE!
150 MOST POPULAR PAGES @ FIRETACTICS.COM HERE!
NSW Fire Chief Greg Mullins leads a team of NSWFB Australian fire chiefs and senior officers through their paces in a CFBT flashover training facility.
Large portions of this 14,000 page tactical firefighting website appear in Polish, French, Spanish & Dutch - Our thanks go to fire officers Witold NOCON (Poland); Sebastien GRAS, Pierre-Louis LAMBALLAIS and Matthieu PERRIN (France); Koen DESMET (Belgium); Juan Carlos CAMPANA LOPEZ (Spain); & Achterkamp Bedrijfsopleidingen bv who have given their time freely to assist their fellow firefighters and take the message of 3D Firefighting to them - LINKS ON LEFT MENU BAR
Firefighters in France begin their National CFBT program following the tragedy in Paris where five firefighters were killed through rapid fire progress in an apartment fire in 2002 - C. DUFAYER & Stéphane POYAU - Essonne Fire & Rescue Service - France
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Techniques such as 3D fire gas-cooling; fire gas-inerting; safe entry & attack; buffer-zoning; safe-zoning; fire isolation; and tactical ventilation are used by firefighters to reduce the potential for various forms of extreme fire behavior, including flashover, backdraft, smoke explosion & other forms of fire gas ignitions.
Read about the experiences of Stockholm and London firefighters who have developed these techniques since 1984. These approaches were born out of losses suffered where firefighters were killed when caught by various extremes of rapid fire progress. It was recognized that firefighters generally had little appreciation of the hidden dangers of fire gas ignitions and their very actions were often the cause of any such fire development! Since the introduction of CFBT in Sweden and the UK the firefighter life losses and injuries sustained through 'flashover' have demonstrated dramatic decreases.
In 2000, two UK CFBT specialists (Paul Grimwood & John Taylor) visited Paris to demonstrate the CFBT program to French politicians responsible for the safety of firefighters. At that time the French authorities were strongly opposed to the hazardous nature of placing firefighters so near to the fire to train with such realism, despite the fact that no firefighter has ever been killed or badly injured by correctly supervised CFBT training that follows the original Swedish model. However, the sad loss of five Paris firefighters in a tragic 'real-fire' 'flashover' at a Neuilly-Sur-Seine apartment block, just 18 months later, led to a complete reversal of this blinkered view and French firefighters are now undergoing a national CFBT program of development in 3D Firefighting techniques. It is worth noting that it took multiple firefighter life losses through flashovers, in each of the three countries (Sweden, UK & France), before CFBT & 3D Firefighting became national policy amongst these nations.
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In 1991 the book Fog Attack, by London & ex New York Firefighter Paul Grimwood, introduced the basic concepts of 3D Firefighting and laid the foundations for future strategy & tactics. Now, in 2003 he teams up with other CFBT specialists who, like him were trained in Sweden, to bring you the ultimate guide to 3D Firefighting techniques.
US Battalion Chief Ed Hartin (Oregon); Station Officer Shan Raffel (Queensland) & Station Officer John McDonough (New South Wales) join Paul Grimwood as joint authors of -
3D FIREFIGHTING - Training - Techniques - Tactics.
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What is EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR, is it really a hazard and how does it occur? |
Published by FPP University of Oklahoma October 2004 - For pre-publication details e-mail here international@osufpp.org
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'Compared to traditional straight stream or narrow fog techniques, both experimental and analytical results show that proper use of the 3D water fog technique can have a better cooling effectiveness, generate less steam and lead to less disruption of the thermal balance in the smoke layer by using short discharges, fine droplets and wide spray angle'.
NRC CANADA 2002
'The use of offensive water-fog is seen to dramatically reduce the physiological stresses suffered by firefighters in compartment firefighting in relation to heart-rate, body temperature and time spent fighting the fire, when compared to traditional straight stream applications'
Report 96-22 US Naval Health Research Center
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This website received in excess of ten thousand visitors and 42,000 page hits every month throughout 2003. www.firetactics.com has been steadily increasing its visitor base since July 1999 when it first appeared on the world-wide-web and is now recognized as one of the most accessed firefighting research websites on the internet. During the year we received hits from firefighters in over 77 countries!
Warning: All firefighters should be aware that the techniques and methods of applying water to compartment fires presented on this website require extensive training by qualified flashover instructors and any attempt to follow this style of firefighting without such training may be ineffective and potentially dangerous. E-MAIL YOUR COMMENTS TO UK500@aol.com
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John McDONOUGH NSW
3D FIREFIGHTING
TRAINING - TECHNIQUES -
TACTICS Book & CD Rom
The new manual from FPP Oklahoma University - Due out October 2004
by Paul GRIMWOOD - Battalion Chief Ed HARTIN - Shan RAFFEL & John McDONOUGH
full information
Shan RAFFEL QFRA
The best CFBT tactical training
manual in the world - Available soon! Retired London & New
York firefighter Paul Grimwood teams up with Battalion Chief Ed Hartin
from the USA and two other CFBT specialists - Shan Raffel & John
McDonough from Australia, to bring you all the latest training
techniques and tactical firefighting tips - what you read here might save
the lives of you and your crews. Over thirty years of CFBT experience all
in one book - AVAILABLE SOON!!
HIGH-RISE BATTLE BY LONDON FIREFIGHTERS
CROMWELL
