Click here to follow STATter911.com on Facebook (hit “like”)
Video, in two parts, by kbobcat07 shortly after the arrival of firefighters at an apartment fire in Fairfield, Texas. Spotted on Firefighter Nation.
A fire broke out at East Ridge Apartments off FM 488 in Fairfield around 3:45 p.m. on Monday, March 11, 2013.
The fire was reported by Texas Parks and Wild Life Ranger Craig Hernandez.
Do you want to sell a rig? Click HERE to find out how with SellFireTrucks.com.
Also on STATter911 …
- Helmet-cam: Fairfield, CA motel fire. – March 25, 2013
- Raw video: House fire in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. – May 11, 2012
- A fascinating film: A day in the life of an Austin, Texas firefighter in 1953. – May 12, 2012
- Arrival video: Apartment fire in Fort Worth, Texas. – September 19, 2012
Comments
Powered by Facebook Comments
This was hard to watch. Does this dept. only have 4 FF.
Only thing I can think of is they don’t see much fire. Not their fault.
My eyes are bleeding. Your fan doesn’t work – but then again, you didn’t need it so put it away. No trench cut or portable sprinklers dropped between the fire and the uninvolved area. Once you got your aerial up, it’s time to work on where the fire is going, not where it’s been. All fire goes out eventually. Your job is to make it happen faster.
PPV fan? seriously?
I’m a huge “fan” of ppv/ppa…lol Thank god for fans that start when you need them.
What an overstaffed fireground….
They stopped it at the parking lot. Awful.
No sense of urgency, no sense of direction, obviously no leadership, and very little fire fighting. But in all fairness, through all their years of service, they have never lost a foundation. Yet.
I wasn’t there, so I don’t know what command’s plan was. But until the aerial opened up, it seemed the only guy actually trying to accomplish anything was the nozzleman without a helmet…at least he was doing SOMEthing!
Fairfield 2010 population was 2951, or 3705, depending on which source you believe in Wikipedia. I think Fire 511 was correct…I bet they don’t see much fire. This was probably a career fire for these guys. Training can teach a lot, but it can’t teach experience in the real thing. I’m sure they were at a loss as to what to do. The wind didn’t help a bit, either.
I have seen the use of a fan in other videos, but did not get it then either. It seems like it took a long time to get water established. Knowing that I may be the only truck on location for a while, I would go with the saying of “big fire, big water”. There is no bigger water than using the tip on the areal as a hose line of sorts. Why not use that to blow through the underside of the soffit to get to the common attic area. Also, refrain form water down the hole in the roof, this only pushed it back in as you can see at the halfway point.
FLFF, What uninvolved area? They had heavy smoke coming from each end and fire coming through the roof in the middle 1:30 seconds into the video. With the staffing on that operation, would you get on that roof?
I bet Aardvark is awesome on the fireground. He jumps out of the truck with an S on his chest and puts out the apartment complex fire under heavy wind conditions with tank water.
Seriously, Thank you to the volunteers of Fairfield Fire Dept. for leaving work or their family time to donate to the community. Aside from the PPV fan, it looks like you guys did everything that you could with what was obviously a lost cause from the beginning. Risk little to save little.
Great comments!? You gotta be kidddin’ me. Volunteers from Fairfield have a responsibility to put out fires, not just do everything they could. Not good enough! If you sign up to do the job then do it correstly and stop making excuses for poor performance, bad tactics, and improper leadership. Don’t be “Just another firefighter”, you can be Super, atleast better.
We all use this site as an educational tool. So, let’s use it as such.
The first truck in looks to have consisted of 3 firefighters. Being on a rural volunteer dept. gives me a little insight to speculate about this type of arrival. Firefighter number one is pretty good with the truck and is their secondary operator. Number two has been on the department for five years and number three is probably a probie that doesn’t have his FF 1&2 complete (has no idea what a trench cut is). They may not know when the next truck is due or the manpower arriving (rural departments don’t always have enough radios to go around). As far as leadership is concerned, the first arriving officer makes scene after the fire has self vented. Now, given this set of circumstances, would you have gotten on the roof for a trench cut? Better yet, would you have sent manpower on the roof? Go back to the first 30 seconds of video and identify where you would make the trench cut. Instead of saying, “bad tactics”, let’s identify and learn. Otherwise, the commentators just look like a bunch of vollie haters.
I am very interested in your reply. Keep in mind their staffing situation, not yours.
Btw, my tag was meant to reference that we are all in this together. As far as my abilities, I do pretty good. I am currently training for a marathon, lift regularly, and am more than willing to be first in. Stay safe brother.
1. No trench cut. Too big.
2. No PPV. Blows O2 into area you can’t get to.
3. Attack from longer, unburned side to stop the fire spread into this part.
4. Move ladder down and blast straight stream into overhang just below roof line up into attic space where you want to make a stop. With that nozzle you should be able to to get close to an 90* angle to left off aerial. Swept back into burning side to knock down fire.
5. Move a portable monitor or 2 1/2″ to rear to do same at same location.
6. As units arrive and call command for a job, have a plan ready so they quickly deploy . . . get water, relay pump, use deck gun, S&R, additional hand lines, ect.
7. Tell Walker, Texas Ranger, to get PPE on and help or get out of the way.
This plan uses three FFs and one chief to start. I don’t hate anybody and don’t care if your paid or vollie, urban or rural. Training is available and your responsibility to the community you serve. Look to improve your firefighting from the calls you have been on and the ones you see. Do not justify poor operations, you are destined to repeat them.
WTF kind of show was that? Way to long to get the line run up the steps, guy WALKS back to get an axe… looks like they were stalling to me. Get ahead of it and open up to cut it off. Trench cut if enough FF’s there. Ladder pipe with fog (ROOFS ARE MENT TO KEEP WATER OUT!) Lay in if hydrant in the area! Hope everyone noticed how well it vented once it burned through the roof… WOW good luck and Strike Da Box! K
Definitely one of the worst vids… Good thing they brought that flat head axe and fan up stairs with them. Ever hear of flowing water and pulling ceiling? Heavy smoke showing and couldn’t even hit a hydrant? Any concepts of basic fire ground tactics? Wow
This place was a looser from the beginning. There were only 4 or 5 guys for the first 10 minutes, and the fire had obviously advanced well into the attic beyond the original apartment.
A trench cut would have been pretty tricky to accomplish from the stick, and putting crews on that roof was out of the question. They didn’t have enough manpower, and the fire was beyond what the limited crew could have accomplished.
Sorry they made a parking lot, glad they didn’t get anybody hurt.
Looks like it was a lost cause from the beginning… That looks like it was burning in that roof for quite some time prior to them getting there. Im sorry but unless you have like 15-20 guys 1st due you were not going to stop that fire especially with those wind conditions just sayin…
A good example of a fire department who is plumb out of ideas. Sad.
Eventually the fire ran out of fuel. What a sad, clueless group of folks; they dress up like firefighters but that’s as far as they go. BTW, are those graduation tassels hanging from the ring on the back of their helmets?
Is anybody else wondering what this “looked” like when they arrived? Why use a 1.75″ or 1.5″ line? Why? Anybdy else asking themselves the question: “Is anybody looking at the smoke?” Is anything that is being done improving the situation? NO. The problem is nobody on this scene is seeing the picture. The fan was being used to occupy some time because nobody knew what to do at that point in time. And it didn’t start; so just leave it there. Hey while we are at it; let’s hand lay that supply line that we could have layed in when we arrived. It is truly amazing that we don’t kill more firefighters on a daily basis.
Sigh….
Probably in the top 5 for worst I have ever seen…..my god.
Well at least there is something we can learn from watching the second video. When the Truck Company allows (I’m sure it was the plan all along) the fire to vent through the roof at about 1:05 in the video, it only takes about 20 seconds for the smoke to stop pushing throught the eaves and down into the second floor. Had this been an occupied structure, quickwork by the roof team would have made the engines job easier and made the structure more tennable for possible victims inside. For guys who don’t know why getting to the roof early makes a difference, maybe this will help. Thats all I got for this one, not much else worth watching.
So glad I don’t live in this fire district. Last time I checked WATER is the best defense against fire……very poor leadership and even worse ventilation practices!
LOL…..a fucking fan
So fellow KICs (those that don’t see this fire for what it is) what exact steps and tactics would you have taken upon arrival with 3 or 4 firemen?
Specifically, a well advanced attic\cockloft fire, deep-seated, very turbulent and pressurized smoke and a ton of volume for that much area.
If they had enough manpower initially, I’d put good money that had they attempted to pull ceilings, there would have been either a flashover or smoke explosion that would have resulted in injuries or death.
Trench cut that roof? Maybe, but unlikely. I’m guessing lightweight trusses and obviously an advanced fire. Add those two together, and again a recipe for dead or injured brothers.
I found it a rather interesting exercise, trying to determine what tactics we would use. I have to watch the rest of the second video yet.
I’m not defending their actions 100% either, obviously the fan was a waste of time. If there are hydrants, they should have established their own water supply. But to rip them a new one with a well advanced fire and minimal manpower on arrival is even beyond my KIC certification.
poor staffing is no excuse for poor tactics
Will there be a T-Shirt made commemorating this tragic event?If so, I will donate to the department. Oh my gosh. Attention firefighters! Why are we there to begin with? Hint, the goal is not to put out the fire. The goal is to save lives and property. PROPERTY! There was so much stuff to be saved at this fire by just throwing out in the lawn. None of it was saved because the only focus was…put out the fire! If you don’t know how to control fire, then don’t try. You end up being on Statter looking bad. Bad day for Fairfield. Hopefully, no one got hurt.
…..if they had pulled ceilings there would have been a flashover or a smoke explosion…..??? what??
Grab a hydrant on your way in, stretch your initial line to the bigger unburned side, enter exposure room…have backup man hook…while you open the line ALL the way, FLOW WATER FOR MORE THEN 10 seconds extinguish fire. Have your driver stretch a backup line to hallway and FLOW WATER! When second due pulls up have them…stretch line and hook ceilings! Move with a purpose
Gotta disagree with mark on his assesment about a flashover/ smoke explosion. Pull a little ceiling (or soffit) cram a line up there on a full fog , whip it around , advance and repeat. Generally “fogging ” an area is bad,but in an enclosed attic (or cockloft for you yankees)it will work wonders.
I…. er….Well….. Which is to say….ahh, uh… WTF?
And thats all i’ve got to say about that!
The state of Texas has a really nice firefighter’s training program, both outreach and resident. Maybe someone should tell these guys about it. Think??
And, there might even be a case for residential sprinklers here. My guess is that the fire started in one of the living spaces. One or two automatic sprinklers at the most would have prevented this vulgar display.
Just an observation [ like everyone else ], but, approx. 4ft. in front of the chief, on the ground, was a big yellow round thingy full of water [after they plugged in], and it was completly kinked. At one time or more there was the chief and at least one other person with a fire coat on and neither one of them saw the problem. I know they were watching water flow out of the nozzle so I guess there was no reason for recktifying that problem. They may not see a lot of fire or lots of training, but that to me is a pretty simple fix, don’t think a total class on hose operation is needed. Didn’t like the idea of the operator leaving the controls of the ladder with a man at the tip. It was an AERIAL LADDER, not a tower ladder, he is the only one who can control the movement.
Is it just me, or do a LOT of “Deep South” fire departments seem to think the purpose of a ladder company is to A) carry their PPV fan to the scene, and B) provide an aerial master stream after the PPV doesn’t work and/or makes the fire worse?
O.K. Everyone has their opinions on the fire and we can play Monday morning Quarterback all day long. After forty years on the job, two things will always happen. You will never be late for a fire; and it will always go out. Either you will put it out or it will burn itself out. And maybe something will come out of it on the rebuild, sprinklers. They are building apartments every day, but pretty sure they are not building LIFE.