Last shift fire.

So I havent been able to blog here lately. A lot has been going on with getting ready to move, moving, and settling in with the people im staying with during the first few months of recruit school. But now that I have full access to Wifi where im staying ill be able to post a lot more often.

My last shift with my previous department went how many hope a last shift goes, either when moving on or retiring. Ran a few medical calls, got a good workout in, had a decent MVA, and the icing on the cake...a working fire in our first due. It couldnt get any better...

The fire we ran, I was able to learn from, which is always a good thing.

Quick run down of the incident: Dispatched first due confirmed working fire, arrived on scene riding backwards on a four man engine. Presented with a single story, wood frame construction, single family dwelling with heavy fire showing from the BC corner and smoke pushing from the rest of the structure. I had my own personal irons and a fiberglass pike pole from the engine. My partner has the hose. All occupants accounted for.

There were a few difficulties getting the straps from the cleveland load undone which caused a delay in advancing the line.

We attempted to make a push through the front door and were forced to retreat midway through the structure due to rapidly changing conditions in smoke and fire, and after a quick evaluation, the interior had all the signs and symptoms of an imminent flashover. We were in forceful, thick, black, turbulent smoke with extremely high temperatures, and signs of flame rollover above our heads. I made the call to back out and punt. The exterior back up line was then used to knock the bulk down from the window and we made entry a second time, still facing heavy fire we were able to get water to the seat the second time around.

I attempted to pull the ceiling above us, but was faced with what felt like concrete. It was older tongue and groove with 3/4" sheetrock over top for the walls and ceiling. The fiberglass pike pole didnt have enough butt behind it to get a purchase point. I could only pull a slat here and there. Barely enough to check for extension.

We began overhaul and finished hitting the hotspots. The entire interior of the house burned completely due to pyrolysis and was evident it was near flashing. If one or two windows had given way or water hadnt been applied in the next few seconds, im sure we would have been switching to defensive there shortly.

My partner was transported to the ER after the fire for burned ears due to the extreme temperatures we faced before backing out.

Some of the things i learned:

-When using the cleveland load with straps, be sure the straps are easy to remove with and without gloves.

-Learned what the interior signs of an imminent flashover look like and felt confident in my call.

-Learned a fiberglass pike pole works for newer construction but doesnt fair well to older beadboard. A NY hook or anything with some length and weight to it fairs better.

-Learned that sometimes looks can be deceiving. This started as a room and contents that ended up pushing us out. Older construction holds alot of heat and burns much different than newer construction.

-They call it black fire for a reason.

-Listen to your partner and make calls accordingly, If they say theyre burning its time to leave. Sometimes you have to go to plan B.

You can see here, that no fire was ever visible on the front, but the smoke was as such a temperature it burned the whole front of the structure as if it was rolling out flames. The fire was actually all the way in the rear of the house.