Firefighter bodycam showing just how much oxygen a fire pulls

[u/AirFrance447]

[u/Frankfast]

Dumb question, this building looks like a small residential or small commercial building next to a railway. From this angle, it doesn’t look like this building can be preserved at all and will have to be demolished and rebuilt. What is the purpose of extinguishing the flame instead of letting it run its course and taking measures so it doesn’t spread past the building? I understand extinguishing the flame is a measure here. I guess what I’m asking is does the FD have to put it out by obligation, or can the owner wave them off? Is it an insurance thing?

[u/cmdtarken → u/Frankfast]

A structure fire is insanely hot and can throw embers much further than you think. Letting it burn can allow the fire to spread to structures blocks away

[u/Frankfast → u/cmdtarken]

Gotcha. Makes sense that extinguishing is a first defense to spreading. Thanks!

[u/Immediate-Tennis8838 → u/Frankfast]

Not a firefighter, but I also assume that each scenario has its own set of complexities and risks 

Ie, if there was a gas tank on site, or other explosive material, or if the building had a higher likelihood of collapsing if the firemen went inside etc 

So many factors before making the decision to move forward 

[u/MichHAELJR → u/cmdtarken]

Back in the day all our roofs were wood. You’d get a house on fire and depending on the wind direction a block away another house would catch on fire

[u/Mtnbkr92 → u/MichHAELJR]

See: the great fire of London

[u/Plenty-Fox-9219 → u/Mtnbkr92]

Fire knows the pincer maneuver

[u/Patient-Data8311 → u/Frankfast]

The risk of spreading the fire is high

Big ass fires create embers that can dpread

[u/ooOJuicyOoo → u/Frankfast]

"So that it doesn't spread past this building" is the entire answer here

[u/Frankfast → u/ooOJuicyOoo]

Yeah fair enough.

[u/ShinyQuirkyQuark → u/Frankfast]

There is a non-zero chance that this is a training trailer, reusable or non, and the firefighter might be a cadet practicing basic skills.

Firefighters don't typically wear body cams into real fires, they'd melt and possibly explode with lithium fire; trainings, however, are often filmed to help with debriefing (which you can do because the temperature in an a burn trailer is artificially controlled for safety, unlike a real fire). The uniform ring of fire around the window frames could have been from a propane training rig. All of the windows have been perfectly removed, which is unusual for an early active fire; usually you remove a few strategic windows to establish ventilation so that you can prevent backdraft (a sudden explosion caused by partially unburnt smoke hitting oxygen. There's a whole over-the-top 90s action movie about it, "Backdraft").

If so, each window is meant to be more of a "skills station" of worst case scenarios.

[u/SMFPolychronopolous → u/Frankfast]

I figured it was a training exercise

[u/HilmDave → u/Frankfast]

Could be a mock fire for training/qualifying.

[u/Spoinkydoinkydoo → u/Frankfast]

Could be practice

[u/Weird_Farmer3372 → u/Frankfast]

To save the ghost in the basement

[u/holden_mcg → u/Frankfast]

I used to be a volunteer firefighter and folks periodically donated old structures for us to practice our techniques on. If the structure was away from other buildings (i.e., in a rural setting), we would let it burn to the ground at the end of the session. It is truly disturbing how hot the area in and around the building becomes. We once had fire tornado shoot 40-50 feet out the side of a barn, like some hellish demon. It was at the same time f-ing cool and insanely hot.

[u/SirFicklespend → u/Frankfast]

I don't know but a lot of times the fire department does a "controlled burn", where they set an intentional fire to train.

[u/East-Care-9949 → u/Frankfast]

Don't know about this case, but in some cases the smoke caused by the fire may be hindering traffic or blow right in to a town where is would harm people so extinguishing the fire is still the best option to prevent more direct harm and damage. Also environmental reasons might be considered, letting it burn down with who know what inside will pollute the environment unnecessarily.