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June 1, 2014

Safety First: Truss Roof Failure and Snow Loads

It is very rare that predictions made from engineering research are so clearly demonstrated in the real world. But that is exactly what happened on February 19, 2014, when the bowstring roof structure collapsed at a CVS drugstore at 694 Burke Avenue in the Bronx. A portion of the structure had been examined as part […]

June 1, 2014

Mill Structures–Their Features and Firefighting Operations, Part I

Editor’s Note: This two-part article will focus on mill construction features and fire protection in the first part. Construction features Mill, also called “heavy timber” and “slow burning” constructed buildings, generally are built as isolated structures to reduce the hazard of fire spreading from one building to another and creating a conflagration. They range from […]

June 1, 2014

Trench Cut Brings Manhattan Five-Alarmer Under Control

On July 22, 2013, Manhattan Box 1584 was received via a verbal alarm at the quarters of Engine 80/Ladder 23. The fire building is on 139th Street, across the street and several buildings down from the firehouse. Engine 80 promptly transmitted a 10-75 for a fire on the top floor of a six-story multiple dwelling. […]

June 1, 2014

Cockloft Nozzle

A fire in a building’s cockloft is a game-changing development and, provided the necessary actions are not executed within a few crucial minutes, could mean the eventual loss of an entire building. What may seem like a routine and easily controllable, one-room fire on the top floor of an H-type apartment building when Firefighters pull […]

June 1, 2014

Sectors Play Key Role at Bronx Five-Alarm Fire

At 0616 hours on May 2, 2013, Engine 63 was assigned to Box 3677 for a reported non-structural fire in the rear yard of 685 225th Street in the Bronx. While responding, Engine 63 was informed that the Box was being filled out for a second source, reporting a fire at the same location. While […]

June 1, 2014

Metro North Train Derailment: Rescue Operations

Editors Note: This is a siebar to an article on the Metro North train derailment. See feature article. Upon arrival at the Spuyten Duyvil train derailment, the scope of the incident appeared that numerous technical rescues would be needed for extrication. However, gathering situational awareness and communicating this among the Rescue Battalion, Rescues and Squads […]

June 1, 2014

Metro North Train Derailment

On December 1, 2013, at 0719 hours, a southbound Metro-North passenger train out of Poughkeepsie, New York, en route to Grand Central Terminal, derailed just north of the Spuyten Duyvil Railroad Station in the Bronx. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported the train’s estimated speed of 82 mph, around a sharp, 30-mph curve, as […]

March 31, 2014

Gasoline-Powered Tools and Ethanol-Blended Gasoline: What You Need to Know

FDNY carries a variety of gasoline-powered equipment that is required to be operational at a moment’s notice. Condition of both tools and fuel–especially ethanol-blended fuel–is extremely important. The operational readiness and serviceability of FDNY’s equipment are the subject of this article. The Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 mandated the sale of oxygenated fuels in […]

June 1, 2014

Safety First: Truss Roof Failure and Snow Loads

It is very rare that predictions made from engineering research are so clearly demonstrated in the real world. But that is exactly what happened on February 19, 2014, when the bowstring roof structure collapsed at a CVS drugstore at 694 Burke Avenue in the Bronx. A portion of the structure had been examined as part […]

June 1, 2014

Mill Structures–Their Features and Firefighting Operations, Part I

Editor’s Note: This two-part article will focus on mill construction features and fire protection in the first part. Construction features Mill, also called “heavy timber” and “slow burning” constructed buildings, generally are built as isolated structures to reduce the hazard of fire spreading from one building to another and creating a conflagration. They range from […]

June 1, 2014

Trench Cut Brings Manhattan Five-Alarmer Under Control

On July 22, 2013, Manhattan Box 1584 was received via a verbal alarm at the quarters of Engine 80/Ladder 23. The fire building is on 139th Street, across the street and several buildings down from the firehouse. Engine 80 promptly transmitted a 10-75 for a fire on the top floor of a six-story multiple dwelling. […]

June 1, 2014

Cockloft Nozzle

A fire in a building’s cockloft is a game-changing development and, provided the necessary actions are not executed within a few crucial minutes, could mean the eventual loss of an entire building. What may seem like a routine and easily controllable, one-room fire on the top floor of an H-type apartment building when Firefighters pull […]

June 1, 2014

Sectors Play Key Role at Bronx Five-Alarm Fire

At 0616 hours on May 2, 2013, Engine 63 was assigned to Box 3677 for a reported non-structural fire in the rear yard of 685 225th Street in the Bronx. While responding, Engine 63 was informed that the Box was being filled out for a second source, reporting a fire at the same location. While […]

June 1, 2014

Metro North Train Derailment: Rescue Operations

Editors Note: This is a siebar to an article on the Metro North train derailment. See feature article. Upon arrival at the Spuyten Duyvil train derailment, the scope of the incident appeared that numerous technical rescues would be needed for extrication. However, gathering situational awareness and communicating this among the Rescue Battalion, Rescues and Squads […]

June 1, 2014

Metro North Train Derailment

On December 1, 2013, at 0719 hours, a southbound Metro-North passenger train out of Poughkeepsie, New York, en route to Grand Central Terminal, derailed just north of the Spuyten Duyvil Railroad Station in the Bronx. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported the train’s estimated speed of 82 mph, around a sharp, 30-mph curve, as […]

March 31, 2014

Gasoline-Powered Tools and Ethanol-Blended Gasoline: What You Need to Know

FDNY carries a variety of gasoline-powered equipment that is required to be operational at a moment’s notice. Condition of both tools and fuel–especially ethanol-blended fuel–is extremely important. The operational readiness and serviceability of FDNY’s equipment are the subject of this article. The Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 mandated the sale of oxygenated fuels in […]