Read more about the fire from KSDK-TV
This fire was reported just before 12:30 AM on December 23. It happened at City Nights in East St. Louis, Illinois. The business had been embroiled in controversy after a man was run over and killed behind the club in October. The liquor license had been suspended and the place was shut down by the time the fire occurred.
The video from the helmet-cam above and below is best viewed in HD. This is some really clear helmet-cam viewing.
Also quite interesting, considering the significant amount of fire, is the comment posted by the administrator of FireVideo.net when he posted this video on Friday afternoon:
We have a blighted dept and only had 6 firefighters, 2 engines and a ladder on this fire because of budget cuts. At one point they told us to evacuate, but we waited too long. It could have been bad. Lesson learned.
Also on STATter911 …
- Helmet-cam: Abandoned house in East St. Louis, Illinois. – March 22, 2012
- Quick Takes: December 22, 2010 – December 22, 2010
- Moline, Illinois chief suddenly quits over layoffs. City administrator denies cuts will be a threat to public safety. – October 19, 2011
- Raw video: House fire in Emington, Illinois. – July 30, 2011
Comments
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Hopefully these young bucks learned a few valuable lessons:
-When arriving 1st due, depart the apparatus with a set of irons just in case the joint is locked.
-Wear your gloves when using your tools.
-A couple of quick hits from a flathead axe or sledge would have set the halligan and made forcing the door a much quicker process.
-When confronting a fire in a commercial occupancy, leave the 1 3/4″ hose in the bed and go with 2.5″ line. Big fire = big water.
-Thank God their low air alarms sounded because they thought they were having an effect on the fire using their improperly supplied 1 3/4″ line.
This time nobody was badly hurt, don’t rely on luck in the future. Learn from your mistakes and never stop training and attending seminars taught by folks who have lot’s of real life structural firefighting experience.
First of all, I thought East St. Louis saw a lot of fire. Although I know no fire scene goes as you want it to, these videos don’t give the impression that the fire department is very experienced.
What is most disturbing to me is that when they finally exit the structure and see the massive amount of fire on the roof, the guy with the helmet camera is willing to go back in. That sort of thinking will get people killed for sure.
un-real
Uh… The only question I have is why are there firefighters, inside a burning structure (note it burning above their heads), with zero SCBA on?
The only question i have is….WHAT FOR? If you only had 6 firefighters on scene, who was gonna save the ones inside when the roof came down? If you saw something that made you order an evacuation why would you let the ones inside (that cant see) change you mind? I’m not here to knock the way you do things, but we gotta watch out for our brothers and sisters and a EMPTY, well involved commercial building isnt worth the risk i saw you guys taking.
This is tragic…start to finish. These guys showed no desire to put the fire out (which appeared from the beggining) could have been done. I mean come on guys, getting off the engine and walking to the front door…then walking back??? Slow deployment of the lines in place and not bringing extra hose when you were short. You guys need alot of work in basic firefighting principles. Truly not a good comment could be said from watching that video other than at least nobody got hurt. Not from the “bang up” job you all did…Just dumb luck
How many hits from a haligan to break the glass and never did. Then you use a haligan without the flathead, then you stand on the wrong side of the haligan, all without the benefit of an scba on your back. Whoever shot this helmet cam must have had the added benefit of “steady helmet” Do you concentrate more on putting out the fire or walking with absolutely no head bounce or movement? You must have a couple gyroscopes in your helmet just like cruiseships do to be that steady. Worry about puttin a fire out 1st, film quality 2nd.
Time to leave the Helmet Cam in the locker!
East St. Louis doesn’t have 2.5 in lines.
East St louis sees more fires in a year than most of you experts will ever see in a lifetime. While some of their tactics were lacking they deal with these situations on a daily basis and for what they have they do an outstanding job and actually have a good safety record. I wouldn’t want to criticise what has been working for them.
Did any of you armchair commandos read the comment from the Fireman who posted the webcam video? They only had 2 engines and 1 ladder truck with a grand total of 6 (??!!?) Firemen on board!! WTF?!? This kind of manning is CRIMINAL. No wonder their tactics don’t meet the Monday quarterbacking bozos standards!!!
Hey 6 folks on the first alarm? How bout establishing a good water supply & starting the wagon pipe! It’s a giant dumpster…float it down the road! No life hazard…little property value…stay outside & fill it with water. With little manpower, pick your battles (interior op’s) carefully. When they want you to be effective…they’ll give you more people. Until then, stay safe. You shouldn’t care more than the mayor or city hall!!! Don’t kill yourselves trying to do the impossible.