An automatic alarm call is not unlike getting the elderly disoriented call on the EMS side.  There’s a lot of investigating involved and most times it’s something simple.

But as we all know, other times, it’s not.

THE EMERGENCY

An automatic alarm is ringing at an apartment building.

THE ACTION

Alarm bells in my agency are handled by a minimum of one engine, one truck and a Battalion Chief.  This allows us to do a pretty darn good investigation and get started working if the alarm turns out to be the real deal.

As we pull up we notice no one outside and no alarm ringing.  Odd.

Inside to the alarm panel and it has been silenced, but is still telling us trouble on the third floor.

As we begin to climb the stairs to the third floor a man emerges from the ground floor unit waving his arms and pushing us out of the building.  Well, he’s trying to anyway.

“I was painting and set it off, no fire here! No fire here!”

As we get up to the third floor there is not only a smell of burnt food, but the faint ringing of a smoke detector.

“Control, balance this alarm to a full box” we hear over the air from the truck crew on the roof.

“We’ve got heavy smoke now from a skylight, third floor bravo side.”

Entry is made into the unit and we find a woman standing in her living room, the only room in the house not banked with smoke.  The open window is allowing horizontal ventilation for the pot of oil in her kitchen that is now extending into her cabinets.

It’s a quick and easy job removing the pot of oil and knocking down the fire with the pump can and we let the companies coming in behind us search for extension.

The woman is surprised it took us so long to get there, telling us the fire had been burning for over 10 minutes and the alarm bells only rang for a few moments, then were silenced.  She thought that meant we had arrived.  She was unharmed and we decided not to tell her about the man downstairs who silenced the alarm.

The Chief downstairs was taking care of that for us.

So many times we arrive to alarms silenced by occupants who don’t like the noise or inconvenience of the alarm going off.  Tough.  When it rings, get out and wait for us to investigate.  When it’s safe we’ll let you back in.

10 hours cramped into a fire engine.

450 miles.

14 minutes and 40 seconds that made me cry.

Thank You.

You are assigned to a three person engine company dispatched to a reported kitchen fire in a restaurant.  On arrival you have light smoke showing and a manager advises you a cutting board is on fire on the stove top and that all employees and patrons have exited and are accounted for.

The building is 3 story type 5 with the top 2 floors residential.

Conditions inside are smoky but the kitchen area is visible from outside and only 20 feet inside the front door. It is open to the dining area, only a half wall separates the kitchen from the rest of the area.  You observe flame across 8 burners climbing 2-3 feet towards the vent.

All utilities, ventilation, search and other concerns are being handled by other responders.

Your selection of suppression devices is as follows:

1)Water extinguisher

2)CO2 extinguisher

3)150′ 1 3/4″ preconnect

4)1″ booster reel

Which do you choose and why?  You Make the Call.

flickr - didbygraham

On a recent family trip we drove past a sub-urban/rural firehouse quite a few times. Each time we passed by, all three rigs were in quarters, sometimes bay doors open, sometimes closed, but I made an important observation I’d like you to confirm for me:

How busy your rig is is inversely noted by how many rig doors are open and how many boots sit outside said doors.

Each time we drove by all 4 doors of the ladder truck were open with boots on the ground and on some passes, even a coat could be seen hanging from the door. This tells me you aren’t running many calls.

When running a large number of calls it is important to keep all your gear safely inside the rig so as not to forget it or have it placed aside when the driver does something without you.

My system has 2 of the Nation’s busiest engine companies and one of the busiest truck companies and they don’t sit with their doors open, gear on the floor because they have become efficient in donning due to their call volume.

I thought back to my early rural days and we almost always put our gear out with the doors open in hopes of a call. Even the other night at the five-one I spotted a door open and we had had a slow day to that point.

Close your doors and put your gear back in the rig. All that “preparation” only telegraphs that you don’t get dressed all that often. Unless of course that’s the only time you get to touch your fire gear aside from the locker.

Happy Medic and Motorcop dive into the controversy surrounding the Alameda man who drowned while rescuers untrained in water rescue stood on dry land. Then, as usual, they find a tangent and discuss the costs, effort and resources involved in arresting and jailing someone compared to transport and hospitalization and why many times neither fits.

EPISODE 14

Our engine boss is cramming for the Captain’s exam when the bells ring for a call at the golf course.  A HazMat at the golf course.  This could be interesting…

THE EMERGENCY

Multiple calls for multiple sick persons, unknown cause.

THE ACTION

There are a few things we look for on the way to these types of calls, right?  There was no smoke, or cloud, and we approach from upwind, despite the requests from local law enforcement to pull up to the main entrance with him.  However, his skin remained intact and he was conscious, so our trusty litmus officer was helping in an odd way.

There were, however, 2 things that had me curious on our approach.  First, the ambulance had arrived before us and was staged across the street.  Second, there was a line of cars exiting the parking lot in a hurry.

Something was up.

We parked upwind at a hydrant so we could hook in and mass decon if needed.  Airpacks went on and the triage kit came out of the side compartment.  I was having trouble resetting my mind from being the EMS supervisor the day before, to being part of the engine company today.  Part of me wanted to establish the warm zone and set up the decon corridor while also designing ambulance ingress and egress.

Instead I had to find out what on earth spooked an entire golf course to run like hell on a beautiful California afternoon.

The remaining people near the clubhouse are pointing and giggling at the firemen approaching taking full precautions as we’re shouting for them to remain still and tell us wha on earth is going on.

As with most emergencies of this nature, their first action was to come towards us.  Great.

“In the kitchen,” a man with a name tag tells us, “Pepper spray.”

Huh?

Around the side of the building is a person with a wet towel on their face and a group of white shirt, checkered pants clad folks, clearly the kitchen staff.

Someone thought it would be funny to release some pepper spray into the kitchen during the lunch rush.

When the entire staff ran out of the kitchen screaming and rubbing heir eyes, the patrons thought the worst and did the exact wrong thing.

They dispersed themselves across the City and the region before we had identified what had happened.  Perhaps they understood it was pepper spray, but none of the non-kitchen staffers were able to tell us what had happened, so I doubt that.

Now imagine it was somehow something more sinister and all 300 people escaped without being decontaminated.  There you are in your district running a general sick call.  She mentions being in San Francisco a few hours ago on a golf weekend that went sour.  Then the husband vomits and passes out.

Worst case scenario sure, but we deal in those sometimes.

Any ideas on how to stop those evacuating?  And don’t say PD, because remember, he’s already in the hot zone.

From our friends at Gasda Software, creators of the BlackBerry Shift Calendar, a link to what real firefighter olympics look like.  Last ones I went to had darts and bowling.  Thanks D!

Happy and Motor are at it again, finally, and this time calling out some stupid things done by stupid people while representing EMS, fire and police. From the ambulance company who lost $1 million to the 27 year old DUI while driving a fire truck and a special comment from Motorcop about a narcotics officer in Happy’s area caught stealing and selling narcotics. Quit being stupid!

EPISODE 10

Sure, we taped the show two weeks ago. It took MC two weeks to limp his way through editing. But Huzzah! He finally got the job done. In this episode, HM and I talk about freeway lane closures, who’s in charge, and what happens when PD and Fire disagree.

We also take a couple more listener questions…remember, you can call with your question(s) at 313-451-HMMC. Want to know who figured out what 451 means? Listen to the show!

EPISODE 9

One of our Division Chiefs has seen more fire than a line cook at Outback Steakhouse and loves to ask odd questions in the heat of a situation.  Some think he’s just picking on people while others see it as a way to really think about the situation we’re in.

On other occasions this Chief likes to play with the RIC or Rapid Intervention Company.  This is the 4th due engine at a working fire and is tasked with standing by to rescue firefighters should the need arise.  Many Departments staff this position differently, but most will tell you they don’t like standing in the street while everyone else gets to work.

The RIC is responsible to size up the building, soften the exterior by removing hazards before they are an issue and knowing what operations are going on in and around the fire building.

It seems like a no brainer, but as the RIC team gets itchy to freelance, the Chief will turn to them and make them turn around to face him in the street at the command post.

From here he asks a very simple question:

“Describe the fire building.”

Each of the 4 members often have a slightly different interpretation of the building, from number of floors, to color, to where ladders are placed.

Ever since I saw him do it, I’ve always paid closer attention to the building as the RIC team.  And that was his intention.