texture: hasselbrook
Off to Bad Schwartau and Back
A quick two-day trip took me to Bad Schwartau. Lovely to be so close to Denmark, particularly with the smell reminding me of home. I am convinced it has got to be the strongest of our senses. Here are a few pictures and even a video from the landing back in Munich. Sad?
I am also convinced that Hamburg S-Bahn (local rail) has the worst interior design of all trains. Who ever came up with this?
Extrication: Markings
Something I took back with me from the States is the fact that we have plenty to learn when it comes to firefighting, but we seem way ahead in extrication. For instance, I wasn’t very impressed with the size of typical hydraulic tools in a Rescue truck…anyway, the practice of the “boss” setting cut markings isn’t very old here either. I was wondering which kind of writing tool would be best: dedicated “fat” marker, wax crayons, glass stain writer or plain chalk. Here’s the result:
One thing is for certain, the surface needs to be dry. Otherwise, I’d go for the way crayons for simple convenience.
Dollhousing
During my visit to FDIC at Indianapolis, I was introduced to a phenomenon which had only recently received adequate attention: Wind Driven Conditions. In essence, it is quite simple: in a high-rise building, the wind presses against an open vented fire. The interior attack team makes entry to the flat and gets cremated in no time. No amount of water will be sufficient, and there’s no time for retreat.
NIST recently performed a series of tests including firefighting options, and this is what I aimed to recreate here. A dollhouse is nothing else than a plywood box which we use to demonstrate fire and smoke behavior.
In this case, I refined the dollhouse with a simulated corridor at the back, which represents the path of attack leading from an interior stairwell. On the A side, I had a turbofan blowing wind into the fire. Here is the resulting flame:
Which shows well why exactly FFs get grilled. So the solution must be to put the fire out initially from the outside, and then opening the door to the burning compartment.
Worked like a breeze, I am really pleased with the outcome.
On and off
I guess I am sharing the same fate as many others, which is an information overload (as in generating) which results in intermittent failure in keeping the personal blog up to date. I wish I could have written more about the recent visit to the States, which started off in Lufthansa economy class. I sat next to some Swedish bloke who was so fat his stomach covered my multimedia control panel. What a nightmare.
Indianapolis was great, even summery. It’s just so completely different to Europe, I still can’t get over it. But since I ODed on chrome – the type attached to US engines – it was good to get out of town again last week and visit some friends down by the Autrian border.
Let’s see if I can get this rolling again. Must also engage in more photography.
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Welcome
Welcome to Irakli West's personal pages on the Web. I am Danish, live close to Munich in Germany, and run FWnetz, an online magazine and training resource for firefighters. In real life, I am Regional Manager Northern Europe for Paratech and currently training to become a specialist in Urban Search and Rescue as well as Heavy Rescue (it's fun, challenging and serves a good purpose)
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