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The benefits of documenting fire and technical rescues are incalculable. Incorporating this as a consistent practice can be utilized for personal reflection and professional growth.
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"What are the conditions? What is the emergency? Unless the issue is specifically air related for a conscious firefighter or conditions allow for a long operation, our top priority MUST be rapid extrication. As always, context is key."
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This week's Friday Forum argues against using the occupancy status of a structure as a basis for fire attack decisions and emphasizes the importance of searching all buildings, as fires in apparently vacant structures often harm firefighters. Instead, it suggests assessing the structural integrity of the building as the primary metric, considering its ability to withstand fire. Tim, instead, calls for aggressive preplanning to address abandoned buildings that are already unstable, urging city leaders to prioritize their demolition while firefighters remain prepared to respond to fires in such structures.
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Fires in abandoned structures provide stronger evidence of occupancy than fires in inhabited buildings due to the reliance on human action for ignition and the higher likelihood of physically or mentally impaired individuals, such as squatters, who may be present. Despite not every fire involving trapped individuals, the author emphasizes the importance of aggressive search operations based on personal experiences of rescues and fatalities, urging readers not to dismiss these situations based solely on the appearance of occupancy.
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Discover the often neglected importance of opening walls and ceilings to search for hidden fire in today's fire service. Aggressive interior hooking proves to be the key to successful fire extinguishment, saving more property than it damages, but it requires coordination and additional resources in staffing-starved areas.
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