One of the latest and greatest developments to provide a quick attack on a fire is the mobile pre-fire planning application from Massey. This software application gives great detail on a specific building footprint and location of key building features, allowing firefighters to quickly manage any fire incident. The highly advanced mobile app provides instant access to key building schematics and fire protection features. It is clearly a game changing piece of technology.
Robert Hoecherl
Fire Chief, Fort Lauderdale
The Massey App is clearly a game changing piece of technology that can greatly affect the outcome of events of all types, both natural and man-made. Knowledge is power and this application is one more resource in our “command toolbox” that will prove impactful in a way we couldn’t have foreseen even five years ago.
Brian Fennessy
Fire Chief, San Diego
The Massey App proved useful in assisting incident command and making timely decisions and coordinating an effective action plan. Feel free to use me as a reference for anyone wanting to validate the usefulness of the Massey App or any of your services.
Steven Shaffer
Deputy Chief, Boston
The Massey app, which brought vital building information with real time updates, aided the incident commander and was particularly useful in managing the simulated Mayday. This is an invaluable tool for the incident commander to have at their disposal. We hope to collaborate on future projects and would recommend your services to anyone looking to increase their knowledge in the rapidly changing field of high-rise building systems and their applications for emergency services.
Anthony Bompadre
Battalion Chief/Chief of Training, Philadelphia
The utilization of the (Massey) App by the building engineer in the fire control room to assist first-arriving crews in gathering critical intel on base building systems and floor layout was invaluable. Deploying first arriving resources in the most effective fashion possible is essential to a successful outcome. It certainly made an impact.
Mario Rueda
Deputy Chief, Los Angeles
After reviewing the Massey Disaster Plan, I am convinced this type of private sector initiative will produce safer buildings for occupants and owners. The Massey Plan contains the necessary components to accomplish incident command in an effective and efficient manner. I would strongly urge building managers to fit the Massey Plan into the next budget.
Lester Tyra
Fire Chief, Houston
I have not found the equal, nor the completeness of this particular pre-fire plan … as a tool for an incident commander to coordinate all the different systems found in such a high rise building. I have reviewed the pre-fire plan developed by Massey and Associates for the Standard Oil Building in Chicago. Utilization of the pre-fire plan would allow any fire department to be more efficient in the work entailed in fighting a fire in these types of buildings.
Richard J. Fitzpatrick
Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner of the Chicago Fire Department, IL
Over the past twenty years, President Curtis S.D. Massey has worked diligently with both City of Boston building owners and Boston Fire department officials to produce and continually update sixteen high-rise pre-fire disaster plans. These plans have been a most useful tool for the Boston Fire Department’s Command Staff during fireground operations, in that they incorporate high-rise building features, floor plans and diagrams and a building system summary guide that can be easily referenced by the incident commander.
Robert J. Calobrisi
Deputy Fire Chief of the Boston Fire Department
The format [of the Massey Disaster Plan] is well done. The information contained in the plan would be very helpful to anyone involved in a disaster in a [high rise] building, especially to the incident commander in a fire situation.
Aubrey D. Grant
Deputy Chief of the Tampa Fire Department, FL
[I have] never seen anything as extensive or as geared to firefighters as Massey’s Plan. It could give us a key piece of information that would help solve the problem sooner than we might otherwise.
William Shaughnessy
Assistant Fire Chief of the San Francisco Fire Department, CA
This document will be a tremendous resource for fire ground operations when faced with a major emergency, such as a high rise fire.
Charlie Dickenson
Fire Chief of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire, PA
I found your system to be very complete. In fact, I have never seen a pre-planning tool that provides all of the information that is important to responders in a format that is so easy to understand and use. Fire and other emergencies in high rise buildings are complicated events that present firefighters with extremely high levels of risk. The best way to deal with these risks is to have timely, concise information about the building and the hazards contained within.
Alan V. Brunacini
Fire Chief of the City of Phoenix Fire Department
There's not a high-rise fire we have fought that could not have been handled more efficiently and effectively with a plan like this available to us.
William Richmond
Philadelphia Fire Commissioner
The Massey Disaster Plan is a very concise and complete document, containing resource information that could be of assistance to the incident commander. Building managers, engineers, and fire safety directors should be thoroughly familiar with the Plan’s contents and thus be able to provide additional support to the Fire Department incident command post.
Ed Butler
Deputy Chief Manhattan Borough Commander, NY
I was pleased to visit with retired Houston Fire Department (HFD) District Chief Matt Stuckey regarding the latest version of the Massey Disaster Plan. Chief Stuckey was a very dedicated individual during his career with the HFD, and it is evident he has been, and will continue to be, a valuable asset to your organization. The Massey Disaster Plan that Chief Stuckey presented provides quick access to critical information regarding high-rise building construction and firefighting systems.
Phil Boriskie
Fire Chief, Houston Fire Department
[Translated] We are of the unanimous opinion that this system is a state of the art tool for high rise fire prevention, notably for its ability to provide primary information for dispatch teams.
D. Szimeth
Fire Chief of the Frankfurt Fire Administration, Germany
As we begin the new year (2005), it seems an excellent opportunity to thank you for the many contributions you have made to the CFD in recent months. You have generously shared your knowledge and expertise as a member of the panel of experts I assembled last spring to review the reports and recommendations that were developed in the aftermath of the tragic Cook County Building fire that occurred in 2003.
Cortez Trotter
Fire Commissioner, Chicago Fire Department
The Massey Plan brings a new dimension to incident command at high rise emergencies. Incident commanders have at their fingertips the unique information to make accurate decisions in a precise, easy-to-use format: clear cut graphics and concise text. Time, resources, and information are the key elements in incident command. The Massey Plan fills an important information gap of what the incident commander must know for the effective management of emergencies in high rise structures.
P.A. Christian
Deputy Fire Chief of the Boston Fire Department, MA
In addition to planning and helping to coordinate this exercise, you also provided on-site training in high-rise operations to our firefighters. The Massey App performed well for us in this exercise. The value of having thorough pre-incident plans at our fingertips cannot be overstated. I also like the new annotation feature in the app that allows us to quickly mark-up floor plans and share those mark-ups with other commanders at the incident.
Dominique Artis
Fire Chief, Dallas
Although we respond to structure fires daily, working fires in high rise buildings are rare. Accordingly, your discussion of stack-effect, reverse stack effect, pressure-reducing valves, the need for identifying attack and evacuation stairwells, pressurizing, and other topics specific to high rise operations was of great value to us.
Charles Hampton
Section Chief, Dallas Fire-Rescue Department
The response from Firefighters and Chief Officers, as well as building staff, was overwhelmingly positive. Many commented that it was the best Hi-Rise drill they had ever attended. The education and orientation provided by your subject matter experts was informative and well received by all members who attended. The ability of you and your team to share your experiences while explaining the challenges of fighting a fire in a modern hi-rise in a concise, comprehensive manner was one of the highlights of the drill.
Joanne Hayes-White
Chief of Department, San Francisco Fire Department
I've received a significant amount of feedback concerning the 2015 training and the evolution, and the response has been overwhelmingly favorable. Your level of expertise and dedication to the profession of firefighting was evident to all who attended. I've had a number of members remark how impressed they were with the knowledge that you were able to share with our department.
Louie Bright III
Chief, Dallas Fire Department, TX
Integrating the Beta version of your first responder mobile App into the command process proved to be of great benefit, especially putting it to the test with a firefighter may-day emergency. Having immediate access to building schematics significantly enhances command's response mechanisms to a rapidly evolving, dynamic situation. The App was quite impressive and easy to use "under fire".
Fernando Fernandez
Deputy Fire Chief, City of Miami Fire-Rescue
Another part of each drill was the testing of the Massey APP and Pre-Fire Plan by both the building staff and fire command under highly adverse conditions. Everyone was under intense pressure to perform, yet the extraction and application of key building data into our command structure was rapid and seamless. Having the ability to quickly access vital information such as riser diagrams, site plan, and detailed floor plans were highly instrumental to the success of our operations.
Maurice Kemp
Fire Chief, Miami Department of Fire-Rescue
We all recognize that High Rise Fires are thankfully low frequency events. However, the risk associated with the potential devastation to life and property that can occur in these structures is extremely high. It is through training such as yours that allows the PFD to continue ensuring "that everyone goes home."
Lloyd Ayers
Fire Commissioner, Philadelphia Fire Department
I am a strong supporter of pre-planning to achieve high-rise safety, and our department is working diligently toward that goal. The information contained in the Massey Disaster Plan is a valuable tool that captures key building information giving our Fire Fighters a tremendous amount of readily accessible information in an emergency situation. It would be fantastic if all of Cincinnati’s high-rise building owners and managers could maintain comparable documents as a core element of their life safety initiatives.
Mose Demasi
Assistant Fire Chief, Cincinnati Fire Department
Your presentation on high rise pre-fire planning, building features, and associated hazards was remarkable. Your approach in presenting the information using past and current high-rise firefighting procedures, then synching it with common and highly unusual high rise building features and hazards was excellent. Not only did you provide a great education on high-rise firefighting, you sparked the desire to learn more in your students.
Kenneth Malbrough
Deputy Chief, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department
Your document is one of the most thorough and professionally produced Plans that I have had the opportunity to study. The information that is generated in your “Pre-Plan” document addresses each structure's uniqueness and yet presents the information in a format that is standardized and easily adaptable by all Emergency Responders. I hope that more High Rises utilize your proven services so that all our communities' structures and people can be protected to the maximum standards available.
R. E. Head
Platoon Chief, High Rise Committee Chairman, Toronto Fire Services
At the training exercise our Incident Commanders utilized the Massey plan and found it to be a very comprehensive. They commented that they would like to have more hands-on in the use of the plan in order to become more familiar with it and thereby allow the most effective deployment of fire personnel.
Robert Chapman
Division Chief, Vancouver Fire & Rescue Services
Our Officers and fire fighters performed their duties extremely well as this was commented several times by the exercise evaluators including Curtis Massey, a specialist in high-rise scene management. Both these exercises revealed several challenges for our organization, valuable lessons to go forward with.
John McKearney
Deputy Fire Chief, Vancouver Emergency Services
Massey Disaster Planning has provided the Austin Fire Department with extremely comprehensive and detailed Pre-Fire Plans on select High Rise buildings in Austin. These plans hold operational value to the Department in mitigating large scale incidents at these High Rises. [The company] is attuned to the critical need for pre-fire planning High Rise structures due to their potential for huge numbers of casualties and difficulties inherent with transporting resources of manpower and equipment to upper stories.
George Blackmore
Assistant Chief of Operations of the Austin Fire Department
Thank you for introducing and providing me with a copy of the Massey Pre-Fire Plan. It is apparent that this plan was well researched and could be most valuable to emergency operations and High Rise incidents. I found the Massey Disaster Plan very user friendly, helpful as well as insightful. With the detailed information that the plan provides, our incident commanders have a vital tool for our high-rise emergencies, as well as a pre-emergency planning tool. I feel quite comfortable endorsing your initiative.
Jim Ullett
Deputy Chief of Urban Operations, City of Ottawa
On 9/25/05 shortly after midnight, the Pre-Fire Plan for this building proved to be a valuable asset to first arriving fire companies who responded to a fire alarm on the premises. On arrival they found that a dry loop in the sprinkler system in the underground parking garage had activated due to a leaking pipe. Companies used the Pre-Fire Plan book on the premises to quickly identify the location of controls necessary isolate the leak and shut down and drain the affected system.
Terrence Simale
Deputy Fire Chief, Village of Schaumburg, IL
All agreed that the clear and easy-to-read plans contain a vast amount of valuable information which a responding fire crew could apply during emergency operations. In addition to an emergency response resource, the training value that the Fire Plans provide will also be a definite asset to Halifax Regional Fire & Emergency when training on high rise procedures. It would be beneficial to the Fire Service if eventually all high rises and large occupancy dwellings have detailed plans, such as yours, in place.
Roy Hollett
Deputy Chief Director, Halifax Fire and Emergency Services
For over 10 years, your building evacuation and disaster plans have been part of our operation response planning. Having your easy to read building plans that show the foot print, bird's eye view are great. We especially like the floor plans with the new load bearing notes for possible terrorist activities. These plans also can help with finding trapped victims in a collapse.
Dennis L. Rubin
Deputy Fire Chief, City of Atlanta Fire Department
“On behalf of the members of the Montreal Fire Department, who may someday benefit from this Program, I wish to extend our gratitude regarding your concern and commitment to our firefighters’ safety. Your generosity and professionalism was duly noted. I found the Master Disaster Plan very easy to use and certainly very helpful, in case of an emergency. No doubt your Pre-Fire Plan is the kind of tool every fire department should have. You can be sure that our Incident Commanders will appreciate working with this kind of tool.
Serge Tremblay
Fire Chief, Montreal Fire Department, Quebec
Technology introduces new and highly technical infrastructure that the Fire Services is tasked to protect which truly stresses our resources. Your disaster plan document addresses these challenges in a refreshing way… Your document provides exactly what information is required for the safe handling of an emergency scene with little knowledge of the structure prior to the event. It is the quick access to accurate, at a glance, infrastructure information that makes your document standout.
Bob Smith
Deputy Chief Emergency Services, City of Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services
I appreciate the…employees of Massey Disaster Planning have asked for input from the Omaha Fire Department as they have gone through the process of developing a plan. This exchange of ideas will undoubtedly insure that the plan…will provide for both the needs of the Building owners and occupants, and the needs of the Omaha Fire Department. In the time of crisis the opportunity to have complete and accurate background information is essential in the timely and safe mediation of an emergency incident.
John M. York
Assistant Chief, Omaha Fire Department
Thank you for stopping by to visit last week during your stay in Washington, D.C. I was pleased to be able to spend a few moments with you to catch up on the progress of your disaster planning business. Your presentation to our Firefighting Division commanders was very informative and to a person each of them believed our department could benefit greatly on your pre-planning of buildings in our Nations Capital.
James B. Martin
Assistant Fire Chief, Government of the District of Columbia
On behalf of the Los Angeles Fire Department, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the time and effort you provided for the High Rise seminar that was presented to our Chief Officers on October 12 and 13, 2004. Your presentation on high rise building features, associated hazards, and pre-planning benefits was excellent. I’ve received countless telephone calls from participants who lauded the quality of the class, as well as numerous requests for copies of associated handouts for distribution to their respective commands.
John P. Miller
Battalion Chief, Los Angeles Fire Department
The information contained within the Massey Plan provides the next level of key building information, vital to the achievement of positive fire and life safety outcomes for the occupants of high rise buildings and for first responders. It provides timely and concise information related to the layout of the building, the emergency and fire protection systems, and the potential hazards contained within.
Wayne Brown
Fire Marshall, City of Calgary Fire Department
This letter is to thank you for assisting San Francisco with three days of extensive high rise preparedness lectures for our Department Chief Officers. Your attendance at the Memorial Day drill added greatly to the critiques of the drills.... As a result of your training, we are now revising our high-rise procedures. We are also going to designate a phantom box for the addresses of the Massey Pre-Fire Plan buildings.
Fred J. Sanchez
Deputy Chief, Operations, San Francisco Fire Department
For over 10 years, your building evacuation and disaster plans have been part of our operation response planning. Having your easy to read building plans that show the foot print, birds eye view are great. We especially like the floor plans with the new load bearing notes for possible terrorist activities. These plans also can help with finding trapped victims in a collapse.
Gerard Rioux
Deputy Fire Chief, Atlanta Fire Department
I personally found the Massey Disaster Plan very easy to use and certainly very helpful in case of an emergency. No doubt that your pre-fire plan is the kind of tool every fire department would like to have. You can be sure that our incident commanders will appreciate working with this kind of tool. Of course, a pre-fire plan have to be kept up to date in order to be useful.
Alain Michaud
Fire Chief, Montreal Fire Department
I found your system to be very complete. In fact, I have never seen a pre...planning tool that provides all of the information that is important to responders in a format that is so easy to understand and use. Fire and other emergencies in high rise buildings are complicated events that present firefighters with extremely high levels of risk. The best ways to deal with these risks is to have timely, concise information about the building and the hazards contained within.
Terry Ovens
Captain, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services
In a review of the plan with the chief officers, we were impressed by the volume of valuable information contained in the plan, the clear easy to follow format employed and the comprehensive outline of the private fire protection system contained in the building. Not only does the Fire Bureau view your plan as an important resource for the incident commander when confronted with an emergency in this building, but we also realize the value of the plan as a training tool when used alone or in conjunction with a high rise exercise.
John Gourley
Deputy Fire Chief, Pittsburg Fire Department
In my view, these plans can be an important tool for responding firefighters and command officers in locating key features, understanding and operating building systems, and in being able to rapidly deploy resources in these complex buildings. We are particularly pleased with your-responsiveness to our suggestions and input on the final form of the Fire Department Summary and Site Plan Sheets.
Robert Neamy
Deputy Chief, Los Angeles Fire Department
We used your floor plan of the fifth floor and all of the pull-out sheets in the scenario. A poster sized print of the site plan was used as a work sheet and chalkboard presentation aid. Your pre plan served the intended purpose of providing a realistic scenario in a building unfamiliar to any applicant, and also familiarized our applicants with your format. In follow-up, I am distributing copies of the tactical problem department wide, so that all employees can do table-top drills. This will familiarize the whole department with your format.
George Sumner
Salt Lake City Fire Department
I would like to commend the work your staff has done in preparing one of the most comprehensive Fire plans I have ever seen in my 28 years in the Fire service. I wish all High Rise type buildings would be done in this manner. Your Fire Plans should be the standard used by all large buildings in my opinion. Keep up the great work.
Michael Essex
Deputy Assistant Chief, Miami Fire Department
The Massey Disaster Plan is extremely helpful; it provides resource information that is essential to the Incident Commander. Most impressive!!!
James G. Stephens
Assistant Fire Chief of the Atlanta Fire Department, GA
The [Massey Pre-fire Plan] contains all the information we could possibly need in a high rise emergency in an easy-to-use format. … Although we try to do pre-fire plans on our high rise buildings, time and manpower shortages greatly restrict the amount of information we can gather. Additionally, the time required for updating our plans for each building can usually be expressed in terms of years. Massey’s Plan not only combines the experience and knowledge of trained fire offices with modern technology, but is updated as changes occur.
E.C. Jahnke
Assistant Fire Chief of the Houston Fire Department, TX
It is certainly the most impressive pre-fire plan that I have seen. The amount of detailed information is impressive and at the same time usable for emergency incident operations. I hope the business community understands the benefits of your company’s services.
Glenn A. Gaines
Chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, VA
Massey Disaster Planning has created a pre-fire plan for one of Edmonton’s high-rise developments which has been supported not only by our Fire Prevention Officers, but also front line staff…We have found Massey Disaster Planning to be a reliable source of information for this kind of planning. We believe they have a credible process for develop a disaster/emergency plan that could be customized for a specific high-rise building.
Jan Haak
Deputy Chief Fire Rescue Operations, The City of Edmonton, Alberta