Firefighter squeezing through ladder rungs - GIF

[Altair]

Firefighter squeezing through ladder rungs.




Previously:

Ladder/stretcher fire victim extraction - GIF
Fire escape ladder collapse - GIF
Firemen fast ladder race - GIF
Swat team ladder window entry fail and recovery - GIF
New record for most dangerous ladder usage - GIF

[JoeVanGeaux]

Heck, I would have just stepped right over that ladder.

[Frank S]

Heck, I would have just stepped right over that ladder.

Not if you wanted to pass the annual fitness and agility test

[desbromilow]

when I was VFRS one of the tests we had to do was pass from one side of the fire truck to the other (underneath) and still leave the cylinder on our back. Our District Officer was adamant we could not take the BA set off our back, so all of our challenges had to be done fully donned. - came in handy a few years later when I was under a camry with a leaking LPG tank line, fully donned, and shutting off the gas valve at the tank with a 4" and 6" adjustable wrench I always carried in my turnout jacket. There was 2 of us under that car doing that job with the rest of crew standing up outside ready to pull us out by our feet if anything happened.

[JoeVanGeaux]

Not if you wanted to pass the annual fitness and agility test

Yup, I do understand that... first hand. I had much formal training in industrial firefighting as part of a fire team and later as emergency/hazmat responder. I also had the unique, hair-raising (and a tiny bit of singeing) experience of having directly participated in fighting a few industrial (refinery) fires and emergencies.

The actual exercise shown in the video is to build confidence and learn techniques when you find yourself on the wrong side of a narrow obstacle when trying to escape... so yeah, my comment was a joke, of course.

Full disclosure: I never did have to do the exercise in the video, but I do have have some spelunking tales that required similar physical/mental effort ... but without any fires to bolster determination!

[Frank S]

Yup, I do understand that... first hand. I had much formal training in industrial firefighting as part of a fire team and later as emergency/hazmat responder. I also had the unique, hair-raising (and a tiny bit of singeing) experience of having directly participated in fighting a few industrial (refinery) fires and emergencies.

The actual exercise shown in the video is to build confidence and learn techniques when you find yourself on the wrong side of a narrow obstacle when trying to escape... so yeah, my comment was a joke, of course.

Full disclosure: I never did have to do the exercise in the video, but I do have have some spelunking tales that required similar physical/mental effort ... but without any fires to bolster determination!

Growing up working in the blacksmith shop I found myself on the Local VFD whether I liked it or not since the Blacksmith was also the fire chief. The worst thing we ever had were brush fires and the occasional Hay barn spontaneously combusting because the green horn farmer stacked his bales too green and too tight. There was this 1 fire that has stuck for all these years though. I believe we called it the Peaster fire of 68 Departments from 17 to 20 precincts in 4 counties were involved in that one even several units from as far away as Ft.Worth Although we found that city fire fighters were more in the way than they were help. Their units were not made for anything but hydrant work in there city to begin with I mean who brings a 100ft ladder truck to a brush fire that doesn't even hold 500 gallons of water. and can't even draw water from a pond? Then there was their gear weighted down with everything that might be required to fight a fire in a high rise apartment but not a single shovel among them.

[neilbourjaily]

There's an old rule of thumb: If you can fit your head through, then you oughta be able to get through completely (if your butt ain't too grand).

[desbromilow]

There's an old rule of thumb: If you can fit your head through, then you oughta be able to get through completely (if your butt ain't too grand).

I think that rule starts when we're born, and only gets threatened by a love of cheesecake!!

[JoeVanGeaux]

I think that rule starts when we're born, and only gets threatened by a love of cheesecake!!

Both rules are absolutely correct! As it happens, though, there's a good chance I still could be guided by the 'head size rule', however, I'd definitely have to have sufficient motivation to make the attempt! You know, like a nice slice of cheesecake on the other side.

All levity aside, though, i do appreciate the training and dedication firefighters demonstrate. A close family friend and Texas Forester finally lost his battle last year after having suffered through a double lung transplant following injuries he sustained in the massive 2011 Waller-Montgomery County wildfire, here, in Texas.