STATter 911

That officer from 48 looked like it has been a while since he pulled a line... Then he didn't even end up on it. Which is it.. You going to pull the line or be the officer?
 

contained in 5 min?! that video was 4:45 sec and they only had that line open for maybe 30 sec. im not sayin firemen dont strech the truth a lil, but when you show a 5 min video with units arriving as it starts and 5 min later the conditions have only gotten worse. dont say it was controlled in 5 min!
 

Those were paid men on 48's engine
 

No gloves, forgot to put nozzle on shoulder-drag it behind you, forgot to open nozzle and flow water, lack of manpower? get the white shirt off the videographer duties and into some gear! How bouts a backup line, yadda yadda yadda.
 

why didnt they take other door out. they could have open line and just let water flow. but keep running line around building. this was far from out in the five mins u say it was.
 

PGFD is heading for disaster. I can see why that officer is at 848.Wear your protective gear.
 

It looks like the first Engine and Truck crew were clueless. If not for the crew from Engine 28, and special service from 33 they would have made a new parking lot. If you took notice the Truck office had no idea what to do, they throw a ladder in front of bay door (egress point?)and who was the guy with no gear carring ladders up to the front of the building. How many times do you need to walk around the building before going in? And who is the fat guy that keeps trying to get in front of the camera? Why could'nt he get gear on and help out since the first ngine only had two men.
 

Lets get f/f's hurt on vacant bldgs
hasn't PG learned how to fight vacant bldgs (see riverdale) - vent all openings throughly, exterior streams to knock down bulk of fire and then proceed with caution with FULL PPE and that means gloves TOO !
 

WOW, I have seen recruits do a better job with fighting fires. These guys get paid for this? No wonder the county is in piss poor financial problems because they are highly over paying for a poor service.
 

It wouldn't matter if they had 10 guys on the wagon. It's the Second Battalion and none of them are F/F's. The only Battalion worse then that is the 6th or maybe the 7th.
 

Poor performance on the fire ground is not a reflection of career or volunteer status, it's a reflection of poor training, lack of stressing the basics or training a lot on things other than fire fighting and treating firefighting like it's not a priority.

From the sound of the posts, it would appear that many of them are from those in the volunteer sector who want to get their shots in on the career folks. I served as a career firefighter as well as a volunteer firefighter, so I have a good handle on boths sides.

The volly guys need to look at the videos on this site more closely because there's loads of horrible fireground op's on here from your side of the fence also!

There needs to be a tremendous push for back to basics training for all fire departments.

The fire service needs more chief officers who have real firefighting experience as opposed to chiefs who spent the bulk of what should have been their tailboard years riding an ambulance or working in fire prevention.

The volunteer sector needs to be lead by guys who don't spend most of their time shooting "Youtube" videos of their Rotoray lights and Federal Q sirens and buying too many beers for the kids who look up to them for guidance ...

You need to swollow your pride and bring in some folks with years of real world structural firefighting experience and have them assist you in developing good, back to basics firefighter training. Your citizens as well as your firefighters will be well served by such a move. Firefighting is a life and death business ... there is no room for anything less than the best training, operating guidelines and leadership.
 

Watching this video makes me want to vomit. To think that a department that at one point in time was nationally known ends up like this is the stuff nightmares are made out of. To think that in this day and age that 2 personnel on a piece of apparatus constitutes adequate staffing is nuts. How any of the command staff of PGFD can sleep at night knowing this goes on daily is sickening. With the recent "brownouts", get ready for the fallout that is sure to ensue.
 

Are you serious? This video was evidently shot by a Battalion Chief or higher in this county and they released this to the public? At first I thought this was a follies video or something. The officer on the wagon evidently has not clue how to deploy an attack line. The guy throwing ladders evidently couldnt get that done without first trying to put the hooks down, and then decided after he failed a couple times to just give up. And whatever happened to flowing water?

This video is an embarassment to the firefighters in this county who get the job done the right way. Thanks to the FIRE CHIEF and PIO for distributing this.

TJ
 

And PG firefighters constant harp on Anne Arundel for their performance!!! I hope after this video that I never read another criticizm from any PG firefighter about another jurisdiction!.....Pathetic!!!!
 

It is most unfortunate to read about a working fire event, where Basic Firefighter Safety practices arenot carried out. Everyone in the Fire and EMS Service today knows to wear all their PPE. This includes Gloves, and all Turnout Gear. Now speaking in terms of negatism and criticism is not good for anyone. Even though it was a vacant detached garage, what if a report of someone inside was known.
ie; Homeless person, vandals etc. The Officer not wearing full PPE
would have been in a bad situation if he needed to be part of the entrance front Line crew. Who was the Incident C


ommander? Was it a Career BFC or a Volunteer Command Officer. This is only important with respect to actually extinguishing the Fire. Was the ICS solidly in place? Was a Working Fire Dispatch called for? Was a RIT Team readily available? These questions/issues are equally important in all Fire Scene operations. It's agiven fact due to reduced Staffing and redeployment the 2-Staffing front line Apparatus is going to occur. The Overall operations within PGFD must insist all operational personnel, Career and Volunteer must wear and at all times have their PPE on until the Fire is declared out, and overhaul efforts have been completed. This is Basic Firefighter Safety Procedures. The ACCOUNTABILITY is the same for all
Firefighters Career/Volunteer.

Thank You
 

Would you guys stop on the Full PPE thing. Really, the guy doesn't have his gloves on when he dismonts the apparatus. Who does?? When he reaches the front of the building the gloves and his full PPE are put on.

Give me a break!!!
 

http://www.wlhvfd.com/images/garage8.JPG

look these guys took care of the fire let off of the squirrels a little bit


http://www.wlhvfd.com/slideshow.php?id=1021&pntr=8&Auto=on
 

Which was once one the the most respected fire departments in the country, the PGFD has become a complete disaster. It's disgusting that all the tradition that was built during the 70s and 80s has all but disappeared. Most of the retired members (career and volunteer) dedicated thier lives to that department. Thier hard work and dedication has been destroyed by poor management.
 

Wow. Pretty sad. The officer does not know how to properly pull an attack line. His choice of selection for an attack line is poor as well. It takes more than one person to operate a 2 1/2" line. He then appears to give it (the line) up to a truck guy who should be doing truck work. Then command lets a rescue squad with 3 personnel run the call (remember they will be the RIT) and places the Rescue Squad with 8 personnel inservice. I would have let the Squad with 3 make up staffing on the first due engine and have the other squad keep coming in.

Oh and the white shirt with the camera is the PIO. Not a firefighter,,,so he was doing good by staying out of the way.
 

Okay lets look at it this way, understaffed units on a call that the box had to be filled for. 1 Story garage that is obviously not mantained or cared for by looks of doors and vegetation all around not to mention the fact of all the crap in the way when the garage door is opened. The officer pulled a line that gets maximum reach and penetration with anywhere from 265 gpm - 325 gpm. Why go in?? I am sure my family would love to plant me over an old garage with filing cabinets and god knows what else that is a virtual maze. Look at departments around the country who have lost fireman on fully staffed apparatus in grocery stores and furniture stores. Sure....be heroes over replaceable possessions!!!!! Glad to know there are such great hereos who have my back!!!
 

To be honest I feel all departments in PG have there ups and downs as far as poor planning and training and basic knowledge of SOP's and guidelines set forth by NFPA and the county. So dont badger just one side weather it be volunteer or career cause when you look back were all the same human beings and we make stupid choices and with a video such as this take it as something to use as a training tool and show what could be done better and differently if called upon in that situation.

Now i'm a newly elected officer at my station and i have my days where I make poor choices on a call but I always look for constructive critizism to make not only myself better but the guys that I am responsible for cause everyday is a new challenge and learning experience no matter if your a rookie or a guy with 30 years on the job, career or volunteer.
Now I will say this about the first arriving units if your understaffed and have that much smoke venting just suck it up and pull a crosslay so atleast you can put water on the fire and not have to wait for another crew to help man a 2 1/2 inch line but that incident is over and done with and if you don't have something go wrong on a fire then its just not normal cause there's always a surprise waiting for you!
 

There is nothing wrong with the 7th Battalion....20,25 and 40 have, for the most part, decent career staff....45 and 36 on the other hand..well, I don;t know what to say. As far as Volunteer wise, 25 and 20 hold it down...the rest have issues.
 

I would like commend a previous comment from a newly elected Volunteer Officer. He spoke of being Truthful and up front total Honesty. That is to be commended. Ok now enough said about PPE Turnout Gear everyone knows what is correct. As one of the previous comments stated yes he maynot have had gloves on when he got off Apparatus or wearing PPE etc. The commentdid recognize the fact when the time came and the officer and others on the scene would without any doubt have their full equipment on and in place. It was an abandoned detached garage. The ICS was obviously in place and working well with Command. The Fire was extinguished without Injury. I am of the belief that everyone must now focus their efforts and words on recognizing the need for individual in service training. It doesn't matter if anyone is fairly new or a seasoned veteran. Career and Volunteer alike perhaps a Basic Training session on Layout of Supply Hose, advancing ahose Lines raising ladders. this is not to say look for mistakes or reason to criticize. These in service Training sessions can be handled at the individaual station level in each Battalion. By now everyone knows or should know the Deployment
Policy and work with the resources that are there. Fires get put out everyday in Prince Georges County. Occaionally a Firefighter may get injured or become a victim of May Day May Day Dreaded call. The Brothers and Sisters are there to have everyones back Career and Volunteer. This occurred several months back in Largo and at the Gas explosion recently. It's good to read comments about Loyalty to specific Stations and Battalions. However it just is not right to throw negatism and stereo type words against anyone or any station. Everyone is doing a respectable job in Public Safety.
Professional Customer Service to the Taxpayers. Firefighter Safety
Everyone Goes Home. This is what it's all about. Think about it.

Thank You
 

(There is nothing wrong with the 7th Battalion....20,25 and 40 have, for the most part, decent career staff....45 and 36 on the other hand..well, I don;t know what to say. As far as Volunteer wise, 25 and 20 hold it down...the rest have issues.) I truly feel sorry for the individual who wrote this BS statement. You obviously don't have a clue or the intellect to know what your talking about. As far as the video footage it is clear that the first three units ruined the entire operation. Yes, both Career and Volunteer alike.