Currently serving Jasper County Fire Rescue in south Carolina along with Charleston County EMS.
Quite a bit so we know what to use on what type of fires. For instance we do not apply water to flammable metals, or water to flammable gases. Sometimes we use dry chemical extinguishers on materials to remove the chemical reaction. Fires go out due to either removing oxygen(difficult), cooling, burns out of fuel plain and simple or intefferring with the chemical chain reaction such as dry chemical does.
# 1- infrared imaging has been a tremendous tool for us in that in the past when we would enter a structure you had to search manually search by hand. Now I can walkin looking for the the body heat that is emitted from our bodies. We are also able to look into walls for hidden hot spots instead of just tearing apart walls looking for it. Saves time and minimizes damage.
#2- GPS- assisted in search and rescue for mapping the search area. For law enforcement it helps in accident investigations. It also helps on accident recreations scenes to accurately measure the crime scene.
#3- Water mist will cool the room involved and cooling by creating a fine mist it allows for better
It has made our job significantly difficult. Faster burning of these materials and hotter burning gives us less time to knock down these fires. The additional chemicals is making the smoke more toxic, So we are dealing with a shorter time to determine our attack and achieve it.
I have had several bibles survive a fire. I personally think it is due to the thickness of the book. I personally never feel right burning a bible anyway.
Border Patrol Agent
Freelance Writer
Mailman (City Letter Carrier)
No, believe it or not they sell them at the FDNY store in New York not to far from Time Square.
Engine first so you can get the knowledge of how the environment in a structure fire really is which is no where close to what you go through the academy.
Fire burn faster and tactics have to change with these materials. We used to have about 30 minutes on a structure to get it out but now it is more like 15-20. Fire are burning faster and hotter and we are dealing with more deadly smoke which has increased levels of Hydrogen Cyanide for instance. Beside that we are dealing with Truss Construction and gusset plates that are only stuck into a quarter inch of the wood and it does not take long for these to deteriorate and have collapses.
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