Protecting Our Own
Firefighter Safety and Survival Training
22 February 2003

On Saturday 22 February 2003, Chief Haraway held training for his famous "Protecting Our Own" firefighter safety and survival class. This class is geared toward teaching firefighters some tricks of the trade in how to get out alive when situations go bad. Each practical evolution is based on a real-life tragedy where a firefighter was killed. Chief Haraway and others who developed this training analyzed these fatal scenarios, figured out what went wrong, and devised methods by which a firefighter in the same situation could escape with their life.

We met at the abandoned house on Kelly Road. Unfortunately, due to the severe weather conditions, we were only able to get through one evolution, the ladder bail-out. But hopefully we will be able to reschedule and complete the remaining practicals in the near future.

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*Ladder Bail-Out*
You are trapped on the second floor with no way out but the window. Luckily, your fellow firefighters followed your department's safety procedures and put up an extension ladder as a secondary means of egress. Fire is quickly engulfing the room behind you, hot gases and smoke are billowing out the window above your head, and in seconds a flashover will occur. How do you get out alive?
26' ladder was placed at a shallower-than-normal angle, and tied off to the house for safety.	Chief Haraway prepares to demonstrate. Note that all participants in this evolution wore a Class III harness and were attached to a safety line.	The firefighter feeds his strong arm underneath the second rung, and grasps the third rung with his hand.
While coming out the window, the firefighter grasps the fourth rung with his free hand...	...and at the same time uses his other elbow as a pivot point on the rung to turn himself around.	Once upright, the firefighter straddles the ladder, grasps the beams, and simply slides down to safety.
"I can't believe he just did that!"	Important note, don't hug the ladder as you are sliding down. Guys, you will only make that mistake once.	Everyone got their turn, and some got such a kick out of it they went multiple times.