Roof Challenges

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Permalink再保险ply byBrandon EricksononJanuary 5, 2011 at 6:11pm

After doing a recent shift with the truck this is similar to the majority of our commercial buildings. Small warehouse buildings with metal light weight truss construction. On some of the buildings with membrane roofs you can feel every step you take without a fire load underneath. The truck captain I talked to had a very similar tactic. Get to the skylights; open them up, and get off the roof. Our Home Depot has pull handles next to the skylights to quickly open them in a fire situation.

Here is a good roof vent video that goes along with your roof size up. This vent job is done by by some highly trained firefighters on DCFD that do this regularly. One of the biggest things i noticed from this video is obtaining a true assessment of how long this operation will take, and will your building construction / fire conditions support that much time on the roof.http://www.firevidz.com/wordpress/?p=1339

Good post Jason.

Brandon

http://www.firevidz.com/

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Permalink再保险ply byMichael Bricault (ret)onJanuary 8, 2011 at 1:55pm

-It has been my experience that many firefighters forget to heed Tom Brennan's advice when working on a roof. That advice was the same to roof work as interior work, "If you can't see, crawl. Firefighters fall from roofs because they walk off of roofs, they don't crawl around and fall."
-There are far to many trip hazards on a roof that are compounded by weather conditions. Snow hides trip and fall hazards while rain makes roofs slippery.
-Sky lights, vent pipes, various amounts of piping and the huge amounts of wiring that run around on roofs serve to make the roof a virtual obstacle course. This condition is further enhanced by poor lighting on a roof. Light is usually poor, especially during inclement weather and anything other than a nice sunny day only intensifies poor visibility. It is further exacerbated when companies on the ground try to "help" by shinning spot lights to the roof that, in reality, create more shadows and blind the roof crews.
-Some simple rules to follow.
1.从来没有下降的对象。
2. have a hand tool to assist in arresting a fall.
3. always sound the roof. Not just when you first get there; always.
4. sound the roof when walking to your objective and when returning to your ladder.
5. sound the roof like you mean it, like you're trying to push the ax through the roof. This is not the time to be gentle.
6. never walk parallel to roof edges unless walking near the parapet of a flat roof.
7. finish your work and get off the roof quickly.
8. have multiple ways off the roof before committing personnel.
9. if you can't see then crawl.

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Permalink再保险ply byJason HoevelmannonJanuary 10, 2011 at 10:56am

Brick,

As always, great points and thanks for sharing your thoughts, experience and knowledge. There is no doubt you provide folks on here with some great ideas and thoughts that they can take back and apply on the job.

Thanks again,

Jason

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