Building Construction For Fire Service: Fill & Download for Free

“Cookies” - very large high explosive bombs - were one element in what became a fairly precise recipe for RAF Bomber Command fire bombing raids.“Cookies” were basically big cylinders of explosives. They didn’t have fins or an aerodynamic shape. Cookies were not designed to penetrate the ground or a structure before exploding and the cylinder was designed only to hold the explosives with a minimum amount of weight. Cookies were thus highly inaccurate, but this was not an issue since their targets were cities.Cookies were used because they provided the biggest bang for the buck. Their blast stripped roof tiles from buildings in a large radius and blew in windows to provide ventilation to stoke fires.Other ingredients in the fire bombing recipe were:Small incendiary bombs like the British 4 lb incendiary bomb, a thermite bomb dropped in bundles:These bomblets would burn themselves out on clay tile roofs common in Europe with little or no damage or roll off the roof to burn out in the street. But if the roof was blown off by cookies, they landed in the attic or interior of the building and were far more likely to start a fire and far more difficult to extinguish.100 lb. and 500 lb bombs with delayed fuses. These bombs were designed penetrate buildings or the ground before exploding. They collapsed buildings into streets. They cratered streets and broke water mains. They were used to interfere with fire services fighting the incendiary fires.And finally: bombs with timed fuses. Typically large bombs, the timed fuses would detonate the bombs minutes or hours later again to hamper fire services and emergency workers.This recipe wasn’t a British discovery, all air forces in Europe had a similar mix of bombs types for fire bombing raids. The Luftwaffe used the same techniques and similar bomb types in the Blitz.Were cookies effective? That’s tough to say since they were only a part of the mix of bombs dropped in a raid. Cookies weren’t multi-purpose bombs, thanks to their inaccuracy and inability to penetrate, but they worked well enough in “dehousing” raids.European cities with brick and mortar or concrete construction and nonflammable roofs were remarkably resistant to fire bombing raids and fires were localised. They rarely got out of control and destroyed areas outside of the immediate bombing area. There were only a handful of real conflagrations, like the fire storms at Dresden at Hamburg, and were usually caused by unusual weather conditions or a breakdown of fire fighting services.

You can pursue a degree in Fire Science. This is geared toward bringing one into the fire service and equipping them with the training and knowledge to be an effective firefighter. However, the fire service is a many faceted beast and any education in building construction or architecture, leadership and management, medical, industrial practices, chemistry, hydrology, metallurgy, heavy equipment and engineering, to name a few, will give you an amazing amount of applicable information to use in the service. We must always have a lot of tools in the firefighting toolbox and it seems that whatever degree you go after, there is somewhere to plug in your knowledge on the scenes you will encounter throughout a career in the fire service. Most departments don't care what kind of degree you have as long as you have something.

No, and I’ll tell you why.Here’s the one of the first images that popped up when I entered the query “burning building” into Google Images.You can see that the firefighters are taking a defensive posture and spraying the structure with hoses from the outside, most likely to keep the fire from spreading to the building across the street.The fire has already reached the point of flashover. Everything inside the structure has been ignited, and the temperatures on the inside are probably in the neighborhood of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (538 °C), maybe more.If there was anyone in that structure, they have been dead for a long time by the time this photo was taken.There might not even be that much left of them. After being exposed to those temperatures, their body has been burned down to the bones, which are themselves only barely recognizable.Any firefighter who managed to push their way into this building would be committing suicide. Our bunker gear fails at temperatures of 572 degrees F ( 300C) after 30 seconds, if you’re lucky. At the temperatures in that building, it would burn just like anything else.The firefighter in question would die an excruciating death, and they would die for nothing. They would die trying to rescue someone who has long since been dead.Here’s the thing about firefighters. We’re not superheroes. We can’t run into hellflames and run back out in slow motion holding a small child like in the movies. We’re human, and we have physical limitations, as does our equipment. We know what we can and can’t do.Firefighter safety is the number one priority on a scene. That’s been drilled into every firefighter’s head since day one of their training. As my department’s chief so eloquently puts it, “you can’t help anyone if you’re dead”.Believe me, we will do everything we can, and risk everything we can, if we think there’s a chance we can save someone. We will lay it all on the line if we can save a life…but only if there is still a life to be saved.There’s no reason for us to risk our lives if there’s nothing we can do to save someone. Sadly, on some scenes, that’s the cold hard truth of the matter. When that happens, our priorities need to be elsewhere.EDIT:Okay…wow. Just wow.The fact that this answer has reached over 9,000 up votes, including up votes from some big name users I follow, is just insane to me.I know this is a very newbie thing to do, but thank you all for your support. I’m glad you like my writing that much. And that goes double for everyone in the comments thanking firefighters for their service. Your support really does make our days better.A few users have raised concerns that my answer misses the point. They say I used an extreme example, and that I haven’t really answered the question. After thinking about it, I would agree that this is a fair point. I intentionally used an extreme example as a kind of “negative proof”. Although I stand by my original answer 100%, I realize it doesn’t cover the majority of fires.Okay, so let’s back up a bit.Assuming that conditions inside a structure still allow for interior operations, if a firefighter refused to enter the building to save someone, should they be criminally charged?(Something that looks more like this. Image credit to Moyers Corner Fire Department).Again, the answer is no.For one thing, in order to criminally charge someone, that person has to have broken a law. To my knowledge, there’s no law in any state that specifies criminal charges against a firefighter who refuses to enter a building, and for good reason.A fire incident is constantly evolving, with numerous variables that are always changing, and many of which won’t be known to firefighters. You can’t account for all of these variables in a law. Our legal system requires the law to be carried out by the letter, with little to no leeway for misapplication.Crafting a law which requires entering a structure fire would be a herculean task. The law would need to account for everything from building construction, to weather conditions, to resource availability. All of these factors affect what actions are taken on a fire scene, including entry.Obviously, this is neither feasible nor desirable. Better to leave the decision to the intuitions and expertise of trained, experienced, equipped, and prepared individuals on scene. In other words, leave the decision to the firefighters themselves.Searching a building for a trapped victim will almost always happen on a fire scene unless the conditions make searching impossible. 99% of the time, if a fire crew knows there is a reasonable chance someone is trapped in a building, and they can make a search, they will.It might not happen right away; for example, the tactically smart decision might be ventilating the structure or attacking the seat of the fire in order to make conditions in the structure more survivable. However, it will happen.But let’s talk about that 1% of the time. What if a firefighter, despite survivable conditions, refuses to make entry? What if they freeze up like the sheriff’s deputy at Parkland High?Again, they should absolutely not be criminally charged. Every firefighter has a right to turn down an order that they feel is unsafe, as long as they can express valid reasons why it is unsafe. This ability to turn down is very important in the fire service. It preserves individual safety, and combats tunnel vision and groupthink.Maybe a firefighter is new, and didn’t know what they were in for. Maybe they feel too physically weak for some reason. Maybe something brought back a long buried trauma, and they’re breaking down. Doesn’t matter. Do you really think it’s a good idea to force that person into a burning building?Instead, the firefighter in question should be withdrawn from the scene, and evaluated medically. They should undergo some form of psychological evaluation. They should be given the help they need, even if that help means they can’t fight fires any more. But they should not be criminally charged. Instead, they should be given the respect they deserve for all the service they have given and were willing to give.Long story short: the decision of what to do with a firefighter who refuses to enter a burning building is a department level decision, not a government level decision. Departments should think long and hard about what they expect from their firefighters, and then codify these expectations in policies, regulations, and best practices. If a firefighter needs to be held to these expectations by department leadership, then the process should be flexible, respectful, and personable, not rigid and legalistic.Thanks for sticking with me and reading this longer addition. I hope it clears up any confusions or questions. And again, to everyone upvoting, sharing, commenting, and following, thank you so much for your support! To any firefighters reading this, as well as other first responders: keep it up, stay safe, and go kick some serious ass out there.Fire pups thank you for your patience.