Just ran across this article: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/integrative-fire-fighting/
Lol. I have often been insulted directly to my face by "Firefighters" who think they know all. They will gladly douse the electrical wiring and entire interior of a house with water to extinguish a flame that would have been contained by closing the door for a minute to deprive it of oxygen. My home is very old. It has cloth wrapped electrical wiring. Dousing the house means every wall will have to be broken to get to the wires. And all that nice asbestos insulation means it would be cheaper to let it burn than to attempt that. The firefighters mean well. That I have no doubt of. But they need to understand that my home is not even combustible. It literally cannot burn. Things in the house can burn. But water damage would be ten or more times the expense. All that said, the panicked firefighters would absolutely have to kill me to do what they insist upon to destroy my home. If I have a fire, I will grab my Cat and leave and shut the door. I will stand outside and refuse to let them inside until they hear me out. They will probably break windows to feed the flames oxygen as they do in every retarded scenario I have ever heard of though. /sigh.
I dont mean to be rude but that was amazingly stupid as soon as they hit the "homeopathy" part. And they claim that arsenic, cobra venom, thyroid hormone and sulfur is a great way to make firefighting safer? Do they realise that those substances will kill you if it isn´t properly disposed of? Well except for sulfur which will make fire even more fiery and thyriod hormone which will only kill your child (if you are pregnant). Its nice to see it was filed under "humor" at least. Damn - I understand the sentiment that home owners know their house better and that firefighters should listen to them and, for instance, not use water in case of burning oil - which is what foam extinguishers are for. Edit: Ah it was posted april 1st. Didnt see the date in the post anywhere so I feared it was legit for a second there.
It's on the Science-Based Medicine website -- it's a satire of homeopathy, showing how absurd it is, by applying the same things that homeopaths say to firefighting. As far as water damage is concerned, there are actually some serious posts following the article (if you dig deep enough for them) that talk about legitimate firefighting equipment that don't use water. Computer rooms are often equipped with Halon systems, as Omni points out, water would be far too damaging. But there are dangers associated with Halon as well (long story short, I once nearly got myself haloned lol. Funny now, but wouldn't have been funny at the time)
True and I honestly think it brings up a good point in firefighters and the need for them to listen to the homeowners if possible. On the other hand, I dont know how things are in the states but here in Denmark, firefighters are pretty well trained in how fire works, why and how to use it in firefighting. I am married to a doctor and was more or less horrified as I read that article hehe. Its a shame though because, even if it is written to make a point, some people will read this and think "yeah that sounds right. SCREW HYDRO-Whatchmacallit!".
One thing I enjoy reading about (I suppose you can call it a hobby) is skepticism and skeptical thinking. I got into it after observing some of the bizarre stories that appear in the mainstream media, as if they are facts. That includes everything from television psychics and mediums, doomsday believers, 4-thousand-dollar plus audio cables. magnetic wristbands and homeopathic remedies hawked even by pharmacists who know better, and having people I know actually believe in them. At one point I got really angry at my mom's neighbor for trying to get her to wear a plastic mask filled with magnets to cure her allergies or something like that. It's the 21st century, and we built an entire modern society based on science, and yet people still insist that science is nonsense, and everything works by magic. Anyway, I sometimes can get riled up by some of the nonsense, because I see the people that buy into it as victims of con artists, the truly deluded who may once have been victims themselves, but have since drunk the kool-aid, and occasionally even the mentally ill. I'll list some of the websites I enjoy reading, in case anyone else shares my interest in that subject: http://www.randi.org/site/ http://depletedcranium.com/ http://www.badscience.net/ http://www.badastronomy.com/index.html http://www.quackwatch.org/ http://www.straightdope.com/ http://www.snopes.com/ http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/
I remember someone once told me that they used magnets to prevent nosebleeds. I told them to shut up or I would use my magical magnet-fists to make their nose bleed. They shut up. They were clearly smarter than I thought. Here in Texas, the Police and Fire Fighters are caring concerned people. But they are sadly deficient in several means. They are one of the lowest paying professions. And that does not say much for intellect. But aside from that, they are seemingly very dumb most of the time. Understand that I respect them, and appreciate them nonetheless, but they think they know everything. The smartest way to fight a fire is to deprive it of an environment that it can thrive in. Period. I have in several decades been unable to convince local firefighters to *Not* break windows in a house they suspect may be on fire. They simply will not listen. They say they have to break windows so they can see if smoke comes pouring out. They say they have to break them so they can potentially hear a person that may be trapped inside. They say they have to break them so they can get a hose inside. /sigh They are dumb. Leave the windows intact and shut all doors once you can ensure the home is vacant. Usually the house is either a total loss before they get on scene or the homeowner is outside and ready to confirm in a second that no-one is inside. Most fires inside a home are cooking fires that absolutely *Will* go out if you deprive it of oxygen. The few other types are usually a uncontrollable mess that should be left to burn while ensuring the fire cannot spread instead of fighting the pile of smoldering cinder for no reason. (Meaning they should turn the water to nearby homes rather than the already ruined home.) Last Summer we had a bad drought of only a few inches of rain over six months or so. Yet every time they ignored the burning grass that will spread the fire to the next house to instead focus on the house already destroyed. They are not paid for their achievements. They are paid for showing up. They have absolute power and they love that. Half the firefighters are power hungry morons. Period. They may mean well, but they are not helping most of the time.
Pretty sure that the FES has been proven to be a large gag, i.e. the people who maintained the website were doing so as a satire, not because they actually believed it.
I read this and when I got to "a homeopathic solution of sodium", I was like, "oh, you mean a chemical mix that is scientifically proven to work? what" I also first read the title as "Homoerotic Firefighting"
If it has been, you should inform the Bad Astronomer and his forum, the major other websites listed in that above post, and also explain that to people in real life, who believe in it outside of that website. That's the first time I ever heard that the FES were faking their belief. I wouldn't be surprised, but that has gone on far longer than a satire based thing would ever go on for.
Yep, I was a big fan. I didn't agree with everything on the show, though (as a skeptic, you have to learn to be skeptical even of other skeptics). Regardless, it was a fun show to watch, (and not only for the nudity). Of course, one cannot discuss skepticism without mentioning Mythbusters.
BTW. I have a friend who's a semi-retired firefighter. Maybe I can get some of his insight on the issues that Omni raises. I'm betting that part of the problem is that modern firefighting techniques/equipment hasn't made its way through all of the country yet, either because of cost or availability, or because of lack of training. Some of the posts in that article I linked do address that issue.
