By Edward Monahan

Many districts across the country have overhead steel roll-up doors in their first due, usually at warehouses or auto repair shops.

These doors are easily identifiable by their interlocking galvanized horizontal steel flat slats that ride heavy-gauge steel channel guides on both sides. These channel rails are normally housed in a concrete wall. To gain access, the traditional method has been to use a K-12 rotary saw using several different cuts and techniques. This is the preferred method when you have a suspicion of or a confirmed fire behind the door. It offers great ventilation and attack access, but this method causes extensive damage and requires that the building owner incur a significant repair cost.

But for those instances in which you may have the luxury of taking a gentler approach, you can save the property owner both money and hassle by lifting the door rather than cutting through it. An example of this could be an automatic alarm at a muffler shop in the middle of the night. After a thorough 360-degree scene size-up, the company officer suspects a broken sprinkler pipe run. On closer inspection, the door is identified as a steel overhead door with sliding lock.

1 Shown is a door with an engaged bottom slide lock and keeper. (Photos by author.)

Another option that has proven to be simple and fast is using a Hi-Lift First Responder jack on steel flat slat-type overhead roll-up doors as an easy alternative to any cutting operation. This technique provides full access opening of the door using a controlled movement as well as minimal damage to the door itself. These slated type overhead doors are generally designed to have a slide type locking mechanism and keeper located at the bottom sides where padlocks can be placed (photo 1). Don’t rely on this to be accurate 100 percent of the time, as many owners will devise their own crafted lock alternative to secure the door. Fortunately, this jack technique can force its way past most of these deterrents, ripping the keeper or breaking lock attachments if secured to the side rails. As with most forcible entry situations, the lock is always stronger than what it’s mounted to.

It is important to point out that when forcing any door to make entry into an unknown immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) environment, it is recommended to always have full personal protective equipment (PPE), including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and a charged hoseline with crews in place for protection of the forcible entry team as well as delayed entry once the opening has been secured.

2 The process begins by creating a purchase point access opening.

The Process

Step 1: With a hoseline in place and crews in full PPE including SCBA, create a purchase point/access opening in the middle area of the door through a single slat roughly six to nine inches off the floor. This height measurement may change if you add 4x4 wood cribbing to the bottom of the jack for extra security footing/stabilization on sloped surfaces. Creating a purchase point/access opening can be accomplished with a halliga

By Alan M. Petrillo

1 The FDNY operates three large fireboats: Three Forty Three and the William M. Feehan (both shown here) and Firefighter II. (Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of the Fire Department of New York.)

Fireboats, rescue boats, and combinations of the two require specialized equipment for firefighters and rescue personnel to perform their jobs expeditiously.

The kind of equipment carried on these boats, whether large oceanfront boats or smaller river/lake craft, depends on the type of body of water, the potential hazards on the water and along the shore, and the missions the boats are charged with.

2 Six SAFE Boats are in the FDNY’s marine fleet, outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmat calls, and medical runs.

Department Fireboats

Joseph Abbamonte, battalion chief for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Marine Battalion, says that the New York harbor is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, with 500 miles of coastline and the largest container port on the East Coast of the country. Abbamonte says the FDNY operates three large fireboats (William M. Feehan, Firefighter II, and Three Forty Three), plus six 33-foot SAFE Boats outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmats, and medical runs.

3 The Stan Musial is the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department’s 42½-foot MetalCraft Marine fire and rescue boat powered by twin Cummins 600-hp engines driving water jets that operates on the Mississippi River. [Photos 3 and 4 courtesy of St. Louis (MO) Fire Department.]

The SAFE Boats are powered by three 350-horsepower (hp) Yamaha outboard engines, he says, and have a Chevy 350-cubic-inch engine in the bow that powers a 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) Darley pump. The boats carry 100 feet each of 2½- and 1¾-inch hose, a halligan tool, ax, closet hook, manual bolt cutters, reciprocating saw, damage control kits for boats taking on water, search-and-rescue gear [throw bags and personal flotation devices (PFDs)], carbon monoxide detectors, gas meters, thermal imaging cameras (TICs), and radiation detection meters. “Sometimes we have a medical emergency on a boat where we don’t know what caused the emergency,” Abbamonte notes, “and because we operate alone out there, we have our own meters and equipment to make that determination.”

Read more 346 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jul 10, 2017 Equipping Fire and Rescue Boats for Service By Alan M. Petrillo 1 The FDNY operates three large fireboats: Three Forty Three and the William M. Feehan (both shown here) and Firefighter II. (Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of the Fire Department of New York.) Fireboats, rescue boats, and combinations of the two require specialized equipment for firefighters and rescue personnel to perform their jobs expeditiously. The kind of equipment carried on these boats, whether large oceanfront boats or smaller river/lake craft, depends on the type of body of water, the potential hazards on the water and along the shore, and the missions the boats are charged with. 2 Six SAFE Boats are in the FDNY’s marine fleet, outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmat calls, and medical runs. Department Fireboats Joseph Abbamonte, battalion chief for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Marine Battalion, says that the New York harbor is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, with 500 miles of coastline and the largest container port on the East Coast of the country. Abbamonte says the FDNY operates three large fireboats (William M. Feehan, Firefighter II, and Three Forty Three), plus six 33-foot SAFE Boats outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmats, and medical runs. 3 The Stan Musial is the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department’s 42½-foot MetalCraft Marine fire and rescue boat powered by twin Cummins 600-hp engines driving water jets that operates on the Mississippi River. [Photos 3 and 4 courtesy of St. Louis (MO) Fire Department.] The SAFE Boats are powered by three 350-horsepower (hp) Yamaha outboard engines, he says, and have a Chevy 350-cubic-inch engine in the bow that powers a 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) Darley pump. The boats carry 100 feet each of 2½- and 1¾-inch hose, a halligan tool, ax, closet hook, manual bolt cutters, reciprocating saw, damage control kits for boats taking on water, search-and-rescue gear [throw bags and personal flotation devices (PFDs)], carbon monoxide detectors, gas meters, thermal imaging cameras (TICs), and radiation detection meters. “Sometimes we have a medical emergency on a boat where we don’t know what caused the emergency,” Abbamonte notes, “and because we operate alone out there, we have our own meters and equipment to make that determination.” Read more 257 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jul 10, 2017 Equipping Fire and Rescue Boats for Service By Alan M. Petrillo 1 The FDNY operates three large fireboats: Three Forty Three and the William M. Feehan (both shown here) and Firefighter II. (Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of the Fire Department of New York.) Fireboats, rescue boats, and combinations of the two require specialized equipment for firefighters and rescue personnel to perform their jobs expeditiously. The kind of equipment carried on these boats, whether large oceanfront boats or smaller river/lake craft, depends on the type of body of water, the potential hazards on the water and along the shore, and the missions the boats are charged with. 2 Six SAFE Boats are in the FDNY’s marine fleet, outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmat calls, and medical runs. Department Fireboats Joseph Abbamonte, battalion chief for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) Marine Battalion, says that the New York harbor is one of the largest natural harbors in the world, with 500 miles of coastline and the largest container port on the East Coast of the country. Abbamonte says the FDNY operates three large fireboats (William M. Feehan, Firefighter II, and Three Forty Three), plus six 33-foot SAFE Boats outfitted to handle firefighting, search and rescue, hazmats, and medical runs. 3 The Stan Musial is the St. Louis (MO) Fire Department’s 42½-foot MetalCraft Marine fire and rescue boat powered by twin Cummins 600-hp engines driving water jets that operates on the Mississippi River. [Photos 3 and 4 courtesy of St. Louis (MO) Fire Department.] The SAFE Boats are powered by three 350-horsepower (hp) Yamaha outboard engines, he says, and have a Chevy 350-cubic-inch engine in the bow that powers a 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) Darley pump. The boats carry 100 feet each of 2½- and 1¾-inch hose, a halligan tool, ax, closet hook, manual bolt cutters, reciprocating saw, damage control kits for boats taking on water, search-and-rescue gear [throw bags and personal flotation devices (PFDs)], carbon monoxide detectors, gas meters, thermal imaging cameras (TICs), and radiation detection meters. “Sometimes we have a medical emergency on a boat where we don’t know what caused the emergency,” Abbamonte notes, “and because we operate alone out there, we have our own meters and equipment to make that determination.” Read more 287 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jul 10, 2017 Snake Oil and Firefighter Cancer   Robert Tutterow They might be among the worst of the worst - snake oil salespeople trying to capitalize on the cancer epidemic among firefighters. In recent months, I have been made aware of at least three companies/individuals making bogus claims. Every firefighter should be on alert for products and services that are being falsely touted to prevent or minimize the risk of cancer. Firefighter Soap Earlier in the year, I was made aware of a company using one of the company startup programs on the Internet to raise money for a soap especially formulated for firefighters to remove the byproducts of combustion from the body. Naturally, this piqued my interest, and I took a close look at the company’s Web site. Immediately a red flag was raised when I saw all the different fragrances offered. This just did not pass the “smell test” (pun intended) in my mental processing system. As I scrolled through the Web site, I noticed that part of the revenue generated by those who contributed would be donated to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN). Being fortunate enough to know people directly affiliated with the FCSN, I immediately contacted them to see what they knew about this product. They knew nothing about it, and they immediately contacted the company. Within a couple of hours, the reference to the FCSN was removed from the Web site. Apparently, the FCSN raised a few questions to this company that it could not answer, and the site was taken completely down a few hours later. Miracle On-Scene Cleaner A few months ago, I had an opportunity to observe a live fire training session at an acquired structure. At this training fire, there were a couple of people touting a cleaner to decontaminate personal protective equipment (PPE) while on the scene. The firefighters were sent to a designated area, before entering rehab, to be “decontaminated.” The firefighters kept their PPE on while they were sprayed with a garden-style sprayer with an agent that was touted to decontaminate the gear. Because of my interest in PPE and focus on minimizing the risks of cancer, I naturally had to ask a lot of questions. Does it really work? Has it been proven to work? Does it harm the PPE? Are there other health risks to the firefighter? Does it harm the environment? Has it been approved for use by any of the PPE manufacturers? Unfortunately, there was no substantiation of the claims being made - at least by those applying the product. Though skeptical, if by chance the product did what it claimed without any other adverse effects, this was going to be one great product for the fire service. Of course, a red flag was raised as, like the firefighter soap, this did not pass my “smell test.” I was able to get the name and contact information of the head of the company that made the product. At the close of the training session, I immediately called this person. I told him who I was, a little bit about my background, and that I was a member of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) technical committee responsible for NFPA 1851, Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting. He “pretended” to be excited to hear from me. I told him the type of information I was seeking, and he said he did not have time to talk at that moment but definitely wanted to speak with me in detail. We set up a time for the following day for me to call him. I called prompt Read more 277 0 Article rating: No rating RSS FirstPrevious6025602660276028602960306031603260336034NextLast Theme picker Filter News Catagories Categories News (193) RSS Expand/Collapse Washington News (11847) RSS Expand/Collapse National News (11518) RSS Expand/Collapse WFC News (109) RSS Expand/Collapse Legislative Announcements (7) RSS Expand/Collapse Flag Lowerings (15) RSS Expand/Collapse Memorial Information (24) RSS Expand/Collapse Sections (6) RSS Expand/Collapse Emergency Medical Services (1) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Administrative Support (17) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Mechanics (19502) RSS Expand/Collapse Fire Training Safety & Officers (25) RSS Expand/Collapse Public Fire Educators (4) RSS Expand/Collapse HazMat Committee (0) RSS Expand/Collapse Filter to see National, Washington or WFC News, or filter to the Section News you are looking for! 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