Artículo en inglés que cita a José Musse

Firefighting Tactics

Alex Quintanilla

From the article written by Jose Musse regarding officers on first arriving companies. As a fire fighter instructor I can assure you that the company officials have changed the ways things should be done. The officer should be the second person the fire hose from where he can dictate to the nozzle man which pattern to use and where to aim the stream. With his left hand holding the upper coat he can make the movements by calling out the commands for the nozzle man. Someone may say, we are wearing face pieces, the face piece allows for sound to be heard at close range.

When I did live fire training it worked like a charm and was the best way to get the nozzle man to gain experience and sometime pushing them or holding back those that where more aggressive to within range of the fire.

The second best part of this tactic is that the officer can look back to order the line firefighter to get slack on retreat hose. From the way I see it on news clips the officer is on the nozzle and that could be because he doesn’t want to work the hose. The position of nozzle man has to be that of the person spraying the water on the fire.

Officers have to maintain control of the line and provide a safe way of doing the job. Line officers are the back bone of the fire department and the ones responsible is saving lives and property. First on the scene calls for rapid decisions making and there for be on top of firefighting tactics skills that can be hone down by training with his crew whenever possible. Been complacent can be the down fall of the crew. With fire situation being so dynamic officer should be prepare for the worst from the time the bell goes off to the time you reach the gates of hell. As a haz-mat consultant I run into another problem, making decisions on Haz-mat.

Being in Laredo in the border with Mexico I have talked to government official who have to check for weapons, drugs, money, etc. For me the easies way to doing things is as simple as calling the emergency response number for assistance.

Companies have to pay for the service so why not use it. When they answer say it not an emergency but request assistance so they will transfer your call to another engineer.

Chemical are more complicated then just looking a placard. Situations in Laredo demand having to go into a trailer which can sometimes have loose caps on drums and the smell can make you think different.

Chemtrec and those other companies can satisfy your curiosity. They can also contact the provider for assistance before you apply water or try to neutralize an acid or base. Thing can get pretty messy and costly, not counting the contamination. Practice Green Earth.

* Haz-Mat Investigator/Instructor (Grade 32) City of Laredo. Industrial Haz-waste coordinator, Boots & Coots Special Services. Instructor Haz-Mat Team (Bilingual) Retired Captain/Instructor Laredo Fire Department, 25 years.