fire safety education and safety products
Save a Firefighter
Nobody wants to lose their home to fire. Even worse is knowing someone
else lost their life.... Looking for you.
It’s
a sad fact that every year firefighters are injured or killed searching
for victims who have already escaped. You have the obligation to reduce
that risk when you can. Using an “Escape and Wait” sign
meets that obligation.
Firefighters are a different breed. They are praised for “rushing in to danger while everyone else is rushing out” and other seemingly irrational behavior. The truth is a little different. They do risk their lives for others and often suffer injury or death trying to save lives and property. They do perform amazing feats of heroism and show great courage. But they also calculate risk.
When arriving at a house fire a veteran fire officer can quickly calculate the risk involved with sending firefighters inside to extinguish the fire. Fire departments have numerous procedures requiring precautions before any interior attack can occur. They follow national standards like “two in, two out” rules and must supply well equipped RIT teams (rapid intervention team).
When a civilian is trapped inside a burning building ALL of these rules
do not apply. It is even written into the OSHA standard that the “two
in two out” rule does not apply when life safety is involved.
What this means is that should your fire department arrive at your house
fire and believe someone is trapped inside they can and will make every
effort to rescue that person, even if it places those firefighters at
extreme risk of injury or death.
