What I did on my summer vacation

I haven't had to write an essay like this since grade school, and I guess to be fair I dont really have to write this one. Not to mention summer has barely begun. I have been involved in the fire service for nearly 30 years and in those years I cant remember a summer or year for that matter, like this one. I surely hope that things settle down or the men and women I serve with will wear out and age ten years. Yesterday, June 30, 2012. We had a call come in of a structure fire, as I pulled out of the fire station I could see a large column of smoke rising into the Salt Lake valley skyline. Information was beginning to come in as we got closer. Engine 72 was the first to arrive. The size up went something like this. Engine 72 has arrived, we have a four-plex apartment building fully involved. We have several exposures threatened. We will be in a defensive strategy. Start a second alarm. As I pulled up I could see that one structure was a complete loss. It definitely was fully involved! Fire was not only coming out of every opening, but was covering the entire exterior of the building. The second four-plex was smoking and we had hopes that we could stop the progress there. But as the initial radio report mentioned we had several exposure problems. There were three cars that were beginning to smoke, and a duplex to the north that was heating up quickly. We decided to cool down the cars and the third building with a 2-1/2 in line. Glad we did because it would have gone to a third alarm if any of those had done more than smoke and melt from the radiant heat. We positioned ladder 75 and engine 72 and 73 on the east side, and tower 74 and engine 71 on the south side.  The hydrants were tapped and didn't give us much in the way of available water, just what you don't need when you're in a dicey situation. The crews did an amazing job at keeping the chaos to a minimum. As more resources started to arrive we divide the fire into two divisions. In the fire service a division is a geographical area that emergency responders work in. We had a south division and an east division. The crews report to a division supervisor which is generally a chief officer or captain depending on who is there at the time. Fortunately I had the luxury of have two great division supervisors. As one problem is addressed you move to the next in your list of priorities. So once we knew the cars and the duplex had stabilized we were able to start working on the initial two buildings. Our hopes of saving any of the second building were diminishing quickly. The fire in the attic was building, We assigned crews to do a quick recon and  search to make sure no one was inside. About that time the roof began to fail. We pulled those crews from harms way and began an assault with the two aerial master streams capable of pouring out thousands of gallons onto the inferno. We finally made some good progress and were able to start releasing crews back to their areas. After six hours of work the last of the crews, myself included were available. Not a bad days work. the only problem with that statement is that this fire was the third working fire of the day. not to mention the medical calls that had come in and all of the calls were to come in yet. Oh well like one of my favorite lines from the old super chicken cartoon show "besides you knew the job was dangerous when you took it"  life goes on.

Special thanks to the following folks. WVCFD, WVCPD, West Valley City Public works, South Salt Lake City Fire, Salt Lake City Fire, West Jordan Fire, Sandy City Fire, Metro Fire Agency, Metro Rehab, and Unified.

As I close this lengthy post, just a couple of thoughts. Please be careful if you do anything related to fire. whether. it a BBQ, a home fire work show, or if you smoke. Take time to do it right. Or not at all! heres my new battle cry for firefighting 2012.  HELP US FIGHT..... DON'T IGNITE!

Be Smart... Be Safe....BE READY!       FIRE MARSHAL BOB