This is a great drill from a great Brother and friend, Lance Peeples of the Webster Groves Fire Department in St. Louis County.  Look for more great material from Lance in the future.     Daily Drill 1: Standpipe Operations   “The Daily Drill” is designed to spark discussion about operational issues in YOUR […]

We know the importance of inspections and identifying hazards in the buildings that we serve and respond to.  This is just a simple reminder of one hazard that depending on it's location in the building, can be missed.

We hear it all of the time in the fire service and many of us agree; we don’t spend enough time training and learning building construction and fire behavior. So, in the spirit of practicing what I preach, here is a short lesson on Type I construction, or otherwise referred to Fire Resistive construction.

Do any of you have a policy on cleaning up around hidden hydrants? Who paints them and what color scheme do you use? Are they identified by size or gallons per minute? Do you share that information with your mutual aid companies

Accessing this stand pipe is almost impossible and these systems aren’t always that reliable and shouldn’t be your sole suppression plan.

Make it interesting and stop at a building and put up your ladder just for practice. Sit and consider the obstacles or water supply issues with a certain area or complex. Just get out and do it.

Not all of the stairwells have standpipes in them. Most were typical connections with a valve and 2 1/2 inch connection. As you can see in this picture, this one was not a typical seen in a stairwell.

Above all, don’t let the lives lost at any LODD be lives lost in vain. Learn from their mistakes, but don’t be critical, we have all screwed up and been lucky enough to get away with it. Be constructive and train on the recommendations so that you don’t repeat history.