So, forgive if I've missed anything like this, elsewhere, but.. Did 'Use the Search, Luke', but didn't see anything Quite like this. So...
The 'concept' is simple: 'AAR's - "After Action Reports" are used (in one form or another..) by EMS / FFs / LEAs, and Military to 'autopsy' either an Event, and/or an Operation, for the purposes of 'what did we Learn from it'. Given that most of us aren't really 'doing Mil-style Ops' regularly (where we'd 'Measure the result against the Plan'..) or engaging in 'dangerous activity' (like EMS / LEOs / FFs, etc) where those 'lessons' are constant, I thought it might be a good thread to share simply 'Things that went Unexpectedly-Wrong - Quickly - and What I Learned from It'.
..And, I don't wanna place Too 'stringent of what "Qualifies" or not', but.. Let's just say that I don't think "bad decisions" should really count, here (ie: that one night ya got Wasted-drunk, and decided to go tease the Gorilla at the local Zoo... in yer Birthday suit. ..Or, ya know.. That One time you 'Didn't use a condom' - and ended up with Triplets.. I mean more like This:
This happened back last August, and I had been meaning to post about it / 'lessons-learned', etc, but, ya know.. "Life", etc.. So.. Got home from work one Evening (I work more pm > late-eve shift, due to 'Covid-mitigation strategies' at work) and it was about 8:30pm-ish. And, whence arriving / got out of the Truck, and noticed a somewhat strong 'Wood-smoke smell'....
...Unmistakably Wood-smoke (not electrical / gas, etc) which I thought 'odd', because - while there Are a couple neighbors near us that have those 'outdoor Patio Fire pits' they like to spark up on a cold-night during the Winter-months (..Thus, filling the 'hood with a pleasant Wood-smoke smell...) ...This was August, so.. It got my '..Huh...' going. But, due to the 'bias' that 'Ahh, prolly just the neighbors burning some old love letters or bounced checks or something..' I 'dismissed it', and went inside.
Now, the Wife, at that time, was working 'Graveyard', so I'd drive her in to Her work, sometime around 1:30am, and be back home around 2am-ish. And, next time I went outside (to let the Dog out..) was maybe ~11:30pm.. And I still smelled the Smoke - now a Bit stronger.. But I didn't See any real 'haze' in the Streetlights, nor any 'columns' anywhere, so.. Again, while I thought it 'Odd' - I dismissed it - because of my 'prolly just a Fire-pit' Biased-thinking..
Same at ~1:30a, when we left - Still smokey - Now I thought 'Man, Wth.. Who is doing a 'fire pit' - in August - at 1:30am.. And Why??' Now, my inclination was to do a quick 'walk around the block', just to do a 'look-see', but.. Had to Go, to get the Wife into work on time. So we left.
Stopped for Diesel, etc, and by the time I get home, it's ~2:15-ish. Step out of the Truck.. Door still open - Smoke-smell still strong - and As I'm 'scanning the streetlight-shine for haze / smoke-sign'... I hear a 'FOOOF!!' - and both the neighbors Houses, across the street, are 'flash-illuminated' Orange. I whip around, and can See the tops of Flames, well-above my ~10' Truck-roof (so I instantly realize - this Ain't no 'Patio fire-pit'..)
..And as I round the Truck-front, I see that the 'Rear-Apt' (small 1 bedrm place), House-House Over from ours has Just 'flashed over' - and is Directly 'BBQ'ing the Power lines that feed Our sector of the hood.. (..This is a 'later shot', maybe about 45 mins Into the 'burn' (so, this is a Much smaller 'profile' than it was Initially, but... gives an idea...
..Ya - warn't no Small 'Fire-Pit fire' - the place was 'Fully involved' - and it was Rapidly spreading Forward.. So, after I get done yelling 'Holy !!!' I immediately ran to the House who's 'Rear-apt' it was, and - oddly - the people (couple of older Asian ladies, Sisters, Iirc) were Already out front (Good!) But I yelled 'Anyone Back there??!!' To-which they said 'No, no just us.. It was empty!' (Thank God..) 'Ok, good! I'm calling the FD, now!'..
..So, I sprint back to the Next-door (to Us), and begin Pounding on the front door (as I'm fumbling to dial 911 on the cell - which Wasn't 'connecting' for some reason, had to dial 2x..) and yelling: '[Neighbor-Name]!! Get up!! Get Up!! There's a Fire next door, Get up!!'.. Soon as she answers, I tell her 'Grab yer car-keys and wallet and Get out - Neighbors rear-place is Totally in flames, and it's already catching thier Garage!.. Gotta get out, Right Now! I'll be right back...'
..as I run to Our House, barge inside, and race to Daughters room (thankfully, She was still Up..) and commanded: 'Honey, grab yer Pack ('BOB') and get the Dog, and get Out Right Now, go across the street!! Neighbor next to [Neighbor's Name]'s place is on Fire, and is gonna kill the lights any minute..' Soon as I finish that sentence - Pop - Lights out. But, since I Always have at Least 2 flashlights on me, lit one up, ran to Bedroom to don my Headlamp / fitted / got it on / Ran thru house towards Back yard to go asses the 'progress' (..and 911 was Still not-yet connecting (!!) Kept dropping the call...
Get to Rear-gate / unlock / unlatch, and As I run thru / around to side-street, 911 Finally connects.. I explain as I'm running towards 'rear-alley', to go check out the rear-side of the Fire-front, but Apparently, the Neighbors who's Apt. it was, had already called it in, so.. I was able, however, to 'update' dispatcher that the Power lines were now On Fire, and progressing towards the Pole-transformer, so they'd better hurry, or we might see this all spread to Other places, etc.. and Man, was that a 'Furious Fire'.. We're not even 10-mins into this all, and the place is Totally consumed / now lighting the Forward - and Side - buildings (one House, two Garages..) up..
Now, I actually Have some decent 'Fire suppression gear / equipment' - 'Hydrantware', and 200' of 1.5" line, and a pretty-decent 'Gas-powered Fire-pump' and even a full 'Turnout Gear' set, proper boots / jacket / helmet / respirator, etc - In case - we ever have one of those Crazy 'wind-driven, neighborhood-eating Fires (from "Wildfire") that are so Infamous out here.. And I gave breaking that Gear-out a quick thought, but.. Since I knew the FD was only a couple more minutes out (we live about 2 miles from a Station..) and I didn't want to be In their way (besides, using a Hydrant under 'these circumstances' would have likely ended up with My Arrest, etc..) I decided to just, at least, do 'low-level protection efforts'..
..Which was: I have 2x 50' 3/4" Heavy-Rubber Hose - 'Primed' - with Water (capped Input end) and 1/2 a bottle of 'Dawn' dish-soap inside.. And a 'FF-grade Pistol-style nozzle', so I can adjust the Stream / spray-pattern, and when that's 'Fully open' (fed from a 1" outdoor hard-Line..) I can easily soak Our entire Roof, and even get over-top of our immediate-Neighbors Roof.. So that's what I start doing (figure, I'll give everything a Good soaking, at Least..) to Our Roof / side-walls (which are Stucco, thankfully..) and spraying the rear-Trees / bushes, and Rear of the Neighbors Roof - Why the Rear? Well..
As-most know, Fires often sort of 'generate their Own weather' - at least Winds - and these were Blowing embers / burning skak Into the Rear of our Neighbors roof - and, to my Horror (revealed by my Headlamp..) I now discover She has No 'screen' over her Attic vents!! So, I literally start 'knocking down Embers', which were nearly blowing Into her Attic! (FF are now on-scene / hoses out / 3 teams were starting to knock it down (since 3 structures were now involved..) And Man - was I freaking out (well, not 'freaking', but I was Hardcore wishing I'd had that 1.5" hose / the Pump, now!!) This, because, well..
...Let's just say that IF Our Immediate Neighbors place 'went up'.. And then Our place 'caught'?? Yeah - Scuba-tanks and other 'items you Don't Want Burning'.. Ya, we'd have likely had to 'call-out to Evacuate Everyone for a Block', I think.. Point being - I HAD to ensure the Immediate-Neighbors place did NOT 'catch', so.. Did what I could, and All 'ended Well', no one hurt, and My Heroes, the FF's got it all under control, and Out. But Damn - What a Long Night That Was.. +_+
Edit: Oops, Sorry, I have to 'split this in Two-posts' - Char-limit and all, derp..
The 'concept' is simple: 'AAR's - "After Action Reports" are used (in one form or another..) by EMS / FFs / LEAs, and Military to 'autopsy' either an Event, and/or an Operation, for the purposes of 'what did we Learn from it'. Given that most of us aren't really 'doing Mil-style Ops' regularly (where we'd 'Measure the result against the Plan'..) or engaging in 'dangerous activity' (like EMS / LEOs / FFs, etc) where those 'lessons' are constant, I thought it might be a good thread to share simply 'Things that went Unexpectedly-Wrong - Quickly - and What I Learned from It'.
..And, I don't wanna place Too 'stringent of what "Qualifies" or not', but.. Let's just say that I don't think "bad decisions" should really count, here (ie: that one night ya got Wasted-drunk, and decided to go tease the Gorilla at the local Zoo... in yer Birthday suit. ..Or, ya know.. That One time you 'Didn't use a condom' - and ended up with Triplets.. I mean more like This:
This happened back last August, and I had been meaning to post about it / 'lessons-learned', etc, but, ya know.. "Life", etc.. So.. Got home from work one Evening (I work more pm > late-eve shift, due to 'Covid-mitigation strategies' at work) and it was about 8:30pm-ish. And, whence arriving / got out of the Truck, and noticed a somewhat strong 'Wood-smoke smell'....
...Unmistakably Wood-smoke (not electrical / gas, etc) which I thought 'odd', because - while there Are a couple neighbors near us that have those 'outdoor Patio Fire pits' they like to spark up on a cold-night during the Winter-months (..Thus, filling the 'hood with a pleasant Wood-smoke smell...) ...This was August, so.. It got my '..Huh...' going. But, due to the 'bias' that 'Ahh, prolly just the neighbors burning some old love letters or bounced checks or something..' I 'dismissed it', and went inside.
Now, the Wife, at that time, was working 'Graveyard', so I'd drive her in to Her work, sometime around 1:30am, and be back home around 2am-ish. And, next time I went outside (to let the Dog out..) was maybe ~11:30pm.. And I still smelled the Smoke - now a Bit stronger.. But I didn't See any real 'haze' in the Streetlights, nor any 'columns' anywhere, so.. Again, while I thought it 'Odd' - I dismissed it - because of my 'prolly just a Fire-pit' Biased-thinking..
Same at ~1:30a, when we left - Still smokey - Now I thought 'Man, Wth.. Who is doing a 'fire pit' - in August - at 1:30am.. And Why??' Now, my inclination was to do a quick 'walk around the block', just to do a 'look-see', but.. Had to Go, to get the Wife into work on time. So we left.
Stopped for Diesel, etc, and by the time I get home, it's ~2:15-ish. Step out of the Truck.. Door still open - Smoke-smell still strong - and As I'm 'scanning the streetlight-shine for haze / smoke-sign'... I hear a 'FOOOF!!' - and both the neighbors Houses, across the street, are 'flash-illuminated' Orange. I whip around, and can See the tops of Flames, well-above my ~10' Truck-roof (so I instantly realize - this Ain't no 'Patio fire-pit'..)
..And as I round the Truck-front, I see that the 'Rear-Apt' (small 1 bedrm place), House-House Over from ours has Just 'flashed over' - and is Directly 'BBQ'ing the Power lines that feed Our sector of the hood.. (..This is a 'later shot', maybe about 45 mins Into the 'burn' (so, this is a Much smaller 'profile' than it was Initially, but... gives an idea...
..Ya - warn't no Small 'Fire-Pit fire' - the place was 'Fully involved' - and it was Rapidly spreading Forward.. So, after I get done yelling 'Holy !!!' I immediately ran to the House who's 'Rear-apt' it was, and - oddly - the people (couple of older Asian ladies, Sisters, Iirc) were Already out front (Good!) But I yelled 'Anyone Back there??!!' To-which they said 'No, no just us.. It was empty!' (Thank God..) 'Ok, good! I'm calling the FD, now!'..
..So, I sprint back to the Next-door (to Us), and begin Pounding on the front door (as I'm fumbling to dial 911 on the cell - which Wasn't 'connecting' for some reason, had to dial 2x..) and yelling: '[Neighbor-Name]!! Get up!! Get Up!! There's a Fire next door, Get up!!'.. Soon as she answers, I tell her 'Grab yer car-keys and wallet and Get out - Neighbors rear-place is Totally in flames, and it's already catching thier Garage!.. Gotta get out, Right Now! I'll be right back...'
..as I run to Our House, barge inside, and race to Daughters room (thankfully, She was still Up..) and commanded: 'Honey, grab yer Pack ('BOB') and get the Dog, and get Out Right Now, go across the street!! Neighbor next to [Neighbor's Name]'s place is on Fire, and is gonna kill the lights any minute..' Soon as I finish that sentence - Pop - Lights out. But, since I Always have at Least 2 flashlights on me, lit one up, ran to Bedroom to don my Headlamp / fitted / got it on / Ran thru house towards Back yard to go asses the 'progress' (..and 911 was Still not-yet connecting (!!) Kept dropping the call...
Get to Rear-gate / unlock / unlatch, and As I run thru / around to side-street, 911 Finally connects.. I explain as I'm running towards 'rear-alley', to go check out the rear-side of the Fire-front, but Apparently, the Neighbors who's Apt. it was, had already called it in, so.. I was able, however, to 'update' dispatcher that the Power lines were now On Fire, and progressing towards the Pole-transformer, so they'd better hurry, or we might see this all spread to Other places, etc.. and Man, was that a 'Furious Fire'.. We're not even 10-mins into this all, and the place is Totally consumed / now lighting the Forward - and Side - buildings (one House, two Garages..) up..
Now, I actually Have some decent 'Fire suppression gear / equipment' - 'Hydrantware', and 200' of 1.5" line, and a pretty-decent 'Gas-powered Fire-pump' and even a full 'Turnout Gear' set, proper boots / jacket / helmet / respirator, etc - In case - we ever have one of those Crazy 'wind-driven, neighborhood-eating Fires (from "Wildfire") that are so Infamous out here.. And I gave breaking that Gear-out a quick thought, but.. Since I knew the FD was only a couple more minutes out (we live about 2 miles from a Station..) and I didn't want to be In their way (besides, using a Hydrant under 'these circumstances' would have likely ended up with My Arrest, etc..) I decided to just, at least, do 'low-level protection efforts'..
..Which was: I have 2x 50' 3/4" Heavy-Rubber Hose - 'Primed' - with Water (capped Input end) and 1/2 a bottle of 'Dawn' dish-soap inside.. And a 'FF-grade Pistol-style nozzle', so I can adjust the Stream / spray-pattern, and when that's 'Fully open' (fed from a 1" outdoor hard-Line..) I can easily soak Our entire Roof, and even get over-top of our immediate-Neighbors Roof.. So that's what I start doing (figure, I'll give everything a Good soaking, at Least..) to Our Roof / side-walls (which are Stucco, thankfully..) and spraying the rear-Trees / bushes, and Rear of the Neighbors Roof - Why the Rear? Well..
As-most know, Fires often sort of 'generate their Own weather' - at least Winds - and these were Blowing embers / burning skak Into the Rear of our Neighbors roof - and, to my Horror (revealed by my Headlamp..) I now discover She has No 'screen' over her Attic vents!! So, I literally start 'knocking down Embers', which were nearly blowing Into her Attic! (FF are now on-scene / hoses out / 3 teams were starting to knock it down (since 3 structures were now involved..) And Man - was I freaking out (well, not 'freaking', but I was Hardcore wishing I'd had that 1.5" hose / the Pump, now!!) This, because, well..
...Let's just say that IF Our Immediate Neighbors place 'went up'.. And then Our place 'caught'?? Yeah - Scuba-tanks and other 'items you Don't Want Burning'.. Ya, we'd have likely had to 'call-out to Evacuate Everyone for a Block', I think.. Point being - I HAD to ensure the Immediate-Neighbors place did NOT 'catch', so.. Did what I could, and All 'ended Well', no one hurt, and My Heroes, the FF's got it all under control, and Out. But Damn - What a Long Night That Was.. +_+
Edit: Oops, Sorry, I have to 'split this in Two-posts' - Char-limit and all, derp..
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