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We always referred to the exterior attack as "Surround and Drown" and it was the last ditch effort to extinguishing the fire that is either out of control or it is deemed totally unsafe to do any interior attack. In any fire "Search and Rescue" is our primary concern. Quite often when we arrive on the scene we have absolutely no idea is someone remains inside the structure. A snap decision must be made as to whether or not we enter. If a human life is at risk inside our duty is to save that life. Often there is more than one person stuck inside and at the risk of our own lives we must do everything humanly possible to get them out of harms way but we knew putting our own lives on the line was going to be possible when we joined the fire service and were willing to accept that. The fire in Charleston was, in all probability, just such an example.
Not to trivialize these deaths but this is what we are trained for. When you consider the fact that such disasters as Charleston are a rarity rather than the normal we must be doing something right.
Quite often we will pull up on a fire scene and seeing what we percieve to be a "fast knock down" we proceed with our attack and the trapped individuals are rescued and the fire extinguished. We than return to our families knowing that we did our job. BUT quite often what is initially percieved as a fast knock down becomes a raging inferno but we are already inside. It is at this point where we have to make a decision. Do we continue with the search and rescue or do we save our own butts?
I, just like the firefighters around the world, are waiting for the investigation of the Charleston fire to be completed. It will probability reveal just what went wrong. Until such a report is released I will reserve my comments.
Was it human error? I surely hope not.
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