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
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posted by Peter Prochilo
3/25/2009 02:16:00 PM
CNN today has an interview with firefighter Paul Embleton, founder of the BRAVE foundation, which works to train Guatemalan firefighters and EMTs. Read the article
HERE.
You can learn more about the foundation at
bravefoundation.org.
Labels: EMS, medical, service
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posted by Peter Prochilo
3/13/2009 11:09:00 AM
Working to improve your cardiac arrest reversal rate? Keeping an eye on Departments who proudly tout consistently high resuscitation rates? Maybe you shouldn't. Medicine, particularly cardiovascular medicine, has evolved a hundred fold in the past two decades. We used to focus most of our time and energy trying to lessen damage during an acute MI or attempting to bring the dead back to life. You still do. But the medical community took a long hard look at the causes of cardiovascular disease many moons ago and reinvested their greater energies in preventing these lethal events. And they've done a darned good job of it. In some places, that is. With
statins, beta blockers, aspirin, ace inhibitors, sophisticated pacemakers, internal
cardiodefibrillators, health care practitioners today have made substantial inroads against cardiovascular disease. So much so that acute
MI's are caught early, treated and sent home without significant tissue damage. People prone to sudden cardiac death already have an implanted defibrillator. Heck, if your disease is so horrible, you can even take an artificial heart home with you nowadays. Bottom line: when good medicine is practiced in a community, there are less cardiac arrests. And cardiac arrests do occur, they more often than not represent terminal events - people at the end of their lives:
flatline,
asystole...
If you're seeing a volume of primary v-fib cardiac arrests enough to ponder over improving your resuscitation rates, maybe you should take a closer look at the quality of primary and cardiovascular care being provided in your community. Cardiac arrests should be on the decline. Cardiac arrest resuscitation rates should be dropping as well. That might be a better measure for bragging rights. Medicine has evolved; EMS needs to evolve with it.
Mike
McEvoyEMS Editor - Fire Engineering
Labels: cardiac arrest, EMS, medical, Mike McEvoy, resuscitation
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posted by Mike McEvoy
3/10/2009 09:43:00 PM
1 Comments:
I am a young fire fighter (born the year this fire took place) and have never heard of the jet axe. I did an internet search and found it pretty intersting. I know several fire fighters would love playing with thing, including myself.
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