Alameda County Fire Department: Multiple Rescue Helmet Cam Video

[jland138]

Raw video from Alameda County Fire HD helmet cam:
Marcella Ave Apartment fire with Multiple Rescue Helmet Cam Alameda County Fire Department - YouTube

 

[inigo88]

All I have to say is WOW!!!

 

[kmh603]

Yes. This is what we do every day! Nice Job San Leandro Fire!

 

[norcalbusa]

I am not a fireman.

But it seems to me that things were rather unorganized- the tangled hose lays, the guys still donning gear long after arrival (why did we pay for those expensive seats that carry the SCBA to be donned en-route?), just an awful lot of diddling around outside it seems. Do I have this wrong?

 

[inigo88]

I am not a fireman.

But it seems to me that things were rather unorganized- the tangled hose lays, the guys still donning gear long after arrival (why did we pay for those expensive seats that carry the SCBA to be donned en-route?), just an awful lot of diddling around outside it seems. Do I have this wrong?

I'm not a fireman either, but pay close attention to the radio traffic when he first gets on scene. He's the captain on the Rescue 24 rig, and assumes IC (Incident Commander). His job is to stand outside and give responding units arriving at scene their assignments. The engine company which was first on scene does go initial attack as soon as he gets there and takes over IC. Then he goes inside himself and does the primary and secondary searches upstairs once a Battalion Chief gets there and takes over IC.

I could feel his frustration watching that video, knowing that there are people still trapped inside but not being able to go in and get them yet. But such is the ICS system - you need an IC, and RIC (Rapid Intervention Crew - firefighters outside ready to rescue the firefighters inside if necessary), and rehab, etc etc.

Yeah, that looked like a crappy hose lay, but I think ultimately they did a fine job. It's also cool to see handheld thermal imaging FLIR cameras have gotten cheap enough for firefighters to carry with them (I think they're still ~$10,000 each), because you can see how much it helps with searching a house full of smoke.

 

[korpseofdeath]

I'm not a fireman either, but pay close attention to the radio traffic when he first gets on scene. He's the captain on the Rescue 24 rig, and assumes IC (Incident Commander). His job is to stand outside and give responding units arriving at scene their assignments. The engine company which was first on scene does go initial attack as soon as he gets there and takes over IC. Then he goes inside himself and does the primary and secondary searches upstairs once a Battalion Chief gets there and takes over IC.

I could feel his frustration watching that video, knowing that there are people still trapped inside but not being able to go in and get them yet. But such is the ICS system - you need an IC, and RIC (Rapid Intervention Crew - firefighters outside ready to rescue the firefighters inside if necessary), and rehab, etc etc.

Yeah, that looked like a crappy hose lay, but I think ultimately they did a fine job. It's also cool to see handheld thermal imaging FLIR cameras have gotten cheap enough for firefighters to carry with them (I think they're still ~$10,000 each), because you can see how much it helps with searching a house full of smoke.

Another point that I saw in the video, and he makes comment in the very end of the video, is when Rescue 24 gets on scene, He calls that he is taking over IC, and Engine 24 (which was the first engine on scene and parked next to the structure) that they should be Fire Attack. Then as the captain of Rescue 24 runs up to the scene, He see's that Engine 24 is still up there standing as IC. There was a bit too much radio traffic at times, which throughout the video you can watch and understand, specially during the child search and rescue. This is a great video though, I live in this neighborhood and know many of the firefighters that responded from Station 24 to this call.

 

[JoeyC]

Great job and great video footage for those of us that don't get to see up front the heroic work these people do every day while the rest of us listen from the comfort of our living rooms.