FIre Engineering Technical Editor Glenn Corbett forwarded this video of a jet axe in use in Elmira, New York, back in the day. The video was taken by Charles Jennings, Associate Professor of Fire Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY, who also provided us with a description of the incident (below). Take a look:

I was what would be called a fire buff as a teenager. At this stage of my life, I was an Explorer scout for my volunteer fire department, and would keep a scanner on at home, and respond via bicycle if there was a fire nearby. On this day, I heard the police talk about calling for barricades, which was the sure-fire way to know that Elmira had a worker.

The fire was in the third floor storage area of a large, mid-block ordinary construction building that housed a J.J. Newbury Department store, complete with a lunch counter. The retail space was on the ground floor and basement. The upper stories (2 and 3) were not accessible to the public. It had one of those false facades on the street side, which extended up the entire store, covering the windows and greatly limiting the potential for ventilation.

When I arrived, they had the two aerials working and were attempting to make headway on the fire, which burned through the roof. I distinctly recall a water motor gong sounding, but clearly the sprinklers were not effective. Water was rolling out the front doors.

In the rear of the building, which is where this was filmed, you see crews who were attempting to attack the fire through two windows off of a fire escape on the third floor. This was a stubborn fire that was frustrating extinguishment efforts. At one point I remember heavy green smoke issuing from the roof, so who knows what was burning in there.

I was lined up on the roof of a parking garage watching the action, when word came over the fire radio that they were going to try the jet axe to breach a wall and get access to the fire. Working from the roof of the one-story section of the store, a ground ladder was raised and the jet axe was attached to the wall. Te firefighters on the roof took cover, and a countdown was given on the fire radio. You see the results. The sound was not overly loud, but it was a memorable fire -- certainly not the largest faced by the EFD, but the only time a jet axe was used that I know.

Charles Jennings
Associate Professor of Fire Science
John Jay College of Crminal Justice/CUNY

Labels: Fire history

posted by Peter Prochilo
3/25/2009 02:16:00 PM

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