Suicidal Dragon

It sounded as if it had potential. As I was close and had my camera, I opted to go and take some pictures.

I arrived just as the first-in engine was forcing entry. Light smoke coming from the dwelling, the odor of it confirming that it was not overheated food, but contents.

As there was a report of an occupant possibly being inside, the first-in unit opted to make entry and do a hasty search. Fortunately, the report was false. The occupants had left the dwelling prior to the fire.

The crews made entry and found a small, smoldering fire in the bathroom.


MEANWHILE.......

Even though it was a small fire, certain things needed to occur.

The second in truck was assigned RIC. Most crews really don't enjoy the RIC assignment, often the fire is under control by the time RIC is set up and the building is assessed. We still do it, practice like you play is the order of the day.

Accountability is critical, not only on structure fires but on every type of incident. You can't rescue a crew if you don't know that they are in the area of IDLH. The accountability system is a constantly evolving process, we have had several major changes in the tracking system over the past few years.

Even before accountability was a designated incident management function, we were always hammered to keep track of our people, both at the company level and the incident level. The development of accountability systems has made this task a lot easier and far more accurate.

I've seen the safety officer chew more than a little ass over the years, often belonging to someone who wasn't taking the job of accountability officer as serious as they should. Ouch.

BACK AT THE FIRE...

A line was stretched and.the dragon was slain. It turned out that the crews merely delivered the coup de gras,
the dragon had nearly killed itself by the time the line was stretched.

The fire had caused the toilet tank to fail, the sudden presence of water extinguished a majority of the burning material that was on the floor. The dragon killed itself before it could grow into a real fire breather.

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Sorry there wasn't fire blowing out of the windows or flames shooting a hundred feet into the sky. Sometimes you have to shoot what you can get. Even fires like this are good for me. I get to see old friends and I get to practice composition and exposure.

Hopefully, when a big one does occur, I will use what I've learned and get some decent shots.

Practice as you play.......

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Sorry for the lack of posts, it hasn't been a very good week around Schmoeville and frankly I have been a bit preoccupied. Hopefully, thigs will get better after next week.

Thanks for reading,
Schmoe