#452 IFIW Australia – Ep03 James Mendoza Large Volume Gas Cooling & The Home Depot Fire

In this episode of the IFIW Australia mini-series, James Mendoza, Captain and Training Officer with the San Jose Fire Department, takes us inside a major large volume fire at a Home Depot in 2022. With a background in education and microbiology, and experience contributing to UL’s Coordinated Fire Attack study, James blends science and street-level decision making as he unpacks the realities of operating inside a thirty foot high warehouse filled with high rack storage, compressed gas cylinders and lithium ion batteries. This is a raw debrief of what it actually looked like when the smoke layer dropped to the floor and traditional straight stream techniques began to show their limitations. We explore gas cooling in a large compartment, the cognitive load on company officers, the tension between defensive indicators and life risk, and the uncomfortable gaps in training when firefighters are highly competent in residential fires but underprepared for mega structures. The series is supported by Enduro Protect and De-Wipe, organisations committed to protecting firefighters from long term exposure risks while continuing to develop operational competence. Links to both can be found in the episode notes. Connect with James HERE You can also download the full presentation using the link HERE For those undertaking professional development, CPD is available for listening to this episode through the Institute of Fire Engineers - email membership@ife.org.au PROTECT YOURSELF IN LIVE FIRE WITH ENDURO PROTECT & DE-WIPE Access all episodes, documents, GIVEAWAYS & debriefs HERE Join me at Blue Light Show in London in July Podcast Apparel, Hoodies, Flags, Mugs HERE our partners supporting this episode. GORE-TEX Professional Clothing FIRST TACTICAL- tactical gear for elite operators MSA The Safety Company JAFCO IDEX FIRE & EVACUATION SERVICE LTD Send us Fan Mail Support the show ***The views expressed in this episode are those of the individual speakers. Our partners are not responsible for the content of this episode and does not warrant its accuracy or completeness.*** Please support the podcast and its future by clicking HERE and joining our Patreon Crew

You can listen to #452 IFIW Australia – Ep03 James Mendoza Large Volume Gas Cooling & The Home Depot Fire online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

#452 IFIW Australia – Ep03 James Mendoza Large Volume Gas Cooling & The Home Depot Fire is an episode from The Firefighters Podcast by Pete Wakefield.

This episode is 53:08 long.

This episode was published on Mar 5, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Firefighters Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.