[ame="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=OWfjTPU2tIA"]YouTube - Firefighter closecall while wearing helmet cam[/ame]
there are parts that are blacked out, but the video picks up
there are parts that are blacked out, but the video picks up
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From a firefighter's helmet cam- wow!
- Thread starter pirate_girl
- Start date
American Woman
Banned
These guys are awesome....the truck stops and they roll off and run straight into that building already consumed in fire with no hesitation.
BoneheadNW
Active member
It is a neat video, but there are many things that are done that are contrary to the way we are trained. Most importantly, in a situation such as a roof collapse, if you lose your partner you are to call a MAYDAY ASAP. You are never to leave your partner unless you have called the MAYDAY and your life depends upon it. While I was never in the military, I believe the rules are pretty much the same.
Bonehead
Bonehead
Deadly Sushi
The One, The Only, Sushi
So these folks didnt do things properly?
BoneheadNW
Active member
As I said above, you always stay with your partner (and know where they are) unless doing so will most likely cost you your life. IF you do become separated from your partner or are subjected to a situation such as a roof collapse, you are to let the IC (incident commander) know ASAP so that immediate steps can be taken for a rescue. A RIT (rapid intervention team) is supposed to be standing by in such incidents to effect a rescue. Even not knowing where your partner is in such situations is a real bad NO-NO.
Bonehead
Deadly Sushi
The One, The Only, Sushi
So basically they screwed up and have it on tape. Thats generally bad, no? 
urednecku
Banned
I agree, you never leave your partner, unless you are also in immediate danger to loosing your life. I've been out of it for about 10 years now, and long before I go out we had body alarms that would make a noise you could hear a LONG ways off, even if it was under a firefighter lying on the floor. You could set it off manually, or if you didn't move for a few seconds, it would activate. But you still NEVER left your partner, more than arms length.
I was in the fire service for about 15 yeas, as a volunteer, and this video brought back some fond memories (and some scary ones). I loved every minute of it.
urednecku
Banned
That's generally bad, YES.So basically they screwed up and have it on tape. Thats generally bad, no?
BoneheadNW
Active member
What Redneck is describing is called a PASS device (personal alert safety system). I could go into more detail if anyone is interested.
Redneck, why did you quit the fire service?
Bone
Deadly Sushi
The One, The Only, Sushi
A system that detects if you are horizontal for more than 20 seconds? Maybe Im getting it confused with the Man Down function on some 2-way radios. Tell me more about it.
BoneheadNW
Active member
Here is how it is absolutely NOT supposed to be done. Keep your eye on the right side garage door. Note the:
Bone
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6bAEMu5Yk&feature=related"]YouTube - But chief it's never happened before[/ame]
- Firefighters standing around with no SCBA (uanble to effect a rescue)
- Useless woman milling about
- Lack of attention of those people supposedly waiting for orders
- Black smoke billowing out of the garage indicating highly combustible atmosphere and raging fire
Bone
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6bAEMu5Yk&feature=related"]YouTube - But chief it's never happened before[/ame]
urednecku
Banned
Bone, when I got in the Vol. service, I was working for the state of Florida, and couldn't afford the drop in wages. I was single & in a job/position with the Dept of Agriculture that I could spend a LOT of time at the station. I loved it. About the same time I married AW, had a son, & moved about 15 minutes from the station, they appointed an a.h. over the vol.s that wanted, demanded, more time than I could afford to give them. So I explained what a VOLUNTEER was, & told him where to go with it.
Sushi, the function on a radio works if you push a button, and sends a signal to dispatch, telling which radio operator is in trouble, not where it is.
PASS is a device, that senses movement, if there is none for a few seconds it churps, (to give you time to move/reset, in case your are just standing still) then produces an 'ear-splitting' screech that will wake up half the bodys in a grave yard half a block away, so the RIT can go right to you.
Sushi, the function on a radio works if you push a button, and sends a signal to dispatch, telling which radio operator is in trouble, not where it is.
PASS is a device, that senses movement, if there is none for a few seconds it churps, (to give you time to move/reset, in case your are just standing still) then produces an 'ear-splitting' screech that will wake up half the bodys in a grave yard half a block away, so the RIT can go right to you.
get the url off the little thingy on the right and paste it in your browser.
haha!!
urednecku
Banned
or click the top of the box, the title
BoneheadNW
Active member
Redneck-
I too started in my department as a volunteer and then went on to be hired. We are a combination department, and while the career staff is growing, the volunteers are relied upon to staff rigs/respond to incidents requiring more than a minimal response (which occurs several times a day these days). In some respects, being a volunteer was more enjoyable as there was less of a tendency to get burned out (no pun intended). I have recently taken on the responsibility of recruiting new volunteers/cadets as well as helping to retain what volunteers we have. What was the name of your old department? I'm always looking for new ideas on recruitment/retention and would like to look at their website.
Bone
urednecku
Banned
A lot of people do not realize that volunteers are/have been the back-bone of the fire service. I started out with the Wauchula, Fl fire dept, with about 3 paid on shift. (the county had the ambulance service) Then the county took over as Hardee County Fire Rescue, merging the ambulance service with fire, in one station. Hardee county has 3 towns, Bowling Green, Wauchula, and Zolfo Springs. BG & Zolfo only had Vol. stations. In the last few years, they both signed with the county for paid coverage. As I said, I've been out of it for about 10 years, so I don't have any idea what the manpower is like now, other than I'm sure all 3 stations are manned 24/7.
My brother got me in it, he retired with I think 33 years of fire service total, Division of Forrestry some, then fire dept. He was Chief of HCFR for 5 years or so, till his health forced him to retire.
I don't think they have a web-site, but here is some contact info I found.
http://www.firedepartments.net/Florida/Wauchula/HardeeCountyFireRescue.html
Some pics I didn't know were on the web until I just did a search. On page 4, "Old Engine - 3" Had to be my favorite truck, even tho it was only used as a supply pump in a pinch. Wish I could buy & rebuild it.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/60283638FXcVVC
My Brother was Chief at the time this station was built.
Best of luck on the recruitment & retention.
My brother got me in it, he retired with I think 33 years of fire service total, Division of Forrestry some, then fire dept. He was Chief of HCFR for 5 years or so, till his health forced him to retire.
I don't think they have a web-site, but here is some contact info I found.
http://www.firedepartments.net/Florida/Wauchula/HardeeCountyFireRescue.html
Some pics I didn't know were on the web until I just did a search. On page 4, "Old Engine - 3" Had to be my favorite truck, even tho it was only used as a supply pump in a pinch. Wish I could buy & rebuild it.
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/60283638FXcVVC
My Brother was Chief at the time this station was built.
Best of luck on the recruitment & retention.
American Woman
Banned
They caused it "not me"
Even though I was left in some compromising positions or places.....I still never complain. 
*almost never*
We're a mixed district, about 1/2 staffed stations, 1/2 unstaffed. We have a mix of career and volunteers. A lot of our career staff are home grown.
As volunteers, we try to maintain staffing at our stations when the first outs are out. We also respond when they need more resources, although this area has grown so much (FD wise), we get so much in district and mutual aid going on calls. Six weeks or so ago, we had lightening strikes out here; Me and another volunteer spent 30 hours on the engine, running medical aids and vehicle collisions while everything else was out on fires. We were the only engine available from Placerville to Echo summit; about a 45 mile strect of major highway(goin to Lake Tahoe).
Being a volunteer now is tougher. For our station, there used to be 14-18 volunteers. Six apparatus in the house. If there was a call, people came out of the woodwork to get on an engine or tender.
Now, there are four of us. We have a lot more training, both at academy/entry level, and on a continuous basis; sometimes we get more time at the station on training than on calls... All are Firefighter one, working on firefighter two. Three of us are EMT-B, one is Paramedic.
It is very challenging to get recruits now. First, we put them through a six month multi district academy. Classes are Wednesday eves for four months. Folling two months is 8 hours every Saturday. Then they come up to speed in thier own stations. At that point we'll have them going on calls. After that, we have twice a month regular training, plus optional training with the paid guys. And calls. And CPR/AED training. And medical training.
It is really a big committment, which is hard to get from people these days. And, it is hard on the dept both time, equipment, and dollar wise, to train someone and have them decide it isn't for them, or they are too busy.
A lot of people volunteer for things(and I greatly appreciate that!), but they are things that only take a little tim; an hour here, two hours there, a day now and then. That is great! The communities really need that. But we have hours upon hours, days, even months involved. It is hard to get people in to that.
We have lost three people recently; two drifted away, and the other hired on in another district(very happy for him! awesome job!).
I think an active program is important. It has to be interesting.
Our district:
http://eldoradocountyfire.com/
My Station:
http://eldoradocountyfire.com/district/station_pix/station_28_lg.jpg
St-28 is on schedule to be rebuilt. Our station was originally an all volunteer house, with six apparatus. It had a bathroom and a Chiefs office. As it became staffed over the years, 1/2 of the apparatus went away, and the freed up space was made in to a second bathroom, kitchen, day room, and bunk room. The station was built in '66, on top of fill... The fill has settled; we have cracking walls, the floor has dropped 4" in some spots, in addition to not enough room for a medic unit. Plans are finished, and inital site inspection is done. Due to growth in the area and increased call volume, we'll have a staffed medic unit, staffed first out engine, second out/volunteer engine and water tender. Thee is talk of a ladder rig in the near future too.
RN E228(Engine 228)
St-28, EDCF, Shingle Springs
As volunteers, we try to maintain staffing at our stations when the first outs are out. We also respond when they need more resources, although this area has grown so much (FD wise), we get so much in district and mutual aid going on calls. Six weeks or so ago, we had lightening strikes out here; Me and another volunteer spent 30 hours on the engine, running medical aids and vehicle collisions while everything else was out on fires. We were the only engine available from Placerville to Echo summit; about a 45 mile strect of major highway(goin to Lake Tahoe).
Being a volunteer now is tougher. For our station, there used to be 14-18 volunteers. Six apparatus in the house. If there was a call, people came out of the woodwork to get on an engine or tender.
Now, there are four of us. We have a lot more training, both at academy/entry level, and on a continuous basis; sometimes we get more time at the station on training than on calls... All are Firefighter one, working on firefighter two. Three of us are EMT-B, one is Paramedic.
It is very challenging to get recruits now. First, we put them through a six month multi district academy. Classes are Wednesday eves for four months. Folling two months is 8 hours every Saturday. Then they come up to speed in thier own stations. At that point we'll have them going on calls. After that, we have twice a month regular training, plus optional training with the paid guys. And calls. And CPR/AED training. And medical training.
It is really a big committment, which is hard to get from people these days. And, it is hard on the dept both time, equipment, and dollar wise, to train someone and have them decide it isn't for them, or they are too busy.
A lot of people volunteer for things(and I greatly appreciate that!), but they are things that only take a little tim; an hour here, two hours there, a day now and then. That is great! The communities really need that. But we have hours upon hours, days, even months involved. It is hard to get people in to that.
We have lost three people recently; two drifted away, and the other hired on in another district(very happy for him! awesome job!).
I think an active program is important. It has to be interesting.
Our district:
http://eldoradocountyfire.com/
My Station:
http://eldoradocountyfire.com/district/station_pix/station_28_lg.jpg
St-28 is on schedule to be rebuilt. Our station was originally an all volunteer house, with six apparatus. It had a bathroom and a Chiefs office. As it became staffed over the years, 1/2 of the apparatus went away, and the freed up space was made in to a second bathroom, kitchen, day room, and bunk room. The station was built in '66, on top of fill... The fill has settled; we have cracking walls, the floor has dropped 4" in some spots, in addition to not enough room for a medic unit. Plans are finished, and inital site inspection is done. Due to growth in the area and increased call volume, we'll have a staffed medic unit, staffed first out engine, second out/volunteer engine and water tender. Thee is talk of a ladder rig in the near future too.
RN E228(Engine 228)
St-28, EDCF, Shingle Springs
BoneheadNW
Active member
RNE-
Thanks for the great post with info. I completely understand your situation and that of your volunteer program. It is much the same way with my department. Our most active volunteers were hired (by us, including myself) over the years and while we have around 40 volunteers on paper, only about half are "active" with the other half either on their way out or too busy to be dependable. We have been very lucky to date on being able to cover most incidents with what we have and having mutual aid take care of the rest. I have 8 recruits in the next recruit class and, if history is a good measure, we will have half of those people remain after two years.
Bonehead
Our Dept just weeded out a few. Looking at training records; you gotta stay up to date. We will offer a retraining, get up to date. But, usually they are already moved on to something else, life etc.
I wouldn't mind going paid, but I'm 45 already. And, districts around here demand Paramedics. Understandable, given the high volume of medical calls.
I'm the only one left that I know of from our districts class of '99. A couple got paramedic credentials, and moved full time in other districts. Most moved on to other things, kids, life etc. I still see on of the guys from my class; he married a very good friend of ours. He would still do it, but is not in the area any more(20 miles away). He lives in Folsom; they have a great FD. But they outgrew volunteering 20 years ago; too big of a city now.
We had a couple people in this years academy, but one dropped out early in the classes for personal reasons.
It really is a great thing to do.
I'm not sure how to hold people though; keeping people around is a tough question.