Near Miss: Mobile Home Fire Goes Bad
After a couple of weeks without posting about a near miss, it's time to get back into the swing of things. This week's near miss involves a mobile home fire, a burned hose line, and positive pressure ventilation. All of these factors stack up to make a bad situation. Here is an excerpt:
There was zero visibility. The engine crew had knocked down most of the fire in the front area and went to the back area to extinguish the rest. The engine crew called for a fan for positive pressure ventilation. One firefighter from the truck crew went to place and start the fan. The engine crew went past the remaining truck firefighter to finish extinguishment in the rear. The fan was started. After only a moment the fire flared up in the front area. It took only seconds and the entire mobile home was burning. The crews were bottlenecked in the hallway with no egress to the rear. The truck crew asked for the hoseline since they were becoming engulfed in the flames coming from the front. The incident commander called for us to abandon the building. The hoseline burned in two before the truck crew could use it.
Follow the link to read the whole report and get all of the details. It doesn't say in the report, but I wonder if the fan was placed in the right spot.
Coffee Break Questions:
- What are your procedures for using positive pressure ventilation?
- How quickly is a backup hand line and rapid intervention team put in place on your structure fires?
- Do your firefighters ask follow-up questions of bystanders when they claim that people are trapped in the building?
Posted May 25, 2006 09:44 AM · Link
· Near Misses
