Reading the Fire - second edition - Raffel, Shan W

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Résumé :
The art of tactical decision-making under stress. Making a rapid and accurate incident size up would be one of the most challenging decision making processes faced by any profession. Fireground time frames are measured in seconds, and the review process in minutes. The stakes are high as making correct decisions can mean the difference between life and death. Every fire sends out signals that can assist the firefighter in determining the stage of fire development, and most importantly the changes that are likely to occur. This skill is essential to ensure the safest and most efficient firefighting strategy and tactics are employed. Being able to read a fire is the mark of a firefighter who is able to make decisions based on knowledge and skill, not guess work or luck. Shan Raffel, Fire Australia Journal, May 2002, page 11 This book focuses on giving firefighters the ability to recognise the key visual patterns of fire behaviour, and to use this knowledge to develop the safest and most efficient manner.

Biographie:
Shan Raffel has served as a career firefighter in Brisbane Australia since 1983. His career took a serious change in 1994 after two of his colleagues were killed in the line of duty while conducting fighting operations in a relatively routine fire in a small motorcycle dealership. The Coroner's report was unable to identify the cause of two extreme fire events that cause severe burns, dislocating them from the hose line and rendering them unconscious. In 1996, two other colleagues were seriously injured after being caught in an extreme fire event while conducting search and rescue operations in a smoke-laden section of a Backpackers Hostel in Rockhampton. These events motivated him to develop an extensive report that led to an international study of compartment fire behaviour training (CFBT) in 1997. He studied at the leading training institutions in Sweden and the UK. Over the next three years, he developed the first nationally recognized CFBT program in Australia. Subsequently, he has assisted numerous fire services around the world in the development of their training facilities, instructors, and teaching materials. In 2009 he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to research Planning Preparation and Response to Emergencies in Tunnels. This resulted in an intensive ten-week international research tour. This included leading fire services, training centres and tunnel operators in the USA (FDNY), Canada, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland. This knowledge was critical in the development of emergency response plans for the 3 largest road tunnels in Australia. His international training experience spans 26 countries, and his International Compartment Fire Behaviour Instructors program gained international credentialing through the Institution of Fire Engineers recognition process in 2018. www.linkedin.com/in/shanraffel

Sommaire:
The art of tactical decision-making under stress. Making a rapid and accurate incident size up would be one of the most challenging decision making processes faced by any profession. Fireground time frames are measured in seconds, and the review process in minutes. The stakes are high as making correct decisions can mean the difference between life and death. Every fire sends out signals that can assist the firefighter in determining the stage of fire development, and most importantly the changes that are likely to occur. This skill is essential to ensure the safest and most efficient firefighting strategy and tactics are employed. Being able to read a fire is the mark of a firefighter who is able to make decisions based on knowledge and skill, not guess work or luck. Shan Raffel, Fire Australia Journal, May 2002, page 11 This book focuses on giving firefighters the ability to recognise the key visual patterns of fire behaviour, and to use this knowledge to develop the safest and most efficient manner....