Erik Reinhardt from Baltimore County (MD) Fire Department sent in something he and the crew discovered during pre-fire planning of an apartment complex. At first glance, the outside team might breathe a slight sigh of relief when a porch roof or balcony is found on the structure. Under most circumstances a balcony or porch roof offers a stable platform for performing VES operations. However, like so many things in modern building construction, it is not always what it appears.
In this particular set-up, the first floor balcony doesn’t really exist. Apparently, it just appears to have one in order to match the second and third floor balconies. In this instance, the absence of a sliding glass door on the balcony should be an indicator. This set-up was present at every building in the complex, so it’s not just a replacement or repair issue.
An important part of throwing ladders to the structure is truly evaluating their placement, and their effectiveness. Don’t waste time, or ladders, because the situation wasn’t fully evaluated.
WOOHOO I’M FIRST!! THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF WHY WE SOUND THINGS BEFORE WE STEP ON THEM, ENTERING OR EXITING! NOW I KNOW SOMEONE WILL INEVITABLY ARGUE (SARCASTIC VOICE)”WHAT IF YOU HAD TO BAIL OUT, HEAD FIRST IN A HURRY?!” THEN DROP THE TOOL YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CARRYING OUT THE WINDOW PRIOR TO BAILING.IF IT MAKES A SOUND,THERE’S A FLOOR OR DON’T GET IN A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE TO BAIL.I THINK I COVERED EVERYTHING. TAKE CARE.
BIG BALLS AND BIG SAWS!!!!
Umm, look at this picture again. No door so its not a porch!
jon i was thinking the same as you..also i would size up before i went in and noticed that there was no floor..if i needed to bail i would call my mayday ask for a ladder and get my rope ready if need be. another thing its not that far of a drop and dman you are correct dont get in that situation. stay safe everyone.
Looking above the ‘floorless porch’, I see flooring for a real porch on the #2 floor. I’m curious to know if the #1 floor has decorative porches only or if it’s just this one window. Is this building in an area where security is an issue and the false porches are an attempt to limit potential break-ins?
Regardless of how this feature came to be, let’s deal with in in a fire scenario. The #1 floor window is a prime candidate for an ‘under-the-wire’ type raise once we identify that there’s no real porch to access. The sooner we determine that an alternative means of laddering the window exists, the sooner we can switch the ladder around to carry it in tip first to deploy it.
It also looks like the shrub in front of the basement apartment window here could make moving in/out of that window a little more difficult. I’d be interested to hear more about this particular building.
Be safe.
Looks to as if they ran out of money in their project so they went half ass!
All fixed. Or is it?
Now the guy in the basement apartment says it’s too dark down there and gosh dern it…they used engineered lumber to boot. 😉
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e193/funepics/deck4.jpg