«
»

Reading the Fire 16

Residential Fire

This post examines fire development during a residential fire in Lyons, New York.

Download and the B-SAHF Worksheet.

Watch the first minute and thirty seconds (1:30) of the video. First, describe what you observe in terms of the Building, Smoke, Air Track, Heat, and Flame Indicators; then answer the following five standard questions?

  1. What additional information would you like to have? How could you obtain it?
  2. What stage(s) of development is the fire likely to be in (incipient, growth, fully developed, or decay)?
  3. What burning regime is the fire in (fuel controlled or ventilation controlled)?
  4. What conditions would you expect to find inside this building?
  5. How would you expect the fire to develop over the next two to three minutes

In addition, consider how the answers to these questions impact your assessment of the potential for survival of possible occupants.

Now watch the video clip from 1:30 until 2:00. Now answer the following questions:

  1. Did fire conditions progress as you anticipated?
  2. What changes in the B-SAHF indicators did you observe?
  3. What indications of fire stream effectiveness did you observe?
  4. What potential avenues of fire extension would you consider based on the type of construction and building design?

As you watch the remainder of the video, consider the changes in observed conditions and what information this might provide the Incident Commander. What information should interior crews report to Command during this stage of incident operations.

More on Reading the Fire

See the following posts for more information on reading the fire:

Ed Hartin, MS, EFO, MIFireE, CFO

 

Tags: , , , , ,



Leave a Reply