I thought this would be just a simple little article on Overhaul, but realize that maybe we need a little more about the history and tradition of Overhaul.  Plus, where we should be today? 

I received a call from a friend of mine up North the other day, and he was complaining about his Department’s commitment to Customer Service.  He stated that it was going so well that they had 5 re-kindles in the last 2 months.  Indeed!  They must like their customers so much; they want to go back for seconds!  I think we would all agree that most of our citizens would be “pissed-off” if we had to return to put the fire out the second time which resulted in more damage to their personal property.  Fortunately, this is where an “old” tradition works in our favor.  Company PRIDE!  Most of us take too much pride in our job to suffer the embarrassment of a re-kindle in our first-due.  Although Overhaul always has been associated with the prevention of re-kindle, it now has taken on a new meaning with the commitment to Customer Service.  So, here is what it looked like!

A long time ago, when company and staffing levels were where they should be, Overhaul looked like a re-model.  The pressure not to embarrass your company or the Fire Department was so high that a re-kindle was the ultimate sin.  Officers had the firefighters remove every piece of burned material in the building to the outside of the building.  The rooms were gutted by us.  Sometimes all the way down to the framing.  Long Overhauls were the norm!  Chief Officers said, “Not in my Battalion”!  Obviously, the investigation to the cause and origin was done, and re-kindle was the enemy.  Some consideration was given to salvage during Overhaul, but salvage was also a higher priority, and complete before Overhaul due to the staffing levels of the time.  As a side-bar, it shouldn’t surprise you that due to staffing levels, 2in/2out policy, and RIC policy, it is my opinion that an aggressive fire attack and aggressive ventilation is our best initial salvage consideration.  Get the fire, heat, and smoke out because that is causing the most damage to people’s property. 

Then, control the water damage.  Looking back, it was a strange thing.  The inside was so clean that when you took the occupants inside to look at the damage, it looked better than before the fire.  Plus, the damage was removed to the outside of the structure, so the inside didn’t look to bad.  Psychologically, it probably worked in our favor.  Over the years I learned through my father and brother, who are in the insurance business, that it sure saved the insurance company tons of money because we did their demolition work for them.  I always thought we should get a kick-back from the insurance companies for the money we saved them!

This type of Overhaul did cause some problems though.  First, the insurance companies had to rely on our investigators for cause and origin.  Additionally, our investigators had the only pictures of the fire damage.  Disputes between the policy holder and insurance company drug in the Fire Department.  The only thing that saved us at the time was the fact that Fire Departments were exempt from litigation due to the nature of the public service we provided.  Loosely, Fire Departments were tied to the Good Samaritan Law as long as we acted in good faith which was a given back in the day.  As a side-bar, some fire experts (Psychologists) felt that due to our Overhaul techniques there was a real disconnect between the damages of fire and people perception of fire.  This was evident several years ago when there was a movement in the Fire Service to hold a public “Open House” in buildings where there was substantial fire loss.  In this program, Overhaul was held to a minimum so the citizens could see the real damage caused by fire.  I’m not sure what happened to these programs, but I haven’t heard of them in the last few years.

Overhaul evolved as with anything.  The biggest impact to overhaul was reduced staffing levels and reduced truck companies.  Additionally, although fires have decreased, calls for service have drastically gone up requiring companies to become available sooner.  Once where we had multiple trucks assisting with Overhaul, we reduced it to one.  Although Overhaul appeared to be taking as long as before, one company was doing most of the work.  Overhaul was taking just as long, but the quality of work wasn’t the same.  There was a period of time where re-kindles were the talk of the day.  Additionally, the City has a new role with the use of Dangerous Buildings as the mediator for restoration of the property to meet the proper building codes with the property owner after we are done.  Lastly, which could be good or bad, we have the technology of the thermal imaging cameras (TIC).