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By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor
 Photo Jamie Thompson BC Reeder speaks during the session. |
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INDIANAPOLIS — Battalion Chief Forest Reeder issued a grim prediction to FDIC attendees Wednesday: by the time the conference is over, the fire service will have suffered another LODD.
Statistically the fire service loses a member every 80 hours, he said, with 32 line-of-duty deaths already this year.
BC Reeder’s session outlined fireground safety and survival for the company officer, and attendees were told they should always expect the worst at incidents.
“Be pessimistic about your operation,” he said. “There’s a bunch of stuff that can go wrong.”
Reeder, of the Pleasantview, Ill., Fire District, said company officers need to be aware that they are accountable for the safety of their crews.
Company officers, BC Reeder said, are essentially responsible for the three “R’s” of firefighters, fire stations and fire apparatus and equipment.
On a daily basis, they must be aware of the fact that they are the ones who need to be setting the example, he said.
BC Reeder, who is the director of safety and training in his fire district, said company officers need to play a leading role in reducing LODDs by ensuring department SOPs are followed.
“If you look at the 115 last year, how many of the firefighters put themselves in situations that were not survivable for the people they were trying to rescue?
“Was there a reason for them all being where the event occurred?”
BC Reeder went on to outline measures company officers should take immediately to reduce slack safety practices within their departments.
“Draw a line in the sand and say, ‘From this point forward, we are going to learn from history and I am not going to accept this in my crew any more,’” BC Reeder said.
“You should say, ‘This is my crew and these are my rules, and I’m not going to tolerate my firefighters getting killed.’”