GRABS Podcast

- 2 victims rescues

- Both survived

- 1st due engine with a 1 min ETA

- Known victims with known location

- Search ahead of the hoseline (rescue mode)

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Name: John Farrell Captain Truck 307 

Department: Chatham County Fire Department Date: 4 12 2026 

Building type: 3 story multi-family residual, lightweight wood-frame. Smoke and flames coming from the alpha side stair well extended to the Charlie side of the structure division 2 and 3.

Reports of 5 victims 2 kids 3 adults 

Time of arrival: 4:02 4:04 Assisted and walked down the 24ft ladder

PD video of kid drops:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2Fr%2F1CQjFKZHjJ%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cbbfef9b1174a4e19ebb108deab992643%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639136871441996172%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=BbrFWrhu4ImAXObZDppF7oRPBHEc4XtiXsj22vELc4M%3D&reserved=0

FD video of 3 ladder rescues:

https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2Fv%2F1CkbNTapPb%2F%3Fmibextid%3DwwXIfr&data=05%7C02%7C%7Cbbfef9b1174a4e19ebb108deab992643%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C639136871442197993%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=J0jhAEcpsT4IiSBqYPW9Jn9o42jdcbaZsK9bxrG9xQE%3D&reserved=0 

3 takeaways: 

Nobody cares if it’s your first fire, be ready to preform. Physically and mentally 

Training matters we train to run on the fireground its about them not us SPEED with a PURPOSE 

We get to do this job be really good at it 

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Philip Nichols/Captain

Rutherford County Fire and Rescue

April 4, 2026 1800 hrs

Single story single family dwelling (1200 sq ft ranch)

4 minutes from on scene to victim removed

260-275

Never let go of a conscious victim

Never put your tool down

Smoke drunk is a real thing, never trust a conscious victim. 

Don’t get complacent. A small fire with a decent amount of smoke make me think it would be an easy job and cause me to make some poor decisions. 

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Grabs 190 Ft Myers, FL (10/2004)

• Grant speaks with John Lovato (BC, then FF) 
• 2 Story Multi-Family
• Multiple Units Arrive at the Same Time
• First Vice Located by another crew on couch (deceased) 
• 4-6 FF's went upstairs, child located in closet in laundry basket quickly.  
• Viz @ knees
• Quick one person removal
• Discussion about how unorganized this felt (as a new FF) 
• Under 3 minutes arrival to removal 

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• Matt Hill- Lieutenant 17 years
• Nate Riordan- Firefighter 11 years
• Normal Fire Department- Normal, IL
• Assigned to E10 the night of the incident (2nd arriving)
• 11/2/2025 approx. 1:45am
• Single-wide mobile home- Early 1980s model
• Approximate Times:
  • Made entry approx. 3 minutes after arrival on scene
    • Around 35 seconds to breach the exterior wall
  • Located Victim approximately. 3 minutes after entry
  • Removed victim approx. 3 minutes after locating him
  • I think he was at the hospital about 9ish minutes later
• 12yo child- Approx. 100lbs
• Removed by hand- passed him off
• Takeaways:
  • When there is reported entrapment, get off the rig in the rescue mindset. Any chance the victim had would not have existed if another 30 seconds went by.
  • The 360* survey is critical. Three sides of that building were fucked and I actually radioed that a rescue was not possible after seeing three. The 4th side changed my mind and made me realize there was a chance to get in and search.
  • Kids hide- Be thorough. Search like you’re looking for your own child.
  • Coordination is key- We got the grab, but this was a full unit effort. We were in the room, but multiple people outside made it possible. Including:
    • Bat Chief- Trusted his people to work.
    • Nozzle FF on E13- Got the line in place at the window to control the room before it flashed.
    • Water supply- Two Engineers were FAST establishing it
    • Lt. Martin/Engineer Gerrietts- Passed out the victim and they got him to EMS Quick
    • ALS Providers- Two of our FF/Medics doffed their gear and went into Medic mode, two others joined them and they provided excellent care in a timely manner.

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• Lieutenant Caleb Caldwell.
• Paulding County Fire & Rescue. Paulding County Georgia. 
• March 29th, 2026.
• Single story, wood-frame residence on a crawlspace.
• 6 minutes, 12 seconds from on-scene to victim removal.
• Approx. weight is 250-275lbs.
• Drag from bed to a make-shift table, out a window on a ladder. 

Takeaways:

Positive:

Allowing homeowner to show potential victim location.

Having a culture of targeted search even as first due engine.

Using ladder from the residence to execute search and removal.

Having a driver fighting fire from the exterior while officer and backstep are searching for known victim location.

Negative:

Line should have been deployed directly to point of VES for better/quicker protection. 

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Colin Cotter (Firefighter) & Reilly Kilbride (Firefighter)

Lexington County Fire Service

3/7/2026

Two story single family wood frame 

Arrival to removal = 4min

Dirty drag from ankles (each FF had one ankle) then extremity carry down the stairs 

Take aways

- all units on scene did their jobs effectively to put our crew in a position to make the rescue 

- outside training was a big factor in making this rescue go smoothly. We both attened a large amount of outside training both together and separately. We both felt very prepared to be in the position to make an effective rescue. 

- Doing training regularly with our crew built a good team chemistry that paid off during this rescue. 

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Sitting down with Chaon Hanson and Jacob Kelly of the Rock Island, IL Fire Department.  They're talking about a rescue they had on December 1st, 2025.

This was in a 1.5 story wood frame that from all sides "appeared vacant".

The victim was found within the first 6' of a point of egress.

Victim weight was 120-150 pounds.

Key takeaways - 

 - Fire Based EMS with Jump Companies

 - How much the data reflects the fireground

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• Firefighter John Schowengerdt
• St. Paul (MN) Fire Department
• 1.3.26
• Modified Multi-Family Dwelling
• About 15 minutes from arrival on scene until victim removed
• Victim weighed about 175#
• Removal was a 2-person dirty drag
• 3-4 takeaway:
  • Don't be complacent
  • Expect victims even in small fires
  • Automatic Fire Alarms - If a building calls the FD stating it's on fire...assume the building is right
  • Practice moving victims up stairs

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Danville Fire Department

12/25/2025

1.5 story wood frame with small living space upstairs on alpha side

About a minute or less

approximately 200

Ladder removal from roof of covered porch

1. Don’t get complacent
2. Be ready to change tactics on the fly
3. Practice the basics! (Deploying Lines, Masking up, and Throwing ladders)

Devin Heinrichs - Firefighter (Acting up as LT for day of the fire)

Nathan Michael - Firefighter (Driver)

GHage Lange - Firefighter

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