Night time fire scene

photo guy said:
Destin, My dept is a city dept with hydrants. Only have 2 investigators who are on shifts like most of the dept except for the fire inspector. The shift chiefs were the ones origianlly telling me some photos were too dark and I explained why. Then the Chief got involved by askeing why some photos were too dark. Again I explained why and what could be done about it. That was in years 1-2 of my 3 years. Now they turn on the lights on the trucks prior to my arrival so I have the lighting needed. Since then my photos have dramatically improved on night scenes and they are happier. I have know the chief and one of the shift chiefs my whole life and most of the dept members for 12+ years. It takes a lot of team work. Now I am being called on my days off of work to come do photos of events. I consider myself a photographer and not a photojournalist.

So you're saying that before they complained about your photos being dark, they weren't turning on the scene lights on the trucks for night time calls? I have a hard time believing that. The first thing we do in my dept is pull up, get the scene lit up (our safety is the #1 priority, dark fire scenes aren't safe), and then get to work.
 
Half the time the lights weren't even on until 10 minutes after I arrive on scene. They wanted to get the hoses pulled and hit the fire and not think about lighting the scene for safety first. Now, they are in the habit of turning the lights on as soon as they pull up if it is a working fire.
 
photo guy said:
Half the time the lights weren't even on until 10 minutes after I arrive on scene. They wanted to get the hoses pulled and hit the fire and not think about lighting the scene for safety first. Now, they are in the habit of turning the lights on as soon as they pull up if it is a working fire.

Lol. Unless the trucks are ancient, the lights are controlled by the driver. They should be on as the hydrant gets hit by the lead attack engine...
 
The lights are controlled by the driver, however, they never use to have them on unless it was a larger fire or in a really dark area. Now they are on at all the night calls with working fires. They hardly hit a hydrant unless they have a really large working fire. The last 2 structure fires were stopped without even using the 2nd engine or even hooking to a hydrant. One was an attic fire and the other was an apartment fire in a 2-story multi-unit complex. To me that shows good firefighting. Each area is different on how they do things. Things in your area sure don't happen like they do in my area. Main thing is in all of the recent fires in my city, no injuries or deaths. The apartment fire was contained to a small area of the apartment for fire and water damage with the whole apartment sustaining smoke damage. The attic fire never made it through the roof thanks to a quick attack thereby saving the house.
 
The lights are controlled by the driver, however, they never use to have them on unless it was a larger fire or in a really dark area. Now they are on at all the night calls with working fires. They hardly hit a hydrant unless they have a really large working fire. The last 2 structure fires were stopped without even using the 2nd engine or even hooking to a hydrant. One was an attic fire and the other was an apartment fire in a 2-story multi-unit complex. To me that shows good firefighting. Each area is different on how they do things. Things in your area sure don't happen like they do in my area. Main thing is in all of the recent fires in my city, no injuries or deaths. The apartment fire was contained to a small area of the apartment for fire and water damage with the whole apartment sustaining smoke damage. The attic fire never made it through the roof thanks to a quick attack thereby saving the house.

What size tanks are on their attack engines? Ours all have 1,000 gallon tanks, and I'm sorry, but not hitting the hydrant is piss poor firefighting and is going to get someone hurt or killed. What happens what they get low on water, and can't get out or cool the room in time to prevent flashover? What happens if something goes wrong inside and a firefighter goes down, can't get out, and they need the line to protect themselves, but there isn't enough water left on the truck? It sounds like they have a good interior attack, but when **** hits the fan, you wanna be tapped into as much water as you possibly can. If there is a hydrant close to the scene, the first truck should hit it as it rolls up. This LITERALLY only takes 10-15 seconds, the truck stops, a guy jumps out with the hydrant bag, grabs the supply line, and wraps it around the hydrant, and then the truck rolls up to the scene. It sounds more like the fire department your working near is just lazy and doesn't wanna have to re-load a 4 or 5 inch supply line, honestly. There is no excuse for not hitting it, because it's your plan B if something goes wrong. That was just about the first thing we were taught.
 
I agree but with a 2 person engine, it is set up that the 2nd engine hook the hydrant as it arrives due to the fact the ambulance responds at the same time. Of all the fire calls that I have been on as the dept. photographer I have seen a handfull of times that a hydrant was actually needed since they attacked the fire so fast with little water or the fire was almost out when they arrived. I call it more luck than anything else. And yes the first engine is a 1,000 gal. pumper. A lot of the fires we get are vehicle fires, trash fires, some grass fires. The number of structure fires is actually down this year as compared to last. The dept. ramped up the fire prevention instructionals this year and it seems to have worked so far. Only time will tell.
 
I have been following this thread with interest. Having just retired as Chief of our Fire Department (thus the screen name), I would have been hard pressed to allow myself or any of my officers give any thought to creating a photo friendly scene. Our priorities go by the acronym RECEO (VS); rescue, exposure, containment, extinguish, and overhaul. Ventilation and salvage being plugged in were applicable. There is no P for photography. LOL. Scene safety is always a priority.

Our SOP is first engine lays from the plug. Depending on incident, second engine actually makes hydrant connection. In most cases this allows the first engine to pump off tank and have supply established before water runs out. The second engine actually pumps through the hydrant. This allows for pressure increase as well as providing a 2nd tank of water should the hydrant fail. Doing it your way, this would not be possible as the 2nd engine would have to lay in, leaving a crew member behind to make the connection. Can't due too much with only a two person crew if one has to operate the pump. Might as well get your lines down. We use the 2 in 2 out principle. Except in cases of rescue, no one goes in until there is a hose team with charged line ready to go in case needed. Sort of like a pre-rit team.

Any yes, for your pump operator to not take the time to properly illuminate the scene is lazy.
 

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