Saturday, September 7, 2013

Sporting Ammunition and the Fire Fighter - An Excellent Video

This video, Sporting Ammunition and the Fire Fighter, was made by The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI).  It was posted to YouTube by the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). It is similar to ones I have seen in the past but I watched them ages ago in my federal law enforcement and firearms instructor training days before I had as much ammo on hand as I do now. So, it was reassuring to see that things have not changed regarding ammunition involved fires in that modern ammunition (note, I am talking about fully assembled ammunition and not separate ammo components like gunpowder or primers) does not pose a mass explosive threat during a fire. There is not even much of a threat, to a properly dressed fireman, of injury from flying shell casings or bullets, that comes from ammunition ignited by a fire. In addition, there seemingly is little threat of ignition of ammunition in falls or crashes.

If you store ammunition in your home or business, and have about 26 minutes to spare, I recommend watching this video. Then you may want to assure that your local fire department has also shown this video to all of its firefighters. You would not want them responding to a fire at your house, finding out there was ammunition stored therein, and then backing off from the fire because of unsupported fears about the explosion that they thought was sure to ensue. Yet, I could imagine many firefighters thinking just that way in the event they had not been properly trained about how ammunition burns off in a fire.



All the best,
Glenn B