QUESTION: SCBA policies define the required use of SCBAs at fires. During the overhaul phase, when, if at all, are your firefighters allowed to remove their SCBA protection?
WHEN I STARTED THIS JOB in 1975, the life expectancy for a firefighter was 10 years below that of the average male in the United States. At the time, I believed that was the result of the beating the body takes at working fires (and probably more so the smaller “still-box” alarms such as car fires).
In 1988, we instituted a mandatory mask policy that stated a firefighter will wear an SCBA in service whenever smoke is or could become present. However, at all fires, when the smoke cleared (somewhat) and overhaul began, the SCBAs were dropped, and we went to work for a period 10 times longer than it took to knock down the fire.
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