Latest

December 1, 2012

SCUBA Dive Rescue Operations: A Familiarization Course that Addresses Supervisory Concerns

When civilian drowning casualties began to steadily increase within the confines of the Rockaway Peninsula 2008 through 2009, Battalion Chief Michael McGrath, Battalion 47, sought input from various FDNY units that respond to water emergencies in an attempt to streamline FDNY operations within his Command. Subsequently, Chief McGrath inquired into the feasibility of a Self-Contained […]

December 1, 2012

Situational Awareness (SA) Analysis

Everybody goes. Phone alarm…first-due engine, first-due truck…Fire in a commercial building. The address is 1655 Pitkin Avenue. The fire is reported on the first floor. CIDS (Critical Information Dispatch System) information is available upon request. As Firefighters hear the house watchman read the ticket, FDNY members start their size-up. They are thinking about that building, […]

December 1, 2012

The Crucial Role of Fire Prevention

There is a misconception that the Bureau of Fire Prevention is a separate and distinct entity, with no relationship to the day-to-day fire prevention, inspection and life safety activities of units in the field. This illusion has been entrenched in the minds of Firefighters and Officers. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. […]

December 1, 2012

Understanding Oxygen in Your Atmosphere

Recently on a trip to Colorado Springs, the author had an opportunity to visit Pikes Peak. At 14,110 feet above sea level, it is the 31st tallest mountain in Colorado. In comparison, many parts of Manhattan are only about five feet above sea level. The tallest building, the soon-to-be-completed 1 World Trade Center (the Freedom […]

September 30, 2012

FDNY Fire Family Transport — Here to Help You!

FF Eugene Stolowski was introduced to the FDNY Fire Family Transport (FFT) Foundation in the most dramatic of ways. It began at 0755 hours on January 23, 2005, a bitter-cold winter day, when the run came in. He was finishing up his 24-hour shift in Ladder 27. Members turned out to respond to an odor […]

September 30, 2012

NFPA 1403 — Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, 2007 Edition (sidebar to above)

Once the approval was given to proceed with the training, safety concerns became the number one priority. Previous knowledge of other fire department tragedies at live burn training evolutions led FDNY to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1403. Following a tragic accident in 1982, which resulted in the deaths of two Firefighters, the NFPA was […]

September 30, 2012

Governors Island Live Burn Drills

Among the numerous and varied training methods implemented within the Department–including written publications, evolutions performed either at the company level or the Fire Academy, simulators used in Special Operations training, as well as tabletop and full-scale exercises–it probably would be surprising to most members of the FDNY that live burn exercises are very rare. Although […]

September 30, 2012

What Firefighters Should Know About Pressure Tanks

Besides gravity tanks, another early storage container used to supply water to sprinkler and standpipe systems for large-dimensional structures is the pressure tank. Typically, these vessels are installed at or above the top level of buildings with fire protection systems. Pressure tanks are filled with water to approximately two-thirds capacity. Air is injected into them […]

December 1, 2012

SCUBA Dive Rescue Operations: A Familiarization Course that Addresses Supervisory Concerns

When civilian drowning casualties began to steadily increase within the confines of the Rockaway Peninsula 2008 through 2009, Battalion Chief Michael McGrath, Battalion 47, sought input from various FDNY units that respond to water emergencies in an attempt to streamline FDNY operations within his Command. Subsequently, Chief McGrath inquired into the feasibility of a Self-Contained […]

December 1, 2012

Situational Awareness (SA) Analysis

Everybody goes. Phone alarm…first-due engine, first-due truck…Fire in a commercial building. The address is 1655 Pitkin Avenue. The fire is reported on the first floor. CIDS (Critical Information Dispatch System) information is available upon request. As Firefighters hear the house watchman read the ticket, FDNY members start their size-up. They are thinking about that building, […]

December 1, 2012

The Crucial Role of Fire Prevention

There is a misconception that the Bureau of Fire Prevention is a separate and distinct entity, with no relationship to the day-to-day fire prevention, inspection and life safety activities of units in the field. This illusion has been entrenched in the minds of Firefighters and Officers. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. […]

December 1, 2012

Understanding Oxygen in Your Atmosphere

Recently on a trip to Colorado Springs, the author had an opportunity to visit Pikes Peak. At 14,110 feet above sea level, it is the 31st tallest mountain in Colorado. In comparison, many parts of Manhattan are only about five feet above sea level. The tallest building, the soon-to-be-completed 1 World Trade Center (the Freedom […]

September 30, 2012

FDNY Fire Family Transport — Here to Help You!

FF Eugene Stolowski was introduced to the FDNY Fire Family Transport (FFT) Foundation in the most dramatic of ways. It began at 0755 hours on January 23, 2005, a bitter-cold winter day, when the run came in. He was finishing up his 24-hour shift in Ladder 27. Members turned out to respond to an odor […]

September 30, 2012

NFPA 1403 — Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions, 2007 Edition (sidebar to above)

Once the approval was given to proceed with the training, safety concerns became the number one priority. Previous knowledge of other fire department tragedies at live burn training evolutions led FDNY to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1403. Following a tragic accident in 1982, which resulted in the deaths of two Firefighters, the NFPA was […]

September 30, 2012

Governors Island Live Burn Drills

Among the numerous and varied training methods implemented within the Department–including written publications, evolutions performed either at the company level or the Fire Academy, simulators used in Special Operations training, as well as tabletop and full-scale exercises–it probably would be surprising to most members of the FDNY that live burn exercises are very rare. Although […]

September 30, 2012

What Firefighters Should Know About Pressure Tanks

Besides gravity tanks, another early storage container used to supply water to sprinkler and standpipe systems for large-dimensional structures is the pressure tank. Typically, these vessels are installed at or above the top level of buildings with fire protection systems. Pressure tanks are filled with water to approximately two-thirds capacity. Air is injected into them […]