Brannigan's Building Construction for the Fire Service

This book is very informative and provides insight into the reason behind aspects of the fire code.

This book is a must read for any fire fighter! The information taken from this book in addition to the IAFF Fire Ground Survival course may save your life one day. The book covers everything, from the basics to the advanced. Very well written and is easy to understand and apply to "your" situation.I am very glad I purchased this book.

It seems to be a great tool to go with the book "Building Construction for the Fire Service" however, I did not use it as I found out I ordered the wrong books.

I have found this book useful & easy to follow. I have heard from others in the fire service that this is one of the better books.

Unfortunately this book was chosen to be one on my Fire Department's promotional exams. I believe that building construction is one of the primary knowledge bases for firefighting, and while this book tries to address this, the delivery is very poor. I have nearly 15 years of firefighting experience on two continents, worked in construction and have studied our industry in depth and like most Firefighters learn best with anecdotes and pictures/diagrams to draw parallels everyday experiences. This book fails on nearly all levels and while I respect Brannigan for his time on the job, insight and tales I feel the Editor(s) of this book have drastically reduced it's potential. For example, on page 54 fig 3-12 the text refers to cast iron columns but the picture is of rolled steel (possible concrete filled or lally columns) which react completely differently in a fire situation, on page 204, fig 9-5 the text talks about precast prestressed concrete (wall) panels but the picture shows an 18th century church in London (I used to work in the UK as a firefighter) - possibly St. Paul's Cathedral with weather proof sheathing around scaffolding which is there to protect workers form the weather and by standers from cleaning products so the picture is of something completely irrelevant. On page 214 there is text about metal deck roof fires. The story and actions are good but the underlying science is incorrect. When cooling the underside of a metal deck, you are cooling the roofing materials, in this case tar and NOT removing the fuel from the fire as suggested in the text. On page 174 the example of a collapse zone is mis-interpreted when dealing with a gas explosion. I could go on. I'm sorry to use so many examples but I feel it is the only way to be objective other that saying that I don't like the book and now do not trust the text to give me relevant information. This is unfortunate as being tested on this material means that one must do a lot of 'unlearning' and I believe it is dangerous for firefighters who read this text and take it as the gospel truth for it has the potential to mislead and in this business that can mean firefighters get hurt. If you are a Chief or Training Officer please do not chose this book for further study.

This is the best book out there for the fire service. I have had the author, Glenn Corbett, as a professor and he is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever known in the fire service. Great book and strongly recommended for anyone within the fire service.

Mr. Brannigan was the man when it came to building construction and how it effects firefighter safety. Not to mention, fire ground tactics based off of building construction. This book is a must read for anyone in the fire service. Two thumbs up...

This book was required reading for the class my son is taking. They said it would take up to 3 weeks after ordering to get the book but, it arrived within 7 days through UPS. Very happy with the book and the turn around time to receive the book.