Incredible Video of Firefighter’s Close Call as Roof of Burning Building Caves In
- Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:31pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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Several Michigan firefighters escaped an incredibly close call Thursday when the roof of the building they were on started to collapse.
They were tasked with going up to the roof of a burning dry cleaners to make holes to release some of the gas inside. Without any warning, the fire broke through from the store’s ceiling and part of the roof gave way, Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV reported.
In several heart-pounding moments caught on tape, Dearborn firefighters Joe Murray and Lt. Steven Bucholz form a chain and pull Mark Farrell up over a ledge, saving him from sliding into the hole and the raging fire beneath them.
“As soon as I felt it going I just reached for that wall,” Farrell told WXYZ. “Thank God for both of these guys.”
He told the station he didn‘t realize how close of a call they’d had until they saw it reported on the news.
“We all came off the roof and went back to work,” Farrell said. “Oh man, I was closer to the hole than I thought it was. And it wasn’t until I saw the video that I realized that.”
He said they had no warning the roof was about to go.
“It was like fine and I was cutting and then it just dropped. It’s not like it was getting lower and lower, that’s just it right there,” Farrell said.
He gave every credit to Murray and Bucholz.
“As crazy as it was at the time they both kept level heads and our lieutenant was just giving us instructions calm and collective and telling us what to do. And were able to work through it,” he said.
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blazingaway
Posted on April 2, 2012 at 10:56amThey should have charges that can thrown onto the roof and exploded to blow a hole through the roof. No way would I be on a roof. above a fire, cutting a hole into an already weaken structure … that’s just plain stupid to say the least.
Report Post »LeadNotFollow
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 5:59pm…
Report Post »Three good guys. God bless them.
usmcddffemtpar
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 5:09pmAs a firefighter myself, I am glad that they made it out safe. They’re true heros!!
Report Post »usmcddffemtpar
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 5:08pmAs a firefighter myself, I am glad to see that they are safe and sound. They are true heros!
Report Post »LetsBeSmartAboutThis
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:53pmBrothers in Battle. The men dodged a bullet. Glad to see all worked out well.
Report Post »bobmcgus
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:42pmLand of the free, and the home of the BRAVE.
Report Post »Just4thefax
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:31pmFact: Same bunch turn into tailgaters on the weekends!!!
Report Post »rsletto
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:40pmfact: some not all, fact:they put their lives on the line, fact: so do lots of other people. what does drinking have to do with fire fighting story… NOTHING.
Report Post »Publius
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:57pmWhat’s the big deal? Just a few stupid white dudes putting their lives on the line in service to total strangers, in Dearborn of all places. Geeze, get over the drama already.
I’ll bet there are none of those muslim types doing the same.
Report Post »RadDad62
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:41pmI love the video and the challenges that fire fighters have to deal with……but for this Union issue and for the reporter to say this ” was because they were fully staffed’! Once again….the union taking shots at local government …..we gonna to have to cut the fire and the cops mantra! you need to pay all your taxes or were going to cut services! I say Cut the Services!!!!!!!
Report Post »rsletto
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:46pmi say we cut out the unions and privatize it. just like some ambulance services. remember there are people working there with families i should know i am a son of a firefighter, who respects and abides by the constitution, God and his country and is working hard. he doesn’t like the union b.s. politics and games that go on.
Report Post »texasfireguy
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 3:12pmSo rsletto, you want to privatize? As the son of a fireman, you want him to be out of a job? There is a big difference between non union and privatizing. Going to a for profit service is a horrible idea, and has failed everywhere it’s been tried. Private companies only care about one thing, profit. They will over charge and under deliver. If you want to control costs, that’s one thing but turning over control of public safety to the lowest bidder, that’s just stupid.
Report Post »goofyfoot2001
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:01pmWould have been nice if the tv station didn’t have that crap at the bottom of the screen so we could actually see the video.
Web guy – FIX THE COMMENT SORT FOOL!
Report Post »Salamander
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:58pmIt looks like he cut through a truss–one lucky group of guys! It sure didn’t look like a heat-related failure. Why don’t they make these buildings with smoke hatches, skylights that can be broken by a fire axe or at least MARK the areas that can be safely cut and those that cannot! NOT criticising the firemen, just pointing out that building codes, building owners, etc. have a role to play, here! Protect your local firemen, so that they will be there when you really need them!
Report Post »ReallyAUnionGuy
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 12:19amNo actually it does not look like he cut through a truss. 1. the area of collapse was bigger than a single truss failure. 2. A truss is composed of 3 parts a top chord a bottom chord and the web members in between the two. They alternate in tension and compression and is how they get their strength. The top chord, the part the roofing material is on, is in compression, and had he simply cut through the truss with the width of a chainsaw blade the truss would simply compress together, as the cut would not be large enough to cause such a catastrophic collapse. And yes it does look like a heat related failure. 1. Its a large building with ALOT of pressurized smoke coming from it. That means its a large fire. The color of the smoke being whiter from the roof than the more darker grew smoke coming from the natural openings in the building would indicate enough “pressure” from the heat of the fire to drive the smoke through the “hidden” portions of the building. Its whiter on top because the carbon in the smoke is sticky and the building “filters” it as it is driven through the building by the heat. The fire will follow the smoke. 2. The early failure of truss systems is because of the components that hold it together. 3. There was enough heat in this building to cause truss failure at the bottom chord, which is in tension, and would in fact result in a more catastrophic collapse as we see in the video. Just saying..
Report Post »http://www.firefightersforfreedom.blogspot.com
ReallyAUnionGuy
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 12:25amBut thats, not to say that this particular building even has a truss roof, it may have been just a flat panelized roof, given the apparent age of the building. That however is just an educated guess. Its impossible to know and memorize very building in your response area, but buildings have enough commonalities to make a pretty accurate guess. You never know until you get up there and start cutting, but thats the nature of the beast. Even if it is, it has the same type of failure characteristics.
http://www.firefightersforfreedom.blogspot.com
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:46pmThis is a FIRST!
The local news actually beat the Blaze in presenting a story!
It has always been the Blaze then two or three days later the story ends up on the local news.
Report Post »CATPBJ
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:54pmStoic One — What world do you live in? The blaze usually copies stories from other sites and then posts them here. There are only a few new articles per month on the blaze, mostly its like drudge…
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:03pmI usually get news stories on the Blaze about two days before I hear them on ABC radio news. Sometimes, ABC is as much as a week behind.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:01pmCATPBJ
Report Post »I realize the Blaze is not the first on the internet, however the Blaze is always ahead of the local TV stations. I have even suggested to the local TV stations that they might want to look on the web outside of their own site to get current news.
Laus Deo
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:32pmThe roof! The roof! The roof is on fire! We don’t need no water…
Report Post »ICanComment
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:58pm@LAUS DEO
If that‘s an inside joke or you’re quoting something, never mind.
Otherwise:
They‘re on the roof because they’re ventilating the building. This is accomplished by opening/breaking a skylight, door, or in this case, using a saw to cut a hole in the roof. It’s standard procedure to release the smoke and hot gases before allowing personnel to enter. Of course the roof isn’t on fire (yet). You “don‘t need no stinkin’ water” because you don’t bring water on the roof to ventilate. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong – it’s been a while since I got certified.)
Actually, if you read the article, they briefly explain that the firemen are ventilating, too.
Report Post »rsletto
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:49pm@icancomment: nicely said.
Report Post »lmao@dems
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 5:24pm@icancomment:
Report Post »Your right, you do everything you can not to drive the fire back into the building from the roof. The hole is to ventilate and spraying water from the roof down does the opposite.