We are absolutely thrilled to announce that, after Bruno and Friends on Wednesday with Chief Alan Brunacini and Chief John Norman, we are having a world premier screening of the Sony pictures movie Fireproof, free for all FDIC attendees. We arent sure yet which actors are attending but we will know Wednesday.

An Exclusive Presentation on a Landmark NIST Study ONLY at FDIC

This class will not be available with all the players anywhere else. This is the most significant fire study to date presented by the folks who have participated from the beginning:

Taming the Dragon
Thursday, April 10, 2008, 1:30 pm-3:15 pm
Moderator: Battalion Chief Jerry Tracy, Fire Department of New York
Panel: Dan Madrzykowski and Steve Kerber, National Institute of Standards and Technology George Healy and John Ceriello, Fire Department of New York, Rich Edgeworth, Chicago (IL) Fire Department, John Skip Coleman, (ret.) Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue, and Peter McBride, Ottawa Fire Services

This panel will share cutting-edge research on fighting fires against wind in high-rise structures. Research has been ongoing for the past two years, with the most recent segment of live fire studies conducted in New York City this past February. A panel of engineers and fire department members will expound on their involvement in this project and the profound change that is taking place in their respective departments. The consequence of the research will enhance firefighter safety and efficiency when fighting these types of fires. Join us Thursday exclusively at FDIC at 130 in room B Westin Hotel Grand.
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posted by Bobby Halton
3/28/2008 06:32:00 PM

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Here is Part 4. It concentrates on "Reading the Building for Search". Please let me know what you think or any comments you may have.
Thanks
Skip

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posted by Skip Coleman
3/19/2008 02:49:00 PM

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posted by Bobby Halton
3/18/2008 06:40:00 PM

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Sorry I have been a absent from our blog recently. I have been very involved with our new Community site, which has attracted the very best thinkers in our profession to join and share. We have established a very different experience in our community: everyone is using their real names. The group and forums are incredibility active and the video and photos are all extremely useful. Serious firefighters are encouraged to join to today at http://community.fireengineering.com/ or just hit the community tab at the top of the page.

We are just three weeks away from the greatest firefighter training and networking experience in the world, FDIC 2008, and things are coming together nicely. I can guarantee you FDIC 2008 will exceed any and all expectations. The Indy experience is something legendary as this marks the 80th year of the FDIC series. The history and the tradition of FDIC is a major part of the fire service. The show will be the biggest ever, and more importantly it is your show, the fire services show. Please come and share your time and talents with over 27,000 fellow like-minded professionals.

We will be keeping you posted as to the proceedings during the show. We are asking all of the firefighters planning on attending Wednesdays Opening Ceremonies to wear their class A or modified Class A as we are doing a special Salute to Service, honoring our firefighters and their sons and daughters who have served both their communities as firefighters and their country in our military forces. You will have a once in lifetime opportunity to salute a living American hero from World War II

We are doing our first virtual FDIC on June 11th and 12th, and it is going to be a historic event. It will be completely online, completely free, and completely interactive. You will be absolutely blown away! Look for more details soon on this site. We also just finished confirming our lineup for the inaugural Fire Engineering Weekend show, which will begin on July 19th and 20th at the Northbrook Hilton just outside of Chicago. We will be announcing the rest of this years Fire Engineering Weekends schedule and the all-star line up of presenters this week here in FireEngineering.com.

The fire service had a very bad week last week and we are all very saddened to have to reflect on several LODDs. We all carry the weight and we all understand the sacrifice the families have to burden by these tragic deaths. Hostile fire events continue to be identified and it reminds us that we must always have that company officer watching for those rapidly changing conditions which often precipitate these events. I will assert again this is why the role of the company officer is not to move hose or force entry or open walls, door, etc. The reason we need NFPA 1710-1720 compliant staffed companies is to ensure we have a watchdog on interior structural firefighting operations. Those experienced veteran eyes, those diligent and vigilant supervisors must be free to continuously evaluate the conditions and progress of the company.

The fire service was made proud in Atlanta and New York city this week, and Fire Engineering was fortunate to get this exclusive interview with Atlanta Battalion Chief David Rhodes who was on site. David gives a firsthand account of the masterful response which the Atlanta FD and the Georgia State USAR task force deployed to mitigate this tragedy. We spoke to several FDNY responders who responded to the crane incident and were amazed by the scope of the event they were faced with over the weekend. We were equally impressed as to the incredible amount of talent and expertise the FDNY has in its ranks and its continued example of world-class leadership under extraordinary circumstances.

In Chicago, leadership was once again front and center on Friday when Commissioner Ray Orozco assembled the second Chicagoland Chiefs Caucus and discussed several important topics which are critical to the communities in and about Chicago. The Caucus was started by Commissioner Orozco and they are meeting quarterly. It is refreshing to see real action and real results in three of the most important communities in America from Americas fire service. The chiefs in attendance discussed the deployment of the CFD command van into the suburbs the MABAS system, future training opportunities, and mutual target hazards. It is easy to se why folks are proud of Chicago, New York and Atlanta.



This photo is from our good friend and Chief David J. Traiforos of the Franklin Park Fire Department
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posted by Bobby Halton
3/17/2008 04:02:00 PM

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Below are some interesting shots sent in by Fire Engineering readers. Click on the photos below to see more. The first ones are from Anna Lisboa Bonadio in Brazil.



Anna writes:

This fire happened in August 19, 2005...
That is a historical building in Florianopolis, SC, Brazil. It is the city public market, as we call it. The fire started in the morning and completely destroyed the north section of the building...The firefighters had to be extremely brave to compensate the lack of resources: the hidrant[sic] was dry and they had to use the water from local buildings, the water flow was no where near enough.
That was not the first fire in that building and it was extremely unsafe.

The second set comes from William Kempf. These photos of the damage from a huge explosion at a Big Spring, Texas, oil refinery in February.



You can read more about that recent incident HERE from Fox News.

And don't forget: You can sign up now on the Fire Engineering Training Community and upload your photos and videos. Just go to community.fireengineering.com or click on the "Community" tab at the top of the page.

Labels: Photos

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posted by Peter Prochilo
3/11/2008 03:57:00 PM

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We at Fire Engineering have been trying to make it easier for the Fire Engineering community to be able to respond to articles, post messages and share thoughts. Today it is a reality. Now firefighters who are interested in training have a networking Web site they can visit to talk training. Join the Fire Engineering Training Community and upload videos and photos from the job, discuss training and incidents in the forums, and share your views about the fire service with firefighters from around the United States and the world. We are going to ask that you use your real name and we are going to self-police the rules of dignity and respect for all who participate. No unnamed bullies or rude behavior will be permitted. This site is for the serious firefighting community to finally have a place to share and discuss all the issues we have been covering in Fire Engineering for the last 131 years. Hope you enjoy it. Sign in today at community.fireengineering.com
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posted by Bobby Halton
3/05/2008 06:02:00 PM

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From Jesse Kurtz of Alberta, Canada, on Paul H. Stein's latest Web article:

The example Mr. Stein uses is tougher to deal with that first meets the eye. Perhaps the firefighter at the lumber store had been feeling poorly early in the day, and did not want to take a chance on going to work. Then later in the day he was feeling better, and figured once his shift was over, it would be OK to take the lumber he had gotten on his days off, back to the lumber store. He was not working when the "new officer" saw him, and thus was not in violation of any rules. We could jump to the conclusion that he was "faking it", but as I pointed out, it is not always that simple. Do we want to take a chance and accuse an innocent person? If he had been seen at the lumber store in the middle of his shift, that would be a different situation.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Labels: Letters to the Editor

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posted by Peter Prochilo
3/05/2008 11:21:00 AM

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