TOOL
This week I talked to a bunch of people that I know from past association with the fire department. I was twice reminded of an incident where I was involuntarily used as a forcible entry tool. I began to wonder if this has happened to anyone else. I figure that the internet is a good place to pose the question: "Has anyone had their body used as a force-entry tool?" My story goes like this:
It was New Year's morning about twelve years ago, and nothing was going right for us. We went to a working fire in an apartment building at about 0430. The fire was in an area primarily covered by a different fire department than ours, and at the time they had a horrible history of fucking up fires. It was balls-ass cold outside, the fire was out of hand when we got there, and (predictably) the first-in engine company had made a cock of the whole thing. I was a firefighter, driving the tiller position on the ladder truck (for the uninitiated, this is the rear-steering position on a tractor-drawn ladder truck), and ended up on the third floor of this apartment building with one of my main firefighing sen-say's, whom we will call "Joel", who was driving the front. In this instance, our assignment was to search apartments immediately above the fire to insure that no one was in the way of the fire if it got any worse. Also with us was our lieutenant, whom we now call "Chief Jon". There were about five apartments that were seriously at risk from fire spread. Joel and I ended up at the middle of the five doors, but Jon had the forcible entry tools and was busy elsewhere trying to get people from other companies to put the fire out with more alacrity than they were then-displaying. (OK, he was knee-deep in putting his boots in the asses of the firemen on the hose lines, trying to convince them to put out the fire). Faced with a potentially dire situation and no tools other than fire hooks, Joel decided to make do with what he had. Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed me by my airpack straps and swung me bodily into the apartment door. The door flew off the hinges and we got into that apartment just as fire started to breach the floor in a rear bedroom. Just so you can understand the physics of it all, when I am geared up for firefighting I am about 6'8" tall and wiegh close to 300 lbs. inclusive of wet fire gear. He kept a hold of my straps so that I didn't go flying into the apartment. The door was a wooden panel door in a metal doorframe. My surpise at being tossed through the door was quickly replaced with admiration for what good thinking Joel did in that situation. We managed to hold that apartment with makeshift aids and two small Dry-Chems until Jon showed up with the calvalry (in the form of an engine company with a hose line). Joel remains an honorary member of our department, though he has long since moved on to the FDNY, where he works at some Rescue Company in Manhattan or something. They keep saying stuff like that is the "premier fire company on Earth" or somesuch.
So, anyone else been used as a battering ram, prybar, sledge, etc.? Put it up!
DTXMATT12
It was New Year's morning about twelve years ago, and nothing was going right for us. We went to a working fire in an apartment building at about 0430. The fire was in an area primarily covered by a different fire department than ours, and at the time they had a horrible history of fucking up fires. It was balls-ass cold outside, the fire was out of hand when we got there, and (predictably) the first-in engine company had made a cock of the whole thing. I was a firefighter, driving the tiller position on the ladder truck (for the uninitiated, this is the rear-steering position on a tractor-drawn ladder truck), and ended up on the third floor of this apartment building with one of my main firefighing sen-say's, whom we will call "Joel", who was driving the front. In this instance, our assignment was to search apartments immediately above the fire to insure that no one was in the way of the fire if it got any worse. Also with us was our lieutenant, whom we now call "Chief Jon". There were about five apartments that were seriously at risk from fire spread. Joel and I ended up at the middle of the five doors, but Jon had the forcible entry tools and was busy elsewhere trying to get people from other companies to put the fire out with more alacrity than they were then-displaying. (OK, he was knee-deep in putting his boots in the asses of the firemen on the hose lines, trying to convince them to put out the fire). Faced with a potentially dire situation and no tools other than fire hooks, Joel decided to make do with what he had. Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed me by my airpack straps and swung me bodily into the apartment door. The door flew off the hinges and we got into that apartment just as fire started to breach the floor in a rear bedroom. Just so you can understand the physics of it all, when I am geared up for firefighting I am about 6'8" tall and wiegh close to 300 lbs. inclusive of wet fire gear. He kept a hold of my straps so that I didn't go flying into the apartment. The door was a wooden panel door in a metal doorframe. My surpise at being tossed through the door was quickly replaced with admiration for what good thinking Joel did in that situation. We managed to hold that apartment with makeshift aids and two small Dry-Chems until Jon showed up with the calvalry (in the form of an engine company with a hose line). Joel remains an honorary member of our department, though he has long since moved on to the FDNY, where he works at some Rescue Company in Manhattan or something. They keep saying stuff like that is the "premier fire company on Earth" or somesuch.
So, anyone else been used as a battering ram, prybar, sledge, etc.? Put it up!
DTXMATT12
posted by DTXMATT12 at 9:49 PM
4 Comments:
Hey, was thinking about this one. I've never been used as a ram myself, but I did walk through a crowd of Kaiser folks with a backboard held sideways to clear a path for the Medic. She was really cute too, I think you know her well in fact. The dude coded on their front steps after being told to come to them, not the hospital with his crushing Chest Pain and history of AMI.
CHRIS:
Yeah, I know that chick. That call was memorable not so much for clearing a path for my wife, but more for the following: 1. "ER-lite" didn't have any ACLS equipment; and 2. They knowingly had a dude drive his ass four minutes past the hospital to drop dead on their sidewalk. So much for "Not on my service!"
DTXMATT12
I'm curious, is there a common reason that sen-say is used instead of sensei?
ANON:
Thanks for stopping by the blog. The answer to your question is a general lack of oriental literacy on my part. I guess that the phonetic works, but thanks for the correction.
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