I in addition to my almost 30 years with FDNY have been a volunteer firefighter for over 50 years. Where I now serve as a Safety Officer and a Past Captain. Tower Ladder streams should be aimed INTO the windows at these fires where the building is severely damaged, and overhaul is in progress. Remove all firefighters and civilians from the building and use the Tower Ladder streams to "hydraulically overhaul the building"
Aiming a Tower Ladder stream onto the roof does little good. Use a SOLID Stream Nozzle, at a STEEP Upward Angle, Create a SPRINKLER effect. NOTE ALL "S" s. Use a Tower Ladder or other Large Caliber Stream to blow down the ceilings exposing the cockloft and/or attic. WAIT a few minutes, to ensure water is running OUT of the building and not building up on the already fire weakened floors. Then have an experienced Chiefs or other officers inspect the building for structural stability and then reenter the building with 1 3/4" hose to complete the overhaul if it is deemed safe to reenter. At the End of the operation the building is weaker than at any time during the fire. I am only trying to give use al a better safer way to extinguish these fires, not in any way second guessing anyone. I spent over 20 years assigned or until further orders in some of the busiest Tower Ladders in the FDNY, in Manhattan's Lower East Side, Midtown Manhattan and the South Bronx. Captain Bob Rainey FDNY Engine 26 retired.
