By Vincent Dunn

There are priorities on how firefighters should assist people from a burning building. People should always be removed from a burning building using the safest possible way. A firefighter can increase the victim's risk of death and injury by the way the person is removed from the fire.

Fire photos sometimes show firefighters erroneously taking a person from a safe location, at a window or fire escape on the floor below the fire, onto a shaky aerial ladder 50 feet above ground

There is a priority of how people should be rescued from a burning building based on safety of the victim being removed. The method of removing people from a fire in priority of safety is: use the smoke proof tower first. If not available, use an enclosed stairway or next, a fire escape. Using an aerial platform is safer than taking a person down an aerial ladder; the last resort is a rope rescue.  

• Vincent Dunn is a retired FDNY Deputy Chief. For more tactical advice and tips, go to Vincentdunn.com. For lecture information, call 1-800-231-3388.