Engineering on the Fire Scene in Fort Blackmore
Wooden Beam Construction
Some folks think that wooden "I" beams are the "truss to end all trusses". A wooden "I" beam looks just like a steel "I" beam. It has two beams of wood for flanges that are connected by OSB board. The wooden "I" beam will work the same way as the steel "I" beam does. When an "I" beam bends, the top gets compressed and the bottom goes under some tension. That means that the top and the bottom are put in a lot of stress. The flanges carry all the stress, and the vertical part carries little stress. So, what's that mean to Firefighters...? They are strong. These wooden "I" beams have more advantages than regular wooden beams. They can span a long ways [maybe beyond 24 feet]. So, they don't need supports. They don't shake much when folks walk on the floor above the beams. So, if the beam burns through, a LOT of load is going to come down on your head. That's a disadvantage of the wooden "I" beams. The OSB gets under some strain. OSB, according to the USDA, chars at about 1-1/2inches an hour in a 500 degree plus fire. It doesn't take long to get a fire that hot. If the OSB is 1/2" thick... what's that take... 10 minutes to burn through? Now, it's really coming down on your head. While there may not be that much construction in Fort Blackmore using wooden "I" beams, I'm sure there is some. Do we know where these homes are? And, consider this: OSB has water in it, used in the construction of it. Under stress and heat, the water leaves in the form of steam. So, the OSB crumbles apart. Now, where are you standing when this happens? This is supposed to be "engineered wood". And, also, consider this: the beams are connected to supports. The beams are stronger than floor joists. They fit in a joist hanger instead of on top of the joist. When the hanger fails, the beam fails. What is going to fail quicker... the hanger or the beam? Oh, oh, they didn't tell me that... Now you know.
Thanks to Fire Engineering.com
10 ways to kill a Volunteer Fire Department
1. Don't go to any trainings; and if you
do go, go late.
2. Before the meeting is over, leave.
3. At a board meeting, vote "yes" to everything, don't do anything to help, and
then gripe about it after the meeting is over.
4. Right after the meeting is over, tell everyone how YOU would have done it.
5. Don't take part in any volunteer board business or fund raisers.
6. Be sure not to pay attention during training. Stay in the back and talk to
anybody in the back. Then, after the training, tell another member how YOU
would have done it.
7. Show up only for the fires; and be sure NOT to wear your turnouts.
8. Talk the talk, but dont walk the walk.
9. If you are asked to help, always say you've got something you have to do.
10. Never read anything about firefighting, and be sure to never ever take an
officer job; it's a whole lot easier to gripe about them. If you get stuck with
an officer job, just do the very least you can do. If you see others
working hard, tell everybody that the Department is run by a bunch of
know-it-alls.
Thanks to Volunteer Fire Departments.org