It
was some 30 years ago, and I was new to the fire biz. I had read many textbooks
and subscribed to all the trade journals, substituting
knowledge for experience. We had very few structure fires for me to gain experience from. The bread and butter calls for the
department then were EMS, Traffic accidents and as fate would have it, a great
many vegetation fires , thanks to a prolific arsonist. EMS was my niche as I
was working full time as a paramedic.
I
was active as a volunteer firefighter, which put me in the position to be
offered a resident firefighter job. I lived 20 feet from the engine and
often was in the driver’s seat for nearly every run. We ran
short, typically with a driver only and sometimes with a second guy on the
engine. The other volunteers would arrive via POV or in the second due
engine.
On a cold and rainy night, we were dispatched
to a commercial structure fire. This was my first structure fire
since I took the resident position. Turning out with my heart racing in fear
and excitement, I started the engine, pulling out slowly, looking for a
co-pilot to keep me company. No such luck. As I pulled out onto the road,
looking left towards the reported location of the fire... Shit... we had fire showing
from the fire house.
I charged off into the night, armed
with only the best of intentions, and Brannigan's Officers Handbook of
Fire Tactics, turning pages in my mind. Arriving at scene, with fire
showing from the roof of a 50 x 100-foot wood barn used by a plumbing company,
I ordered mutual aid engines and water tenders; pulled the first line and with my
book learning as my guide, promptly declared that this was a defensive fire, as
we had “fire through the roof...”
Looking back now that was not the
best decision. If we had opened the door, we would have seen a small fire
that was directly under a small plastic skylight, that we could have knocked
with tank water… This was the first “parking lot” that I created.
The lesson here is you do not know what
you do not know. The knowledge gained from the materials in books and
simulations helps support the fire ground decision making process, but that
information alone often leads to failure, especially under the time compressed and less that ideal conditions in which we must make life and death decisions.. A balance between
knowledge and expense is critical and unfortunately there are less
opportunities to gain that experience today compared to the last generation.
We mistakenly equate experience with call volume. Calls may provide you with
experience, but going to the same frequent flier patient every day does not
expand your knowledge base or give you hands-on practice that challenges and
sharpens your skills. My chief, Todd McNeal uses the example of the 20-year
firefighter that goes to the same quarter acre grass fire every year; is he an
experienced wildland firefighter, doubtful. Now compare the 21-year-old kid,
who spends a season on a CalFire engine or on a Forest Service hand crew or
engine in California, traversing the state fighting fires. Who do you want on
your team?
The issues today are that we do not get
real life experiences, with fewer and fewer fires to go too, it is hard to expect
the next generation to become as proficient in a timely manner. So, if you
happen to witness a young guy struggle with balancing knowledge and
experience, look at it as a teaching moment. Remember back when you did not
know what you did not know, and maybe it was just the right time to create another
parking lot.
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