Okay toast, im guessing you have had a substantial career in either a paid or volunteer service and have vast knowledge in many areas by the many opinionated posts ?
Now..
The roof is alight, the top floor is alight.. Have you ever been to any jobs where this is the case?
The jobs where I have been to have all resulted in collapse. (Either partly or wholely). Especially with the conditions described by Bittenyakka. It is *well* involved... This means massive deterioration to the supporting elements of the building. Things like Evap airconditioners lose the supports they were sitting on, they drop to the earth. Timber gerders, they drop, tiles, parts of ceiling, they drop, now they are dropping onto a fully involved top floor? Could that drop? Is the *risk* worth losing a firefighter or two? I think not.
Not to mention your first arriving appliance has 3 BA, so you cant send in anyone anyway ! BA Safety crew comes to mind. (Not to mention the limited water the crew would have to the hose while in there) - Meaning you have no one on exposure protection, no one finding a water source, who's running the pump and the job?
Apart from the people who opened their door and were backdrafted on.
Wouldn't the fire flash? I thought reaching 'flashpoint' is what occured when oxygen mixed with pyrolosis gasses and an ignition source causing the ideal mixture?
Why would they have been difficult? The roof burning through would have made them easier as heat and smoke rises, not to mention that there would be quite a few windows broken by the backdraft making ventilation easier and almost complete? Even if the windows weren't broken by the force of the backdraft, then a FF with a ladder and a Pike Pole/Axe/Halligan can do the job.
What further ventilation techniques would 'you' undertake while the roof has been opened up? I said it would be difficult, not impossible to further ventilation. Oh, and Im trying to work out who is going to get up the ladder with the ceiling hook, 1 appliance, with 3 BA crew on board, apparently you have crews on interior attack, safety crews standing around doing very little, an ECO, an OIC, someone running your pump, somehow protecting exposures and containing the fire? Did a troop truck with crew roll up during the job?
We are talking about what we would do on arrival, my first plan a few posts ago was to upgrade the response, weigh up the situation, realising we are under crewed for the job, undertaking a defensive and exposure protecting plan, while trying to minimise damage to the structure.. Maybe 30 mins into the job when I have 30 f/f's on scene, a cascade of water and a few more members trained in BA I might change my tactics...