Fire Behavior
Fire Behavior
1999 Worcester Fire This tragic event claimed the loss of six great men. Six firefighters paid the ultimate sacrifice for the people of both Worcester and Massachusetts. No matter race, creed, color, religion or reputation, firefighters are thoroughly trained and ready to put their lives on the line for another. There were few things that may have saved the lives of these men but no one can clearly decide that unless you were there and the one calling the shots. In this essay I will discuss the foundation of this fire growth and both positive and negative things I read about the occurring fire. At arrival, Chief McNamee made a very intelligent call by immediately elevating the fire to a second alarm. The old cold storage warehouse was just too massive for one company to fight. McNamee knew that this older building had been built in the early 1900’s and had been vacant since 1987. The exterior of the warehouse had few windows and was a brick faced. Combining these two factors, McNamee should have expected an odd layout of this building. Immediately he should have requested building plans of this structure. This would have given him the advantage of knowing how many floors and good idea of the proper layout of the building. This unknown made the rescue of two firefighters nearly impossible. The article seems as though the firefighting began from top to bottom. Ventilation was cut through the buildings roof and rescue firefighters began a search for any possible victims of this fire. The firefighters knew that this warehouse was a popular shelter for the homeless. After the search concluded they began attacking the fire from the inside. This is where I believe the biggest mistake occurred. Without windows or a good sense of how the building is set up, it would be very difficult to contain the fire. This fire made for a great example of the fire triangle. The oxygen was present due to the ventilation on the roof, the fuel was present from the
1999 Worcester Fire This tragic event claimed the loss of six great men. Six firefighters paid the ultimate sacrifice for the people of both Worcester and Massachusetts. No matter race, creed, color, religion or reputation, firefighters are thoroughly trained and ready to put their lives on the line for another. There were few things that may have saved the lives of these men but no one can clearly decide that unless you were there and the one calling the shots. In this essay I will discuss the foundation of this fire growth and both positive and negative things I read about the occurring fire. At arrival, Chief McNamee made a very intelligent call by immediately elevating the fire to a second alarm. The old cold storage warehouse was just too massive for one company to fight. McNamee knew that this older building had been built in the early 1900’s and had been vacant since 1987. The exterior of the warehouse had few windows and was a brick faced. Combining these two factors, McNamee should have expected an odd layout of this building. Immediately he should have requested building plans of this structure. This would have given him the advantage of knowing how many floors and good idea of the proper layout of the building. This unknown made the rescue of two firefighters nearly impossible. The article seems as though the firefighting began from top to bottom. Ventilation was cut through the buildings roof and rescue firefighters began a search for any possible victims of this fire. The firefighters knew that this warehouse was a popular shelter for the homeless. After the search concluded they began attacking the fire from the inside. This is where I believe the biggest mistake occurred. Without windows or a good sense of how the building is set up, it would be very difficult to contain the fire. This fire made for a great example of the fire triangle. The oxygen was present due to the ventilation on the roof, the fuel was present from the