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'E106MKFD' When I addressed the fact that there were no injuries, I was referring only to the people who were escorted out of the residence prior to fire department arrival as well as the medic and the P.O. who warned the residents that there was a fire. I hope that the injured firefighters are back to duty quickly. Stay safe.

I didn't question what you stated at all ... (you stated, " He reported finding the fire, gave a scene size up and went in to make sure people got out safely.") I applaud him for taking those actions. He did a good thing. The point that I made was that from what's reported in the story, it appears that nobody was 'trapped' and nobody was exposed to any severe smoke or high heat conditions. But ... you do question how educated I am in this field (you said, "I would hope you are educated to know that our media cannot include every single detail.".) Generally, a major portion of the article is devoted to victims and rescuers who are injured or killed at a fire. This story states that none of the civilians who were escorted from the building required any medical assistance (Thank God!). During my fire service career my experiences educated me to the point where I knew that when a person was cited for making 'rescues' at a structural fire, a lot of information regarding fire and smoke conditions that existed in the area where the 'rescue' took place could be gleaned from the condition of the victim(s) as well as that of the rescuer(s) based upon their need or lack there of for medical assistance. Generally, if the victims (who in theory were in the 'hazardous environment' completely unprotected for a much longer period of time than was the rescuer(s)) and 'rescuers' are unscathed, then conditions in the area of the 'rescue' were not severe during the period of time that the victims and rescuer(s) were in that area. That being said, the medic did the right thing. He used his firefighting background to size up the situation, he knew that at the time he entered the structure, the scene was safe for him to proceed without protective clothing and with no hose line operating on the fire. Remember that this website is visited by many law enforcement, fire service and emergency medical service 'professionals'. Many of the less experienced among us read these posts and put the information into their memory banks for use at a later date where their life may be on the line based upon a decision that they must make. We don't want to make the readers believe that they can walk through fire or that it's a good idea to go above an active fire while unprotected and without a hoseline in position. That is why it's necessary to let the readers realize that the medic in this story did not place himself into an extremely hazardous situation. He sized up the scene and entered a safe area to notify civilians that there was a fire and they needed to leave before it became dangerous. Stay safe.

The article doesn't mention that the occupants, the paramedic or the police officer required medical treatment. This also would indicate that conditions were not yet severe where the occupants were located as well as where the paramedic and the police officer operated. If anyone was exposed to heavy smoke and / or high heat, they would undoubtedly have required treatment for smoke inhalation at the very least. Thankfully, the medic spotted the fire before it had reached a point where it could have trapped the occupants. I'm glad that nobody was injured.

I understand Alpinerunner. There are right and wrong ways of providing Fire, Rescue and EMS services, there are also many obstructions to getting things done the right way. As you have stated in your area dysfunctional county government is a problem. Other issues that can prevent departments from doing 'the right thing': -In some areas competition among departments (trying to 'one up' each other) -Officers who are not progressive -Departments being run from behind the scenes by the 'good old boys' -Departments who refuse to open their eyes to what is going on in the fire service as a whole. Failure to get out and attend good, factually correct seminars provided by fire service leaders who are recognized for their knowledge and 'real world' experience. I've got a notice that states, "You can make 2 more posts until 31 March 2010 - 12:47 PM. This restriction is in place until you have 2 more approved posts" ... so I guess I'll only be permitted to comment one more time until then.

Actually, that is what makes a Rescue Pumper such an attractive piece of apparatus for a volunteer department to use for vehicle extrication runs. Many V.F.D.'s frequently find themselves very short of personnel during 'normal business hours' and end up having to choose between responding with a rescue truck and calling mutual aid for a pumper or vice versa. If a V.F.D. happens to be fortunate enough to have a significant number of personnel who are trained and certified in all aspects of technical rescue (high angle, confined space, trench, scuba, swift water, ice, structural collapse, etc.)and have a high frequency of such responses, then a full sized heavy rescue rig may be the only option. Departments that purchase large dedicated heavy rescue rigs but really are only trained for auto extrication and 'light rescue' work generally end up with a big rig with the standard compliment of auto extrication tools, some cribbing, speedy dry and possibly some struts. The rest is filled with basic engine and truck company equipment. Often an air cascade and command center is incorporated into the unit also. In many cases, it's far more economical for a county to train and equip a technical rescue team (much as they do a Haz Mat Team, fire investigation team, etc.) A suitable rescue rig along with a large box truck to carry additional shoring and tools, can be centrally located and brought to any scene when needed. A mobile cascade unit and command post is another vehicle that is best operated from a central location by the county.This concept can save individual departments a tremendous amount of money and does away with the huge amount of duplication of equipment that exists within the volunteer service today.

Terrible incidents such as this (as the post mentions) spurred the growth of unions. Nowadays, the well paid commentators on talk radio as well as certain cable news shows bash unions and blame them for many of our Nation's financial woes. It's true that some unions got out of control over the years and have some very costly clauses in their contracts, but there are many unions whose main function is to insure a safe work place along with fair wages and benefits. It's very apparent how these 'media experts' blame the unions but never mention why unions were formed nor do they bash greedy corporate types who stuff their own pockets while underpaying and laying off hard working people. God bless all of the victims of both of these tragedies and remember all of the Firefighters who had to deal with the victim recovery. If you've never had to perform that function, I can assure you that it is very sad and it stays with you.

I agree 66FFMJK. However this is not at all limited to the fire service ... I have encountered 'unprofessional' police officers, sanitation workers, EMT's, postal carriers, etc.. In other words there are some bad apples in every walk of life. Overall, throughout my fire service career I encountered very few unprofessional firefighters and those who showed such attributes were shunned by their peers and such behaviour was not tolerated by the department.