John Halbrook

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A new flat head axe for the irons

    Forcible entry is an important part of the fire and emergency services.  If you can't get to the source of the emergency then you cant resolve the situation.  It doesn't matter if that emergency involves a patient laying on the floor unable to unlock the door, or if its a fire bursting from the seams you need to get in there.  Time and time again we find firefighters who are unable to gain access to the source of the emergency and that causes problems.  In recent years several training entities have focused on teaching and improving forcible entry skills.  Since companies like; Traditions Training, The Brotherhood, Suburban Fire Development, SAFE Firefighter and others utilize peer driven best practice based instruction we have seen more interest in refining both technique and tool selection.  

As a self proclaimed geek in the fire service I have carried several different tools for use in forcible entry.  If you have been a reader of this blog you will remember write ups and reviews of the FUBAR and the Leatherhead version of the Halligan bar.  On top of those tools I have gotten to experience several other "Bar" style tools each of which have their own unique characteristics.  It seams that nearly every hand tool company has a "Bar" that you can use, but not many companies have a better solution for striking than a traditional 8lb flat head axe.  Fortunately that is changing.

I was recently introduced to "The Pig" by Lone Star Axe LLC This 8lb tool is marketed as a better solution to forcible entry.  Chris, the inventor of this tool took a hard look at the axe and came up with several observations.  

1.  We don't chop with the blade of the axe.  Even when cutting roof openings we don't use the blade. 

2.  If the flat end is the working part of the tool then why doesn't the handle optimize that work?

3.  If we don't use the blade of the axe other than as a wedge why shouldn't the secondary use of the tool be more functional?

These observations lead to the development of the PIG.  There is nothing flashy or impressive about this tool except that it is designed to do one thing very well.  It smashes! The flat head appears to do this well.  

Over the next few weeks we will be putting this tool through its paces, and we look forward to sharing those experiences. with you.  

 

Standpipe Vs Sprinkler connections

Recent web discussion got me thinking about the finer point of being an engineer for a fire department. One question posed over at Suburban Fire Development and First Due Questions challenges engineers to commit to the sprinkler, or the standpipe.

The scenario that was presented is as follows:

You are the engineer of a first arriving engine company at a confirmed working high rise fire. With flame blowing out the fifth floor apartment window your crew pulls the high rise pack and head up the stairs. As the engineer you are now faced with a choice. You can either connect the standpipe first giving water to that system, or you can connect to the sprinkler which can potentially keep the fire in check.

I feel that the standpipe should be charged first. If your crew is entering the building then they have no other source of water than that standpipe.

In short ,your crew is going to put the fire out so they need the water.

On a recent trip to New York city I had a chance to take the attached picture which adds insight into this issue. The sprinkler connection that is shown has a placard indicating where in the building the sprinkler system is located.

Can you imaging wasting time on a sprinkler system that doesn't even cover the area of the building with fire?

The evolution of the "Halligan bar"

As a firefighter it is important to know why we carry the tools that are on are truck. Each of these bars were the go to tool for their day. Do you know why each was replaced by the next evolution of the tool? How are these different from the bar that you carry?

These pictures were taken at the new York city fire department museum.

Will the "Real" Halligan bar please stand up

 

Over the past several months the internet has focused a lot of attention on Halligan bars.  One focus of these discussions has been the comparison of different versions of this ichonic fire service tool.  In an effort to foster discussion and debate above you will find a pictures showing four important tools in the evolution of what is today known as the Halligan.  Making this a little harder you will see that all of these tools are forged steel with out pins, or welds.  Looking at the Forks and Adz of these tools Please name their strenghts and weaknesses, and weather you would want to carry in on your rig.  In a few days I will post a follow up highliting the names of these tools.  

 

Enjoy:

Suburban Fire Development

There are a lot of training tools and options out there.  Many departments are utilizing outside or private instructor groups to help bring special skills into their department.  Fire companies are also looking to these outside instructors to beet the internal stagnation is all to common in our industry.   One newcomer to this market is Suburban Fire Development.  SFD is a small company made up of instructors who view the fire service as a trade to be honed.  They have started small with course offerings limited to a forcible entry series called Halligan 101, and 102.  These three hour classes are dedicated to the role of the forcible entry firefighter, and their role on the fire ground.  

 

Fore more information check out their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/SubFireDev

9/11 Ten years later

 

The events of 9/11 are etched on our countries heart, and today on the tenth anniversary of that tragic day they are at the front of our minds.  In 2001 I was a college student at Iowa State University studying political science and volunteering in the disaster services industry. I know that these events changed the path that my life would take.  As a result of the focus and vision that day instilled in us  today I work full time in Emergency Management and dedicate more time as a part time firefighter paramedic for my community.  I hope that you will join me in reflecting on the past ten years and think not only of the past, but how we are all moving forward.  

 

John

Thinking about victim survivability in the fire service

My thoughts on fire service LODD and victim survivability.  

Fire service survivability is a polarizing issue for our industry.  The ideas of how safe is safe enough, and how safe is too safe to get the job done are constantly at odds with each other.  With an ever broadening quest for better response my peers have trained and learned from some of the best and brightest in the industry.  We bring them in and we learn about practices that will keep us “safe”.  We study close call reporting, incident management, gas monitoring, and most recently victim survivability.  We also learn from the other side of the coin.  Joe Brown’s recent blog post calling for a return to effectiveness demands a back to basics approach to fire fighting, and he ask the question; Have we really become too safe?  After reading the arguments I decided to do some of my own reading on the victim survivability concept and this is what I found. 

In the paper “Can they be saved? Utilizing civilian survivability profiling to enhance Size-Up and Reduce firefighter Fatalities in the fire Department, City of New York” Captain Stephen Marsar analyses fire fighter line of duty deaths and tells us that victims were not saved from fires that killed our brothers.  He then makes the argument that if a victim cannot be saved then our tactics should be changed.  This is a great argument, but the way that this concept is applied doesn’t work in my mind.  If we look back on 2010 as an example, 85 fire fighter deaths were classified as line of duty.  Of those less than 25% actually died on a fire scene.  That means that only 20 were actually within sight of a fire when they died.  If we then look at the cause of fatal injury we find that 11 received injuries that occurred while operating within a structure fire.  The remainders were stress/overexertion, vehicle collision, and other.  If we dig even deeper only one firefighter in 2010 died from thermal injuries, three died from asphyxiation, and three more were crushed.  Of those seven valiant men and women only two were actively engaged in the search for victims.  When I first looked at these numbers I was shocked.  All of the victim survivability principles that we teach only apply to the loss of two firefighters in 2010. 

Although the loss of even one fire fighter is a tragedy I think we need to look even closer at the civilian survivability concept.  In his paper Captain Marsar claims that if a victim cannot be saved that we should change our tactics.  I have a tough time supporting this concept when the data doesn’t support that his assertions save fire fighters lives.  What this concept does do is doom victims to death.  Using 2010 as our bench mark I wanted to compare the deaths of these two firefighters who died conducting search to the lives saved by firefighters conducting similar actions.  Unlike firefighter deaths there is no central database of heroic actions that firefighters did during the same time period.  One source of information that I found is the publication put out at the annual FDNY medal day. 

At the 2010 ceremony firefighter Michael A Czech was awarded the James Gordon Bennett Medal for his heroic actions while rescuing three victims from an incredibly challenging fire environment.  In the same medal ceremony Firefighter Charles Dodenhoff was recognized for his actions in the rescue of two civilians “by employing initiative, rapid decision-making, and implementation of long practiced skills, all while facing personal danger”.  I wish that I had access to even a few of these incident reports to determine if the victims that were rescued fell into the survival side, or the dead side of the victim survivability matrix, but either way I personally have a tough time boiling down fire service response to a matrix, or a buzz word.  I would rather rely on a skilled trained firefighter, who can “employ initiative, rapid decision-making, and implementation of long practiced skills” than write off a victim’s survivability without at least giving that person some benefit of doubt; and therein lies the rub.  I have never had the opportunity to talk with Captain Marsar, but I doubt that his report was intended to be applied as it is today.  Many communities have used the data in this report to reinforce the “risk a little to save a little” philosophy that is so prevalent today.  This rallying cry for the fire service’s safety culture is being applied with some unique inconsistencies.  Take a look at the following questions and ask yourself where your agency fits on the risk a little spectrum.

• Does risk a little mean no interior operations at all? 
• Does save a lot mean that a room and contents fire should not be aggressively extinguished unless a victim is present?
• If you throw a ground ladder to rescue a kitten from a tree is that considered risking a lot to save a little?
• What is defined as saving a lot?
• Is performing fire fighter 1 skills considered a risky situation?

When you answer these questions I hope that your department relies on the skill of arriving crews to make the right decision.  These crews should be making sound strategic and tactical decisions that maximize firefighter safety while at the same time ensuring that everything possible has been done to save lives and preserve property.  There is no shame in not being able to make entry because conditions untenable, but this is a decision that needs to be made on the scene by firefighters who employ “initiative, rapid decision-making, and implementation of long practiced skills”; not in the office, or during a preplan.  

 

The JFD hosts Traditions Training June 2011

Leatherhead tools version of the halligan bar

I recently purchaseda halligan bar manufactured by the leatherhead tool company.  After a couple months of work and training with this tool I thought I would share some thoughts and experiences.  All things considered this is a high quality tool, but in my opinion its no substitute for the probar.  Take a look at the pictures below and see what I have to say about this bar, and take a look at some of the modifications I have made to the tool. 

The Adz of this tool is well shaped and in the classic dimensions of the halligan tool.  In this picture you can see the 1 3/4" mark I made to help measure the depth while forcing a door.  This picture also shows that even though this tool is forged it does not appear to be a one piece forge.  A substantial weld secures this bar's pike to the rest of the tool. 

The fork of this bar is not to fat or bulky.  I added the 1 3/4" mark to this part of the tool too.  I also squared off the shoulders for close striking situations.

The curve of this tools Adz is very different from other Halligan style bars.  You can see that it curves up and out from the shaft of the bar.  The manufacturers tout this as a design feature, but I had some problems with it.  While striking the bar to set the forks in an inward swinging door the my striking fire fighter had difficulty delivering a clean blow to the tool.  This added curve deflected several of his shots causing the tool to vibrate delivering less force to the door. 

This is the first picture I shot of my new bar.  I was shocked to find the presence of a weld around the pike end of the tool. 

 

 

all things considered this is definaitly one of the better halligan bars on the market. 

 

these opinions are mine alone and do not relflect any of the agencies I work with.  also, I purchased this tool with my personal $.