Daniel's Block Fire-BACKDRAFT

Shortly after companies were in the building removing occupants. The plate glass storefront on the mercantile space dropped out lazily and smoke began to poor out of the store. Command reported the conditions to the companies operating on the upper floors, 2, 3 & 4 that a fire condition was present on floor 1. Eng-3 officer replied that the smoke and heat condition on the upper floors had deteriorated significantly and that the smoke was "Boiling" out of the floors and walls. Eng-3 officer gained accountability of the 7 members on the upper floors and began exiting the building. At the same time fire began blowing out the front of the store. Members using hooks removed all of the plate glass from the storefront. Within seconds heavy fire was blowing out of the front of the store on #1 floor and extending up the front of the building over the roofline. All firefighters were ordered out of the building. Within 5 minutes of the firefighters exiting the upper floors the second floor collapsed.

A defensive operation was ordered and 2nd-3rd-& 4th alarms were transmitted. Free burning fire continued as heavy master streams and big lines were put in to operation.

At approximately 01:33 20 minutes after the fire broke out and free burning fire was involving the structure on floor #1 & 2 the Backdraft occurred.

The backdraft was intense and forceful. It is believed that accumulation of gases in the basement of the building were building up and eventually let go. Precautionary measures of taking out the plate glass storefront were beneficial in reducing personal injury.




When viewing the footage it appears that memebers were directly in front of the building, however members were at 45-degree angles to the front. Operating lines. All members operating were in full protective clothing and SCBA. This helped reduce injuries as well. Engine 1 personnel operating in the rear of the building trying to force a door were blown back across a parking lot when the backdraft occurred. The top portion of the steel door folded from the force.

This video was taken from a police cruiser parked approximately one block away. You see signs of smoke churning at this angle. From the front of the building the smoke did not appear that way.




This backdraft occurred after ventilation had been completed and heavy fire burned for over 20 minutes involving the structure as well as contents. In addition, heavy streams operated on the fire well before the backdraft occurred.

We have experienced these types of building fires before. The large open spaces and concealed spaces allowed these gases to build up to explosive concentrations. Proper PPE certainly helped prevent injuries to our members. It was clear to us that this fire had been concealed within the walls and floor of this building and burning for a period of time before it was reported. The balloon frame constructions allowed for this fire to go unnoticed and gain headway

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[kx250fMIKE]

this is a ROLLOVER not a Backdraft......look it up in the IFSTA Essentials of firefighting(book)

[eclemente79]

@kx250fMIKE

That is backdraft. Rollover is when the flame gets over your head and is seen right before flashover. read your IFSTA Book it's in there

[kx250fMIKE]

@eclemente79) you really dont know what a rollover is....you are describing flames literally rolling across a ceiling...are you ff? wait there is no way if think it is that literal. rollover is when unburned combustible gases are formed at the top of the ceiling and are pushed out and then mix with oxygen and are no longer UEL. they are seen in rolling motion but any flames on ceiling do. And that video sure looks like gases being pushed out and igniting to me. What do u think what is ur proof

[eclemente79]

@kx250fMIKE Where are you from? I am in the North East US. Maybe we are thinking of the same thing but diffrent parts of the county use diffrent lingo. In the academy we learned the rollover in the fingers of flame that come over your head and preceed a flashover. A backdraft is when the fire is in a closed off area and uses all its air and dies down. Still has the heat and fuel. open a window or door and whoosh air goes in and it goes boom.

[mradriaan]

@kx250fMIKE

Sorry but your not quit right A roll over is a flam that's for example between a seeling so you don't see the (flashover) u can get cought between the fireplaces because you don't see them thats a roll over it Rolls over u. correct me if i am wrong (firefighters only)

don't blame me for my bad ass english i am a dutch guy

a backdraft is in a simple way a explosion of gas that's ignits if there's enough oxygen and temperature. u guys know what i am talking about

[572HardyBoy352]

@kx250fMIKE ya u are a dumbass. That is backdraft,not rollover. Rollover is where gases accumulate at the ceiling and reach there flash point and ignite,thats why its a rollover cuz the flames roll over the ceiling.

[JasonEldur]

So the smoke descending around 0:26 was the the reintroduction of air, that produced the explosion (explosion might not be the best word, but you know what i mean)?

[Jeffersxxl]

@kx250fMIKE Textbook Backdraft

[bbmtge]

It is amazing how some people gain a very small bit of knowledge and immediately consider themselves to be experts in a particular field. It is obivous that there WAS a fire in this building that consumed nearly all available oxygen. The building is literally breathing smoke, in and out. The so-called fingers you see are simply the right mixture of O2 yielding flame. This is a BACKDRAFT. Flashover - early stage igniton...Backdraft - late stage recombust when provided with enough oxygen.

[MrTrickShot]

@ThrowItOnTheGrill I wouldn't be too concerned, everybody's a keyboard warrior these days, even our brothers and sisters in the fire service lol. But at the end of the day, we are all brothers and sisters. Hell I don't even know you personally, but if I went to your town for mutual aid, and you called mayday, you'd better believe I'd be first in line to drag your ass out of there. I'd do that for any firefighter. That's why we're here :-)

[protectoroffaith]

@kx250fMIKE thats a back draft no roll over is that powerfull

[AndrewRokes]

@eclemente79 thats how i learned it to but i am in MA

[mememe123xyz]

Pretty sure you can see smoke being sucked back in at times into the structure. Surging in and out at times. Someone should have seen that. 

[ThrowItOnTheGrill]

All thi arguing is really disturbing to me. I am in a volunteer department, just going to graduate from my Modular 4 class (interior firefighting). I thought we were all supposed to be brothers, but everyone's egos try to top everyone else's. I'm really worried that I'm going to be deserted when the shit hits the fan because everyone else will be trying to top everyone else while I'm calling, "Mayday!" Truth.