French Firefighters

5 Comments

Comment by Roy Walker on July 5, 2009 at 4:35am

I agree that things must be viewed with an eye to understanding different techniques however command and control are universal principals and I don't see much here. I also think some dedicated practice of deployment of hose lays are called for.

Comment by Jim Owens on July 4, 2009 at 4:47pm

I think we can learn things good and bad from our European counterparts. the trick with the rope drop from the 4th floor is neat, I have seen that done in London, not too much over here, it works and relieves the interior crew of chasing kinks and crowding the stairway. This fire does not appear to be going anywhere fast in this type of construction, they know thier buildings better than we do, thats probably why the lack of urgency, maybe they already cleared the primary search. Im sure they see our videos and go WTF?

Comment by Batwagon on July 4, 2009 at 6:53am

OK, I count five Jakes and a pumper for a four story walkup. GIve the brothers a break. Our initial assignment would have been three engines, a truck, a medic, and battalion chief. Factor in the specialized layout of thier rig for narrow streets and I can see they have a big job with very limited manpower.
Instead of bashing them, why don't you try to pick out something innovative. ie: The light weight PPE they wear and its performance or, how you could use a hose cart like that when you have a long setback or large building.
You could also note that safety is universally low on the priority list. They have the same issues with SCBA use, scene safety, minimum staffing, and others that we see day in and day out, here in the states.

Happy 4th and stay safe.

Comment by Nick Hinson on July 3, 2009 at 6:30pm

they were on scene eight and a half minutes before anyone charged an attack line. what the hells up with that? They have multiple exposures and seemed to not even care about protecting them. Im at a loss for words. Please remind me why France even exists anymore anyways haha

Comment by Greg Binder on July 3, 2009 at 4:20pm

I am not sure what the qualifications of the filmographer are. But there are some issues on that scene we do not have in North America. The little hosecarts are for the narrow streets. The scene appeared tohave no crowd control, maybe that is common in France. Guy with camera was allowed to get way closer than he could in Canada. As for the owner of the house. They originally entered one house and found it was not the right one. They then entered the second place after breaking a door, if he was watching, there was nothing to stop him presenting himself and unlocking the door. Did he call in the fire and then lock the door? The FD can only do so much.