Search
Fire inside a house can double in size every thirty seconds, meaning a room can be engulfed in flames in a matter of minutes. This can trap people before they have time to escape. Unlike the wood in your campfire, houses are full of materials made of plastics and adhesives that burn extremely hot and fast and produce a toxic black smoke. Even if there were time to try and escape, the smoke can cause asphyxiation before there is adequate time to react. This leaves people unconscious and exposed to extremely high temperatures.
When the fire department arrives, even if there are reports that everyone is out of the house the assumption is that there are still people inside. Typically the first action taken isn’t to run in and start looking for people. By taking the time to stretch a houseline and apply water to the fire, it makes the conditions more survivable for anyone inside as well as easier for the crew assigned to search. The one deviation to this is that if there is a known location of where a victim may be, a different approach is taken. Every effort is taken to immediately get to that victim, and remove them as quickly as possible.
In previous blog posts, I have discussed some techniques and tools used for searching for victims. To not be redundant, I will simplify and say the search crew has a specific method of getting through a home and covering every area to locate anyone still inside. Regardless, the search crew is committed to an aggressive and relentless pursuit to locate anyone trapped inside. When a victim is found it is announced and the firefighter that located the victim immediately prepares to remove them. Other members move towards that firefighter to assist in getting them out as quickly as possible while protecting them from further exposure to the fire.
When you go into a house normally, your brain tells you that you will leave in the same way you came in. In a fire that is not always the best option. That could mean moving a person clear across the house, through smoke and heat, around furniture, and over hose lines. Not only is this time-consuming and exposes the victim more, it is also a lot of extra work. Sometimes the better option is to pull them into a room and close the door. This isolates them from the fire. The window can be opened and the smoke in that room is released. This buys time. The firefighter can then announce the victim's location and have crews on the outside waiting to help remove them through a window and down a ladder if they are on the second floor.
Just because a victim was located and removed to safety, doesn’t mean that the work is over. First, the search must be completed. Until every area is covered “all-clear” cannot be declared. The search continues where it was left off. Simultaneously, once the victim that was rescued is outside, resuscitation efforts are immediately started. Paramedics are waiting outside ready to get to work as soon as the victim is to safety. Medications are administered to counteract the exposure to the hydrogen cyanide that is in the smoke. The patient is intubated and compression of the heart is started to try and save this person's life.
I mentioned in the beginning of this that despite the report of everyone being out of the homes, firefighters assume there are victims inside. This is a mindset and a part of a culture of the fire service that is focused on saving lives. By approaching every fire with the expectation of locating a victim, maximum effort is ensured every time. If you go looking for something expecting to find it, you will be more thorough looking. You will not quit searching until it has been found, or all possibilities have been ruled out. This level of commitment requires dedication and resolve. It is a risk and a sacrifice. When you are searching, you don't bring a hose to protect you. It's hot, it's dark and it's exhausting but quitting is not an option. Even if obstacles or things are blocking the way, you have to find a way around them. There has to be a commitment to completing the task no matter the odds because life is too precious to give up on.
John 15:13 “No greater love has a man that this; to lay down his life for his friends”
Proverbs 24:11 “Rescue those who are going to die, save them as they stagger to their death.”
In the fire service, the mantra is: “Risk a lot to save a lot.” Sometimes the only option in life is to go all in and risk it all. Just like in a house fire, everything in life is replaceable except life itself. People cannot be replaced. Sometimes you have to be relentless and aggressive in pursuit of your purpose and the people you love. God speaks things into our lives and places things on our hearts that seem impossible. It is like someone saying that there is someone trapped upstairs inside a fire. You have to take every action and overcome every obstacle no matter how difficult or futile it may seem. God has His hose line, and promises protection while you are in search. Operate in faith and be expectant to find.
Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Sometimes the victim is found lying lifeless but that cannot discourage the effort. The way out may be long and engulfed in flames. The only option may be to isolate in a room and call for a ladder. While the ladder is being placed allows time to prepare to get the victim out. When we are in pursuit of what God places on our hearts, our way forward may not be His plan for us. Like I discussed in Waiting, God brings us to places of isolation and waiting to prepare us for His plan and promise for our life. Once the time is right God will lead us, and bring us help along the way.
In the fire, no matter what, you must fight to get them out the window and down the ladder so they can be resuscitated. Situations in life may seem too far gone. Too much time and damage has occurred. What he promised may seem too far out of reach. The dream may seem lifeless. Things are not over and dead until God says they are. God promises to bring life to dry bones, and beauty from ashes. There is healing, there is restoration. If He calls you something He will lead you through it, Just like a thermal imaging camera can lead a firefighter through a house and to a victim, God orders our steps. So don’t listen to the report of the world, be expectant of what God promised. Love people. Take the risk. Push through the flames and go after what is most important.
Ezekiel 37:1-14 “Son of man, can these bones live?”
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