Pat's Kingdom

So everyone is saying that there is going to be a giant earth ending earthquake in California. Well while they are just talking about it and trying to predict when it might just happen, how is California preparing for it? Do we have a major incident plan for a possible mass casualty incident? If geologists are predicting that there is going to be another Loma prieta earthquake and California doesn’t have a plan of Action written out then what does that say about the state? One would hope that there is something in place if that were to happen, but who knows. The state has a webpage explaining what you can do to prepare for an earthquake, and with a little research our great state does indeed have an earthquake disaster plan in place. The state has thought about virtually everything that could happen in an earthquake and they have planned for it, one such example of this planning is when the earthquake starts then the garage doors in fire stations will go up and the bell will start to ring, thus making it easier for the firefighters and their engines to be able to get out before their firehouse becomes unstable and collapses. There are a lot of other things that are in place in case of this catastrophic earthquake.

Role of the Modern Fire Service

The role of the modern Fire Service is ever changing. It has become more competitive than ever to become a part of, but once you are a part of it is the most rewarding career you will ever have. There are many different things that the Fire Service does for the public. Some of those things include providing EMS to the public, doing fire inspections and cleaning up hazardous waste spills. There have been new technologies that the Fire Service has had to cope with, but it is overcoming those new technologies. The Fire Service isn’t special in the fact that it has had to deal with the economy as well.

First off I will start off with the beginnings of the Fire Service. The earliest firefighters known protected the city of Rome in the year 24 B.C. The ruler Caesar Augustus formed a familia publica, which were six hundred servants stationed at the gates of the city to be the firefighters.  In the America’s Boston had the first ever Fire Department. It was established in 1717, because of the terrible fires that had plagued Boston. By 1718 the first fire society was formed by the citizens of Boston. The next department that was formed was the Union Volunteer Fire Company. This fire department was formed in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin. In New York the Volunteer Department of City of New York was created. It had thirty five members and by 1784 it was made up of fifteen engines and two hook and ladder companies.

The apparatus that firefighters use has changed drastically over the years since the start of the Fire Service. It began with a hand pumped single nozzle engine that was towed to and from the fires by the firefighters. After this engine came the steam engine that was towed to the fires by horses. After the steam engines came the chemical powered engines. They used a chemical reaction to propel the water out of the hoses. These engines were used to extinguish hard to get fire or fire that is in the early stage of development. Along with the chemical engines came ladder trucks. The first aerial ladder was invented in 1870 by a San Francisco fireman by the name of Daniel Hayes. After the chemical engines and ladder trucks came the gas and diesel powered rigs. The first gas powered apparatus used tractor engines to drive to the fire but once they got there they switched over to the steam powered engine for firefighting operations. After a little while the engineers made it so that the gas engine could power the fire engine and the pump. The fire engines nowadays are like a mobile fire station, they carry their own source of water, tools for firefighting and medical calls, and huge amounts of hose. They are powered by a diesel engine and some of them can pump and drive at the same time.

Another service that the modern Fire Service provides is EMS. Some departments can only provide BLS care while other departments provide ALS care and have their own ambulance companies. Seventy five to eighty percent of all fire department calls nowadays are medical related calls. To get hired with most departments these days you must be EMT certified. EMS is a big part of the modern Fire Service.

Haz-mat is also another service that the modern day Fire Service performs. Since there are a lot of possibilities for spills the fire department has to be ready. Whether it is a small diesel spill at a vehicle accident or a radioactive airplane crash, the fire department responds to it all. These calls make up only a small percent of annual calls but can be very dangerous when they happen. It is the responsibility of the fire department to maintain its professionalism and only let trained personnel work at hazardous incidents.

Yet another thing that the fire department provides is wildland fire protection. When there is a wildland fire, the fire department is expected to be the first ones there and to control the fire before it gets out of hand, but the reality is that some times this doesn’t happen and the fire gets out of hand. On campaign fires the fire department provides an incident command team to control the fire scene. Firefighters have to face wildland urban interface problems more and more these days because of people building their houses in forested areas. This brings up the ever important issue of structure protection. The firefighters have to decide which houses they protect and which ones that they can’t. This is very hard for firefighters, because they swear to protect lives and property, but if they can only protect one house and five burn, that is really hard.

Another service that the fire department provides is fire inspections and public education. The fire inspectors inspect buildings and makes sure they are up to code. They also assist in planning the local fire prevention program. Fire inspectors educate the public on hazards and help them to understand how to deal with them. They encourage citizens to use smoke detectors and to test them every six months, and they also encourage the use of EDITH. They also have to develop training aids to use along with public demonstrations. They also use flyers and pamphlets to educate the public.

The Fire Service has had to adapt to new technology over the years, and these days this is especially true. For example one of the biggest things is new lightweight construction. It is becoming more and more dangerous for firefighters to do interior operations because of lightweight construction. The buildings don’t last as long as they used to when they are exposed to fire. Another new development in technology is the advent of the hybrid car. These cars are becoming more and more common on the road, and they do provide an added risk in auto extrications, but they are mostly just like a normal car. Other advancements in technology help the Fire Service. New tools that the firefighters can use to help them to do their tasks more efficiently are coming available more and more.

The Fire Service has had to deal with the economy as well. They have had to go through layoffs and budget cuts. There have been browned out stations as well. Even though the Fire Service contracts with the government that doesn’t mean that their jobs are safe from the economic downturn. This provides a problem for serving the community, if one station is browned out that means longer response times and possibly a worse outcome for the patients.

In conclusion the Fire Service has changed for the better over the years that it has been around. It has faced new challenges and has had to adapt to them. There have been many new developments in the Fire Service and the way that it works and these changes have benefitted the Fire Service greatly. The motto of the modern Fire Service has stayed the same all through these years though. Firefighters still protect lives and property.

Ventilation

Vertical ventilation is one of the most important things to do on the fire ground, and it is also one of the most dangerous. You, the firefighter, are on the roof of a house, with a raging inferno beneath you. As the firefighter you are expected to climb up onto that roof with a chainsaw and cut a hole in it. Now you may be thinking that it isn’t that hard to climb onto the roof with a chainsaw, well when you do it you aren’t doing it at 2:15 in the morning when it’s dark while you are wearing seventy pounds of gear and the roof is about to give way. The reason that vertical ventilation is done is to let hot gasses and smoke out of the building, so that the interior firefighters can see and advance their hose line farther and farther into the building without having to experience all of those hot gasses. Now with today’s lightweight construction being used there isn’t much time until the roof caves in. Roofs these days are made mostly of oriented strand board, or OSB. This board is a bunch of pieces of wood chips glued together to make one piece of wood. Now you can imagine how strong a bunch of wood chips and glue are, and when there is a fire burning beneath you it is even worse. That is why it is imperative for the firefighters to get on the roof as soon as possible, cut their hole and get off the roof as fast as possible. Vertical ventilation on commercial occupancies is slightly less risky. There is more roof space to work with, the roof is usually flat and the trusses are usually stronger. Some commercial occupancies such as basketball gyms have what’s called bowstring trusses. These trusses allow the ceiling to be curved. They are very unstable because they have no support in the middle of the bottom beam. The top beam is arched so it is also putting pressure on the bottom beam. These beams aren’t very common anymore, but there are still buildings that have these trusses. Another type of ventilation is called horizontal ventilation. This type of ventilation isn’t nearly as dangerous. This type of venting uses the houses windows and doors, which are already there, to push the smoke out of the building. The fire department also carries big gas powered fans that push air into the building in order to push the smoke out. This is called positive pressure ventilation. It is a form of horizontal ventilation. Another form of horizontal ventilation is negative pressure ventilation. This involves putting smoke ejectors inside the window frames and sucking the smoke out of the house, although this isn’t really practiced anymore because positive pressure venting has proven to be more effective.

EMS

Emergency medical service. The modern fire department responds to medical aids. They help people when they fall or when they are sick and need to go to the hospital. In fact, eighty percent of the modern fire services calls are medical related. The fire department will come and help you if you get stung by a bee and they will also come and help you if you have an amputated limb. The fire department is one of the first people on the scene of an emergency, their personnel are trained to handle almost any medical situation possible. They have special equipment on their engines that they use in medical aids. Some engine companies can only provide basic life support, while other engine company’s can provide advanced life support. EMS is a huge part of the fire department today.

NHL

The national hockey league was originally called the national hockey association. It was started in 1917 in Montreal, Canada. Today in the NHL there are thirty teams from two different countries. Canada has six teams and the U.S. has twenty-six teams. The most recent Stanley Cup champions were the Pittsburgh Penguins. They won the 2009 Stanley Cup championship. They beat the Detroit Red Wings for the Cup. This season has been one to remember, with injuries that have affected playoff hopes. It has been a very epic season and one for the record books. The playoffs this year just started on April 14^th. With the Sharks being my favorite team, naturally I want them to win the cup. They have a good chance at the cup this year, but based off of past playoff experience that just might not happen. They just lost to the Colorado Avalanche last night. The Avalanche got an early lead in the second period, scoring a power play goal only fifteen seconds into the power play. But in the third the Sharks came back fighting. They scored thirteen minutes into the period. They were able to hold the Av’s until there were 49.8 seconds remaining in the game. At that point an Av’s player shot the puck toward the goal, with the Sharks Rob Blake in front of it, deflecting off of Blake’s skate into the goal. The Sharks couldn’t come back from that goal and ended up losing that game 2-1. This wasn’t the only thing that had the Sharks down. They weren’t finishing their checks and wearing down the Av’s. They would just bump into the Av player that got rid of the puck. They had a lack of energy on the ice. Anybody could tell that they weren’t at their best. They needed more energy on the ice and they needed to finish their checks.

A player that has been great for finishing his checks is Scott Nichol. He has been a great forward for the Sharks this season. He has been in on some key plays that have made the Sharks come out on top in the regular season. He is also known to finish checks and put people into the boards. He is full of energy and is relentless when it comes to getting the puck. He will put guys on the ice like no other. He doesn’t give up on checks either. He goes through with it even if the player passed the puck away. He wears them down and beats them up, so when it comes to the third period they are tired and worn down.

Another key player on the Sharks’ roster is Joe Pavelski. He is a great forward that went to play on team USA at the Olympics. He was the only Shark from the US to play on the Olympic team. He is always a threat to the Av’s. He has the power to skate hard for a puck and he has the wrist shot to score the goals. He also has agility on the ice. He is agile and can deke very well. He is a very good asset for the Shark’s.

The newest player to hit the Sharks’ roster is Logan Couture.  He is only twenty years old but he is proving to be a great forward. He scored his first regular season shoot out goal on the last game of the season. He scored by deking to the right and stick handling past the goaltender. He is proving to be a vital asset to the Shark’s in the post season. He is a young and upcoming player that will play a key role in the future of the Sharks Franchise.

Wildland Firefighting

The wildland season for 2010 is coming up really quick. It is going to hit California very hard this year and is going to last a very long time. Now is the time to prepare your houses to be fire safe. That means clean out your gutters and trim shrubs and bushes. The state fire protection agency CAL Fire recommends that you clear a one hundred foot defensible space around your home. This helps firefighters to battle the blaze that is rushing toward your house. It gives them a little more time to prep your house and it also allows for better firefighting operations. It is easier for the fire department, because now they don’t have to clear out all the brush that has accumulated over the years. Another advantage to clearing out the brush around your house is to help you our when you have to evacuate.

Firefighters have to tackle huge blazes all across the country every year, and it seems that every year the blazes get bigger and badder. The reason behind this is people. It’s really that simple. The fires that firefighters fight these days are now called WUI fires. This stands for wildland urban interface fires. The reason there are so many of these devastating fires is because people want that luxury home in the middle of the forest on top of the hill. If people didn’t do this then these fires would be way less devastating. The wildland and the urban communities need to stay separate. If they stay separate then there will be less devastating fires. I’m not saying that there will be fewer fires, just less devastating ones.

There are a few different ways that firefighters combat wildland fires. The main operation for large fires, or campaign fires, is called a firing operation. In this operation the firing team goes in between the house and the fire, or the green as it’s called, and sets a fire. The fire that is set then burns out all of the fuel between the house and the main fire therefore stopping the spread of the fire. This is a very effective operation that comes in handy on these campaign fires in northern and southern California. The firefighters there are especially good at putting fire on the ground. Not just anyone can put fire on the ground. If someone puts fire on the ground at the wrong time there could be devastating results. If the wind conditions aren’t right and the wind blows back in the face of the fire crew, then the house that they were trying to protect is now going to be their protection. That is why only experienced crews are the only ones allowed to put fire on the ground.

Another way to fight wildland fires is to do something called a mobile attack. This involves driving the fire engine up to the fire and extending a hose from the bumper of the engine and walking in front of the engine and putting out fire. This is the method that is most commonly used around here. It is the easiest most efficient way to put out a fast moving grass fire. All the firefighter has to do is walk and put the wet stuff on the red stuff as they say.

The third way of fighting a fire is to perform a progressive hose lay. This method of fire extinguishment is used when the fire is either inaccessible to the fire engine or it is too far for the water tender to drive in to refill the engine when it runs out of water. This involves the entire crew of the engine. They all get hose packs, called gnass packs, pronounced nass pack, and hike into the fire while laying hose the whole way. This method takes a while, but it is very effective at what it is designed to do. The individual firefighter carries two lengths of hose in his or her gnass pack, and there can be up to ten firefighters on one hose lay.

The last way to fight a fire that I am going to talk about is to use hand tools and cut a hand line around the fire. This is the most physically demanding job there is in wildland firefighting. It is hard on every part of your body. In constructing a hand line there are three basic tools that are used. The first tool in line is called the Pulaski. This tool has an axe head on one side and a hoe on the other. The reason this tool goes first is because it can take small chunks out of the ground and it can loosen up the dirt for the next tool. The McCloud is the next tool in line. It has four forks on one side and a sharp edge on the other. This tool is used for clearing lots of debris and grass all at once. This is the workhorse of the crew. This guy does the most intense work and labor. The last tool is the Captains’ shovel. This tool is a shovel that the Captain holds and it has two sharp edges on it and it is used for fine tuning the lie that was cut. The Captain doesn’t do much work because he is higher up on the chain of command than the firefighters, that is why he gets a shovel and is at the back of the line.

This was just a summary of the many things that firefighters do in wildland fire situations. I hope that this blog was informational, and I hope that you are going to look on CAL Fire’s website and learn more about defensible space and fire safety around the home.

Fire Apparatus

There are a ton of different types of fire apparatus. There are three main types of pumpers that I am going to talk about. The types one two and three pumpers are the main workhorses for most departments, although there are others such as type fours and type fives. The type one engine is the main workhorse for almost all fire departments in the US. It is the engines that you will see driving down the street in your neighborhood most of the time. What classifies it a type one engine are the following, it has t9o have a pump that will pump at least 1500 gallons per minute, it must carry a 24 foot extension ladder, a 14 foot roof ladder, a ten foot attic ladder, four SCBA’s, 1500 feet of LDH line, 1000 feet of attack line, a 1500 gallon or more water tank, and the tools needed for structural firefighting. These engines also usually carry medical equipment for EMT’s to use, and sometimes they carry enough medical equipment for a paramedic to use.

The type two engine is usually found at volunteer departments because they are easier to maintain and have better adaptability for the department. These engines are just like type ones except that they carry less water and hose. They can also carry enough medical equipment for a paramedic.

The third type of engine is the type three. These engines are the ones that you see driving off road and putting out wild land fires. They are usually four wheel drive and have off road tires so that they can drive in off road conditions to get to the fire. They also have an enormous amount of ground clearance so that they can traverse off road terrain. They also carry only a little amount of hose on them and only usually have a 500 gallon water tank. The pump is also scaled down quite a lot as well. It can only usually pump up to 1000 gallons a minute. These types of engines usually only carry tools for wild land operations. These tools include the Pulaski and the McCloud. Also these types of engines only have to have a 24 foot extension ladder and a 12 foot roof ladder.

The drivers of these engines have to have special training. They have to go to classes to learn to drive and operate these machines. They also have to have a special class of license to drive them; this license is a class b firefighter license. The driver operators have to go to school to learn how to drive with lights and sirens as well. They have to have at least 200 hours of driving lights and sirens before they can drive to a real call.