From the USFA

Lights and Siren Response

Posted by U.S. Fire Administration

The use of warning lights and sirens on fire and EMS emergency vehicles is a basic component of emergency response and patient transport in this country. Over the past several years, the effectiveness of this long-standing tradition in affecting patient outcome or decreasing property or financial loss has come into question. What is known is that the majority of emergency vehicle crashes occur when warning lights and siren are in use. Vehicle crashes are a leading cause of on-duty firefighter fatalities.

Many fire and EMS departments in the United States have developed policies aimed at reducing the amount of responses using emergency warning lights and sirens. These departments have implemented priority dispatching systems that identify the risk involved (or even the potential of risk) and have assigned a response based on this. As a result, an incident such as a trash container fire not threatening nearby structures or an EMS call for a minor injury, might not require a lights and siren response. Other departments have instituted programs for automatic alarm response where only the first due apparatus responds using lights and sirens.

It is common practice for members of volunteer fire and EMS departments to respond to the station (and, in some instances, to an incident location) using their private vehicles (POV). Many States allow volunteer members to equip their POV with emergency lights and sirens while other States allow for “courtesy” lights (which convey no emergency status such as requiring other motorists to provide the right of way). For those volunteer fire and EMS departments that allow this practice, response with emergency and/or “courtesy” lights and/or sirens can be an issue as a POV is the leading vehicle involved in on-duty firefighter deaths resulting from vehicle crashes.

What is your department doing related to lights and siren response? Is every response done using lights or sirens? Has your department developed policies reducing the use of lights and sirens? What are they and are they working?

If you would like to learn more about USFA’s emergency vehicle safety efforts, including research in the areas of warning lighting and vehicle visibility and conspicuity, please visit our Web site.

http://blog. usfa.dhs. gov/2009/ 02/lights- and-siren- response. html

Big News

Obese Woman Dragged From Home, Hauled Away After Dying
The Marion County Coroner's Office has come under fire after it was revealed that an obese woman was dragged from her home and hauled away on a trailer in front of family members following her death. Teresa Smith, 48, who weighed 750 pounds, died Tuesday in her apartment on Indianapolis' northeast side. Officials at the scene said that the deputy coroner made the decision to call a towing service to remove the body from the home.

"We debated for quite a while about how we were going to get her out of there and so we finally decided, since we didn't have a van that was large enough to carry her, it was decided between (the police) department and the coroner's office to use (the truck)," said Detective Marcus Kennedy.
Smith's boyfriend and the couple's 13-year-old son, along with several neighbors, watched as Smith's body, still on her mattress, was dragged across the courtyard of the apartment complex, strapped down on the wrecker and covered with a piece of carpet.
"I think they should have handled it differently, putting her on a flatbed like they did. That was like putting a cow up there," said Smith's boyfriend, David Johnson.
Neighbors said they were also disturbed by the ordeal.
"What really got me is when they took her off onto the flatbed, they threw this dirty, dirty carpet on top of her, and I just thought that was so disrespectful," said a neighbor, who did not want to be identified. "I would have never let them throw that on my loved one."
Once on the truck, Smith's body was escorted by police downtown to the coroner's office.
Former Chief Deputy Coroner John Linehan said he was shocked and dismayed that appropriate steps weren't taken to remove the woman from her home.
He said that fire and medical personnel have equipment available for handling patients up to 1,000 pounds and that moving obese individuals is not all that rare of an occurrence.
"When they scoop up dead dogs off of the street they don't treat them that way," he said. "It's just not the way to treat a human being."
Chief Deputy Coroner Alfarena Ballew told Rinehart by phone Wednesday that a flatbed truck has been used in other occasions to move obese individuals. She said the office is now looking for a way to transport Smith's body from the morgue to the funeral home.
The Indiana State Coroner's Association said it has no specific recommendations to handle extremely obese people. The decision is left up to each county.

Coffin 'too big' for crematorium
A woman has had to be buried after council officials ruled her coffin was too big for cremation.
Falkirk Council said that despite Betty Wilson, 79, losing both her legs to diabetes, the width of her coffin exceeded the limits of their cremator.
The decision has been criticised by Mrs Wilson's daughter Liz, who has called for facilities to be bigger.
The council said its crematorium could accommodate coffins up to 28in wide, 81in long and 22in deep.
Mrs Wilson died at Bonnybridge Hospital on 25 April after suffering from a heart condition.
She had expressed a wish to be cremated in Camelon, not far from her home in the town's Fairlie Street.
However, family members were told by undertakers, Co-op Funeralcare, that a specially-made coffin would have to be created for Mrs Wilson and that it would not fit into the cremator at Camelon.

'Family requests'
A spokeswoman for the undertaker said: "The family were advised to go to South Lanarkshire where there is a larger facility. However, they decided that they would prefer a burial."
Mrs Wilson's daughter Liz told the Falkirk Herald she was stunned that her mother would not fit into the crematorium.
She told the paper: "We're always hearing that people are getting bigger so they should be thinking of these things and not upset family members in this way."
A Falkirk Council spokeswoman told the BBC Scotland news website that in the past 25 years the issue had affected five funerals.
She added: "We strive to accommodate family wishes at what can be a very distressing time.
"Unfortunately in particular circumstances the cremators are unable to accommodate family requests for this service.
"The three cremators have been in place since 1997 and undertakers are aware of the dimensions of our facilities."
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We Revisit the Wood Truss Issue – Something New?

I keep coming back from time to to time to this issue. Seems that there is a product out there that will slow the deterioration of engineered wood products in a fire. This story at Firehouse.com/paint gives the low down. I added a few links to products pages that are interesting. Seems that his would be a good place to start for increased building code issues to protect this type of  building product.

There's new information about a possible fix for a potentially deadly hazard in your home.

A recent 12 News investigation showed how lightweight wood floor beams can quickly collapse -- without warning -- in a house fire. Story by wisn.com 

Contego intumescent fire barrier products

Albi Clad TF

PPG Speedhide Intumescent Latex Paint

Firefighter Dies While Responding To An Emergency Run

Posted May 25, 2009 EST

Massachusetts - Chief Richard Pierce regretfully announces the Line of Duty Death of twenty one year veteran Firefighter Paul J. Roberts. Firefighter Roberts was a dedicated firefighter and family man. He will be remembered for his quiet, good nature and his unforgettable smile. Firefighter Roberts touched many lives during his time with the Beverly Fire Department and his presence will be sorely missed.
The thoughts and prayers of all of us at the Beverly Fire Department are with his family at this most difficult time.
The Beverly Fire Department is a career department located on the North Shore of Massachusetts. The Department employs 65 Firefighters and Fire Officers as well as 6 full time professional Fire Alarm Operators that staff the Fire Alarm Office.

Written and photos by Beverly Fire Department

Courtesy of Beverly Fire Department

More on the San Francisco Collapse From FF Close Calls

UPDATE: SAN FRANCISCO FIRE / STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE - NUMEROUS LINKS, VIDEO AND DOWN-LOADABLES

SF UPDATE:
A converter box had been installed at that San Fran warehouse to bypass the electrical meter which probably caused the fire...and they say that's a sign the building may have been used for marijuana growing or a clandestine lab. They are looking at the possibility that the converter box could not handle the electricity load and thus was the source of the fire. The fire in the single-story warehouse was first reported at 4:45 a.m. Thursday. As you know, a Firefighter was hospitalized with a broken leg and burns after being injured when a portion of a wall fell on him.
STRUCTURAL FIRE COLLAPSE---CLOSE CALL REMINDERS:

As found in the various "links" below as well as Chief's Dunn & Brannigans teachings, keep in mind what should be on the minds of any of us operating at commercial fires with similar conditions:
*Defensive fire
*Commercial building/probable engineered roof systems
*Parapet walls
*Extended operations (in the San Fran fire, the parapet fell 24 minutes after arrival) and it was a Type II warehouse (normally the building cannot withstand the total burnout of its contents).
WATCH THE ORIGINAL VIDEO CLIP HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI8RGcA61ww
CHECK OUT EXTENDED VIDEO & MORE NEWS COVERAGE FROM DAVESTATTER911:
http://www.wusa9.com/news/columnist/blogs/2009/05/must-see-video-of-another-very-close.html
WATCH AN EXTENDED VERSION OF THE ORIGINAL VIDEO CLIP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82tbAGnTjSs&feature=channel_page
HERE ARE IMPORTANT RELATED LINKS ON STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE AT FIRES:
DUNN ARTICLE: http://cms.firehouse.com/web/online/Firefighting-Strategy-and-Tactics/Dunns-Dispatch--Recognizing-Wall-Collapse-Dangers/14$56571
DUNN SAFETY BULLETIN: http://vincentdunn.com/dunn/newsletters/Front_wall_collapse.pdf
COLLAPSE INDICATORS BULLETIN:
http://firefighterclosecalls.com/drills/FCC%20Vol%2012-136%20Structural%20Collapse%20Indicators.pdf
COLLAPSE INDICATORS BULLETIN:
http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/drills/FCC%20Vol%204-47%20Collapse%20Indicators.pdf
COLLAPSE ZONE BULLETIN:
http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/drills/FCC%20Vol%209-107%20FF%20Survival%20Tips%203-Collapse%20Zones.pdf
EXCELLENT NIST FIRE COLLAPSE BULLETIN AND VIDEOS:
http://www.fire.gov/collapse/index.htm
FF INJURY & DEATH / CONSTRUCTION FAILURES FROM NIOSH: 
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-132/
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2005-132/pdfs/2005-132Sum.pdf
SAMPLE FF NEAR-MISS REPORT: (Search for others as needed)
http://www.firefighternearmiss.com/nmrs-query//ViewReport.htm?sp=S09-0000096
VIDEO-DISCOVERY CHANNEL "LIVE" VIDEO OF COLLAPSE:
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/destroyed-in-seconds-fiery-wall-collapse.html
VIDEO-L.A. BUILDING FIRE/COLLAPSE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee9hUynD4S8
VIDEO-FDNY BUILDING COLLAPSE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wfpRO9bTfo&feature=related

Just Jumped out and bite it?

Fire Apparatus Snaps Utility Pole

from www.firefighterclosecalls.com news

Fire Apparatus Snaps Utility Pole

Saturday, May 23, 2009

An ambulance attempting to transport a man to Frisbie Memorial Hospital after he fell from his bicycle Friday afternoon was delayed after a fire truck clipped a utility pole and brought down live wires across two streets.
Police, fire and Frisbie EMS responded to Dewey Street at around 5:15 p.m. for a medical call. A man had fallen off his bicycle and was reported to be unconscious.
Police Sgt. Eric Babine did not have the name of the man immediately available. He said police were called to the scene to assist EMS, who were tending to the patient upon the arrival of officers. The call originally came in that the patient was a young boy, but Babine confirmed it was an adult male who was not wearing a helmet and had fallen off the bicycle and lost consciousness.
The ambulance was ready to transport the man to the hospital by around 5:30 p.m.; however, as a fire truck driven by firefighter Nick Angelo prepared to leave the scene, it clipped a utility pole at the corner of Dewey Street and Riverside Drive. A loud crack emanated from the pole as it came down, causing wires all the way down the street to shake.
"The lines were shaking all the way down the street," said Dewey Street residents Jenny Smith and Lynn Costa. They, along with many others, crowded around the scene, which also drew a larger crowd of rescue officers.
One fire truck, ambulance and police cruiser responded to the original call. After the pole and wires came down, a second police cruiser, the critical incident response unit, another fire truck and two fire command vehicles — along with Fire Chief Norm Sanborn and Deputy Fire Chief Richard Giguere — responded to the scene as well.
A second ambulance also had to come to the scene to transport the patient. He was already loaded in the first ambulance, but it could not leave the scene because it was trapped by the downed wires.
Sanborn called it a "minimal delay" that was "nothing that would have compromised" the patient's health. He said they were already treating the patient in the ambulance when the wires came down.
Sanborn said the collision caused minimal damage to the fire truck. A "rub rail" on the side of the truck meant to lessen damage in case of an accident was what struck the pole, and was damaged as a result. Other than that, Sanborn said there was minimal damage but the truck would be out of commission until Tuesday because of the holiday weekend.
The major damage caused by the accident was to the pole, which was apparently rotten and home to large black ants.
"The rotten pole caused the big issue," Sanborn said, adding power would have to be cut to complete cleanup. He estimated it would be several hours before the road could be opened again because a new pole would be set up and wires had to be reattached. Since it was a pole on the corner of two streets, Sanborn said it was a junction point for cable and power lines.
"They've got quite a bit of work, unfortunately," Sanborn said.

Just Passing Though

From the AP:
A man has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for driving his car through Wichita's City Hall. Marcus Johnson, 33, also was ordered Wednesday to pay $142,000 in restitution. He pleaded no contest to criminal damage to property, making a criminal threat, and battery of a law enforcement officer.
Prosecutors said that Johnson became enraged when police told him to turn down his car music in January 2008 and said he would crash into City Hall.
He then drove downtown and through the front doors of City Hall. The car continued past the elevators and crashed into security at the west end of the building.
Johnson asked for leniency Wednesday and told the judge that he was hearing voices that night.