Archive for January 25th, 2015

UL testing positive pressure ventilation

Excerpts from an article at ABC7Chicago.com about testing at Underwriters Laboratories:

“A lot of tactics are coming in question because while the number of fires are going down the number of deaths are remaining the same we are hurting ourselves,” said Mike Halterman, a firefighter and paramedic in Wilmette.

Not only are those firefighter deaths concerning, but so is the new speed of fires  – because of newer construction, open floor plans and newer furnishings. In just a 90 seconds, the open box with synthetic furniture made of chemicals was swallowed by flames, while the open box with vintage furniture took more than 13 minutes.

Now, UL Consumer Safety Director John Drengenberg and his team are testing positive pressure ventilation. They’ll still need to perform several more tests and get more data but, they’re trying to figure out if opening certain windows and increasing airflow to the fire with fans, can manipulate the flames.

“In this case it looks like if the house was vacant and nobody was in the house, the fan would have done a good job of helping to get the smoke out and letting the firefighters come in and attack the fire which was in the living room. However if there was someone in the house, especially in the bedroom, with the window open it could have been disastrous,” Dregenberg said.

“This is data that is ground breaking. Nobody has ever done this … firefighters on scene know how to fight a fire but nobody knows how the fire progresses and they might want to change their tactics if some of these data points show maybe breaking the window to get at the fire may not be the best thing,” Dregenberg said.

UL’s research will be complete in a few months. They are doing about 20 more test burns.

thanks Dan

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Berwyn FFs 32nd Annual DAY AT THE RACES

Berwyn Firefighters Local 506

Welcomes You to Our 32nd Annual
DAY AT THE RACES

Clipart

Saturday March 21st, 2015

Hawthorne Race Course – THE GOLD CUP ROOM

3501 South Laramie Avenue – Stickney

Buffet Lunch from 12:30 – 2:30pm

Post Time: 1:30pm

Cost is $30.00 per person

or be a DONOR at one of our SPONSORSHIP LEVELS

ST. FLORIAN – Includes a RESERVED Table for 10 – $500 Donation

HERO – Includes FIVE Dinner Tickets – $250 Donation

PIPEMAN – Includes TWO Dinner Tickets – $100 Donation

Berwyn Firefighters Local 506

Tickets for our 6th Annual 506 RAFFLE are available for $10 each

ONLY 506 Tickets will be Sold – Prizes are $1250 – $750 – $500

 

-SPLIT THE POT – RAFFLES – GAMES – PRIZES-

Remember you don’t have to be a gambler to bet on having a good time!!!

Bring your Family and Friends

Contact RON HAMILTON (Red Shift / 2nd) at 708.738.1498

Remit Donation to: BERWYN FF LOCAL 506 – PO BOX 441 – BERWYN, IL 60402

PLEASE RSVP BY MARCH 14th, 2015

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Car into building in Chicago, 1-21-15

This from Code Photography:

Here are some photos of the vehicle vs building in Chicago on Wednesday (1/21/15).
A couple more photos can be found here:  Car into Building (1/21/15) – codephotography
car crashed into building

Code Photography

car crashed into building

Code Photography

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