Nine Firefighters died last night in Charleston, S.C.

[Xargos]

"Nine brave, heroic, courageous firefighters of the city of Charleston have perished fighting fire in a most courageous and fearless manner, carrying out their duties," Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley said at a morning news conference. "To all of their loved ones, our heart goes out to them."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3292916



P.S.  Only 36 Fire Departments in the U.S. have a rating as high as Charlestons.

[lasersailor184]

Those open truss roof systems that you see in the big box retailers (Wal-mart, lowes, home depot...) are ridiculously dangerous in fires.  The sprinkler spacing is too far apart, there are too few vents, AND THERE IS NO ****ING FIRE PROOFING MATERIAL ON ANY OF THE STEEL.

It's a recipe for disaster.  I've been flatly told that some fire fighters refuse to enter those buildings (when it's on fire) for that reason alone.

[Mickey1992]

[FiLtH]

Exactly what I think everytime I go in one laser and look up.

[Maverick]

and RIP.

Thoughts and prayers for the families of the men who lost their lives going in harms way.

[eskimo2]

I used to be a firefighter and have a degree in fire science.  If there was one thing that was hammered into us in school, it was building collapse assessment and recognizing when not to enter a building or when to pull out.  Many firefighters, officers and even entire departments are too willing to risk life over property.  The biggest tragedy is that this probably never should have to happened; command screwed up.

[Xargos]

Just found out that one of them was a member of my church.

[lasersailor184]

Originally posted by eskimo2
I used to be a firefighter and have a degree in fire science.  If there was one thing that was hammered into us in school, it was building collapse assessment and recognizing when not to enter a building or when to pull out.  Many firefighters, officers and even entire departments are too willing to risk life over property.  The biggest tragedy is that this probably never should have to happened; command screwed up.

Maybe not.  From reading the article, I understand that they had just rescued a few people when it collapsed.  But maybe I'm interpreting it wrong.

[soda72]

[Hortlund]

Why does a city that size (100 000) have 230+ firefighters, when my town (size 80 000) have ~50?

What is the huge difference here that I am unaware of?

[Sandman]

Originally posted by Hortlund
Why does a city that size (100 000) have 230+ firefighters, when my town (size 80 000) have ~50?

What is the huge difference here that I am unaware of?

U.S. fear of mass conflagration.

[Eagler]

the dead and peace to those they leave behind

Eskimo, I thought the same thing .. why? let the freaking building burn down ..

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by Hortlund
Why does a city that size (100 000) have 230+ firefighters, when my town (size 80 000) have ~50?

What is the huge difference here that I am unaware of?

It may have more to do with Area (square miles/km) of the town rather than population density.     Our ESD (emergency service district) has 3 volunteer fire stations about 10 miles apart with approximately 1 tanker, 1 pumper, 2 brush trucks and about 15 - 20 guys(including a couple of first responders).  There are plans to add a 4th station.  They cover about 400 square miles of our part of the county, a couple of thousand homes spread out here and there, farms and ranches plus grass and tree covered acerage.  The bordering ESD's help cover each other's areas.

[Xargos]

The Firemen that died where from five different stations.  There are many chemical plants and other such industries here, we need the few Firefighters we have.

[texasmom]

Originally posted by Xargos
Just found out that one of them was a member of my church.

I'm sorry to hear that Xargos