About Author: John Mittendorf

John Mittendorf
Description
John Mittendorf was a 30 year veteran of the Los Angeles City Fire Department and held the rank of Battalion Chief until his retirement in 1993. He has been a member of the National Fire Protection Research Foundation on Engineered Lightweight Construction Technical Advisory Committee. He has provided training programs for the National Fire Academy, UCLA, and the British Fire Academy in England. He has acted in an advisory capacity for five college fire science advisory boards and is the author of numerous fireground articles for magazines in the United States and Europe. He is the author of the books Ventilation Methods and Techniques, Truck Company Operations, and Facing the Promotional Interview. He currently lectures in the United States and the United Kingdom on strategy and tactics, truck company operations, fireground operations, ventilation operations, and the complete fire officer. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Fire Engineering magazine.

Posts by John Mittendorf

  • To expand on the terms backdraft (or also known as a smoke explosion) and flashover, let’s review these terms as both of these events are related from the perspective that...

    Reading Smoke – Part 2

    To expand on the terms backdraft (or also known as a smoke explosion) and flashover, let’s review these terms as both of these events are related from the perspective that...

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  • The mitigation of structural fires is a dynamic process that is normally based on numerous factors that can be summarized as follows:  Every structural fire presents a different set of...

    Reading Smoke – Part 1

    The mitigation of structural fires is a dynamic process that is normally based on numerous factors that can be summarized as follows:  Every structural fire presents a different set of...

    Continue Reading...

  • TACTICS EVALUATE THE PRINCIPLE OF “DISTANCE FOR TIME” Strip ventilation operations are normally accomplished by cutting a strip ahead of a horizontally extending fire, approximately 3-feet wide in the roof...

    Strip (trench) Ventilation – Part 3

    TACTICS EVALUATE THE PRINCIPLE OF “DISTANCE FOR TIME” Strip ventilation operations are normally accomplished by cutting a strip ahead of a horizontally extending fire, approximately 3-feet wide in the roof...

    Continue Reading...

  • TACTICS Safe and efficient roof ventilation operations are dependent on Standard Operational Procedures (SOP’s) designed to provide a basic knowledge that can result in effective and safe operations, regardless of...

    Strip (trench) Ventilation – Part 2

    TACTICS Safe and efficient roof ventilation operations are dependent on Standard Operational Procedures (SOP’s) designed to provide a basic knowledge that can result in effective and safe operations, regardless of...

    Continue Reading...

  • At 1330 hrs, an alarm is received for a structure fire. A short time later, you are the officer in command of a truck company responding to the alarm. Upon...

    Strip (trench) Ventilation – Part 1

    At 1330 hrs, an alarm is received for a structure fire. A short time later, you are the officer in command of a truck company responding to the alarm. Upon...

    Continue Reading...