So That's How it's Supposed to Work!

With fall approaching (kinda crazy isn't it??) and WFD approaching 700 runs for the year, this weekend was a microcosm of the this August in general. With all the rain and cool temperatures we had through July, it seems that everyone is cramming all their summer activities into these, the waning days of August. This weekend, in spite of the threat of hurricane Bill, was the same - jam it all in!! Motorcycles everywhere. Kayaks on top of cars, headed to beach fronts or some river somewhere. Cyclists riding in big Tour de France-style packs. Lawn mowers humming along, hoping to get the job done prior to any of the potential flash storms. So, it was really no surprise that the WFD was out on runs seemingly every 2 hours this weekend. MVA's, CO calls, medicals, automatic alarms, blah, blah, blah. What did strike me as interesting though was the possible structure fire around 17:00 on Saturday at Ridgefield Apartments. The call came in from dispatch as smoke and flames showing. But, only 1 caller. Odd. Usually, the "big ones" result in multiple calls and an octave or two higher from the first on-scene personnel. Given the way that the apartment and condo complexes are nestled in and among each other, we had some giddyup in our step anyway. Having E30 from South District, E3 from Middletown, and engines from Middlefield and Cromwell responding also helps the Westfield volunteers move along briskly - gotta be a good host. Deputy Fire Marshal Holmes and Lieutenant Bill Balch were first on scene and reported smoke visible. Chief Lockwood was on scene soon after, and the 3 were quickly able to confirm smoke from cooking - no fire. Mutual aid units were returned, as always, with thanks. Westfield 2 and 6 were kept on scene to vent and secure. Rolling into the scene on the ladder, and knowing that we had only some ventilation to do, I was able to more casually observe the many residents sitting along the curbs watching the action. It was like rolling into the viewing area of a parade! On arrival, E2 already had ventilation handled with their PPV fan. Other than to secure the alarm panel, my crew on the ladder didn't have too much to do. So, being responsible for recruiting and retention, I shifted gears and starting talking with all the onlookers - helping a few kids up into the ladder and letting quite a few more gawk at the huge truck.

What was so interesting about all this, you ask? All the people! I guess you could call many residents of Westlake area "fair weather" citizens when it comes to properly responding to a fire alarm. On this nice warm summer afternoon, people seemed to actually welcome the abrupt and temprorary change in their plans. Most other times though (rain, cold, late night) we see only a handful of the most cautious. You'd think after seeing some of the fires that their neighbors have experienced, that these folks would all be safely distanced from their apartments well prior to our arrival. Now I don't mean to cut down the residents of our beautiful district. In fact, there is indeed quite a "boy who cried wolf" problem in all this. How many times do we get called out to Westlake Drive for the false alarm? And I would be hypocritical if I didn't admit that we, as firefighters can be prone to it ourselves. But if it's the real deal - and rest assured, it WILL happen again, who will heed the fire alarms and get to safety?

As a firefighters on the scene of a structure fire, one of our first priorities is getting traped residents out of the building. Obvious. But, there's quite a bit working against us in this tricky endeavour. For one, we're limited to only about 20 minutes of working time on our Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). For another, we don't know where the people we're trying to save are, or might be. And, for another, we need to allocate resources to extinguish the fire and ventilate the structure (really, those 2 things are part of the process to find and save potential victims).

OK - I'm probably preaching to the choir here. Sorry about that - but I do have a dual-audience message to deliver:

1. To all my brothers out there - encourage people to recognize fire alarms for what they are and to take appropriate actions EVERY time they go off. GET OUT while you can.

2. To all civilians who have made it this far into today's posting - please GET OUT while you can. Sure - if you don't, or can't get out, we'll do our very best to get you and your family out and to save your belongings. Remember though - there's a lot going on at the scene of a structure fire and the single most helpful thing you can do for us once the flames are showing is to be out of the building and positioned fully clear of the scene as well as arriving apparatus.

Be safe out there! Everyone comes home, EVERY time.