Fire Hazard Report

There are many areas in the fire service where potential lawsuits and liability can arise; some of these areas include, but are most definitely not limited to negligence, hazing, and not following the fire department’s SOPs/SOGs. As our society has changed, so has its expectations of those in emergency services—while many in the community may think of firefighters as the pinnacle of what an upstanding citizen must look like, there are countless moral and ethical pitfalls that firefighters can fall prey to and diminish the reputation of the fire service.

The hayman fire is the biggest fire in recorded history burning 138,000 acres. The fire has had long lasting damages on the environment. There were many factor that added up that created a dangerous situation where the area was very fire prone. Though the fire was believed to be started by a woman burning a letter but the forest had the right conditions to generate a massive fire.

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 went on for several days, destroyed thousands of buildings, killed many people, and cause well over millions of dollars in damage. This is a horrible tragedy that happen in our country. It led to unlawfulness of the citizens it affected. There is still great controversy on the start of the fire. Although we do know that in the end everything turned out good and the city is now rebuilt bigger and better than before and is still continuing to grow to this day.

The rising number of high severity wildfires in California has significant ecological, economic, and health impacts. Many western American forests are adapted to frequent low severity fires. However, the majority of these forests, and particularly the mixed conifer forests of California, are not adapted to high intensity fires and do not possess fire resistance adaptations such as serotinous cones to protect seeds. Consequently, high severity fires have significant negative impacts on California forests, and the absence of low severity fires has considerably altered many fundamental ecosystem processes (Miller et al. 2008). Prior to 1900, low severity fires would burn every 6-15 years. Low severity fires are generally non-lethal, have minimal change to the overstory, and kill mainly small trees. In the past, these fires were started naturally by lightning, or by Native Americans who used low severity fires to manage the forests.

Vahan and his family are caught in the middle of the Armenian Genocide. In the book, Forgotten Fire, by Adam Bagdasarian, Sarkis Kendrian is a well respected Armenian mandarin of the city of Bitlis with several children and very little to worry about. That, of course, was until the beginning of the Armenian Genocide. Just after the beginning of it, multiple military personnel showed up at the front door of the home of Sarkis. They said he was wanted by the government and even though he knew that was not true he went with it. He, along with many other men from his town, were taken into the streets where they were killed. Shortly after, two of Vahan’s older brothers were taken behind the house and killed as well. This left the mother, Vahan, and his sisters and brother on their own as they were taken by the military along with many other members

On August 12th, Los Angeles Times reported 16,500-acer wildfires grew overnight near Northern California’s wine county. The fire that started August 9th has continued to spread to nearby counties and officials fear gusty winds could continue to spread flames into dry woodlands. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protections, they have prompted residents near the Napa and Yolo county lines to flee their homes; at least 150 homes were evacuated.

Fire district 13 is located in the forested valleys and steep foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range at the base of Mount St. Helens. Access to our district, primarily reached by one main county road, is limited. With automatic mutual aid to neighboring districts with, major rail, and freeway- interoperability is key. Located above the Cascadia Subduction zone, Clark County is due for a catastrophic earthquake. The area that includes fire district 13 is a transitional zone between unoccupied forest land and human development. Being a part of the wildland urban interface zone puts us at a higher risk for wildfires.

83 Archibald Street is at extreme risk in the event of the fire. The house has become hidden from street view due to a large, overgrown garden which poses significant risk. To worsen this risk, the building is largely constructed from wood along with a wooden side fence. Furthermore, chopped logs can be seen in the front yard which would make excellent fuel in the event of the fire.

Older homes and historic homes are more likely to have outdated wiring. Wires can fray or crack from age, heat, corrosion, or bending. They can also be nicked, pinched, or pierced by nails, staples, or screws. Damaged wires can cause a fire, and should be replaced promptly by a licensed electrician. A Mister Sparky electrician in Huntsville, AL can provide the electrical services you need.

Unfortunately, I have not had any HazMat incidents in my community but, I recall a HazMat incident out of my home town in which I responded as part of mutual aid request to assist a neighboring paramedic EMS agency on November 30, 2012. This incident is identified on the incident report data sheet which involved a rail accident carrying vinyl chloride (PMHSA, n.d.). During the response to the scene, I recall receiving updates notifying EMS agencies to stage away at an abandoned shopping center, due to a release of the chemical into the atmosphere. At the time the agent was not identified so the uncertainty of potential exposure, number of patients, decontamination and treatment along with the cause of the train derailment added some anxiety.

The sound of a q-siren has been my favorite noise ever since I can remember. My dream of becoming a firefighter came true in 2005 when I was hired at the Bloomington, MN Fire Department. Over the last 11 years, I have attended multiple classes which include Emergency Medical Technician, Fire Equipment Operator and Hazardous Materials Technician. None of these extra classes focused on managerial development but in 2015, after an intense hiring process, I was promoted to the position of Captain. In this position, I am a first line supervisor and responsible for 25 firefighters that work with out of my station. Malcolm Gladwell’s “The 10,000-Hour Rule” states you will be successful in something if you apply 10,000 hours towards it and in my experience and opinion, Gladwell’s theory is misleading.

Hazardous materials can be important in everyday life when properly handled. However, when improperly handled, they can result in injury, death, and destruction as well as have lingering effects that may last for years to come. To address the risk of an uncontrolled hazardous materials release, there must be a coordinated effort to identify, locate, and quantify the hazardous materials in a particular location (Drexel University Safety & Health, 2001). Typically, industry and government agree that a hazardous materials incident is one where

I responded to US Hwy 29 South at the Conecuh Rvier Bridge in reference to a vehicle fire. Upon arrival, I didn’t observed any smoke or flames coming from the vehicle. I then spoke with the owner, Bobby Ray Mcghee. Mcghee stated that the truck broke down on 6-8-2017 and the last time he saw the truck was around 01:00 on 6-9-2017 to get his speakers out the trunk. Mcghee advised that he brought his car hauler back today to pick it up and discovered the damge at that time. I also observed the interior of the vehicle burned. Mcghee advised that the truck valued around $10,000 dollars. Sgt. Wingard approved of me contacting on call CID.

The factory fire in Bangladesh occurred in November 2012. It was a garment factory and a lot of young women worked there. The woman worked over hours. They had low wages and unsafe conditions. The woman died because the boss told them to ignore the alarm and keep working. The fire killed some. The fire also caused another building to collapse killing people as well. Others jumped to safety some did not. 11 of the workers were culpable homicide. There was 112 woman killed the day of the fire.

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health will not change legislation regarding safety in the near future.