UPDATE: High-Rise and Mayday Presentations — IHROC 2026

Good afternoon, everyone,

As part of the International High-Rise Operations Conference (IHROC) 2026, we are developing a focused presentation and discussion series examining firefighter Maydays in high-rise and complex vertical environments.

The objective is not to criticize the decisions made during difficult incidents. It is to understand the conditions firefighters faced, the decisions they made, the challenges encountered and the lessons that may improve future operations and firefighter survivability.

The following presentations are currently being planned:

• Dave McGrail — Denver: 2000 East 12th Avenue
• Daryl Liggins — Oakland: 725 Market Street High-Rise Mayday
• Jimmy Davis — Chicago High-Rise Mayday
• Patrick Doyle — Toronto: Thorncliffe Park High-Rise Mayday
• Mike Ciampo — New York: High-Rise Explosion and Mayday
• Dave McGrail  — Memphis: 750 Adams Avenue
• Kyle Saxton — Gulf Power Plant Incident
• Alain Rancourt — Ground-Scraper Incident
• Mike Cornelius — Phoenix Fire Department
• Todd Edwards — The Mayday from the Incident Commander’s Perspective
• Mike Terpak — High-Rise Building Under Construction: Near Miss
• Dan Mishler — 2018 Church Fire
• Driver Joe Wisz — The Chief’s Aid perspective during a Mayday
• Brent Brooks and John Evans — Toronto: Wellesley Street High-Rise Mayday
• Jerry Tracy — New York: Father’s Day Fire and Line-of-Duty Deaths

We are continuing to expand this portion of the program and are looking for firefighters, officers and instructors willing to discuss a high-rise Mayday incident in which they were directly involved or that they have studied in depth.

We are particularly interested in the operational details:

• What were the conditions?
• What caused the situation to deteriorate?
• How was the Mayday recognized and transmitted?
• What helped—and what made the rescue more difficult?
• What should today’s firefighters and incident commanders take away from the event?

If you can contribute to this discussion, or know someone whose experience should be included, I would very much like to hear from you.

These conversations are not easy, but they are important. The fire service learns through honest discussion and shared operational experience. If examining one difficult incident helps another firefighter recognize the warning signs sooner, then the conversation is worth having.

Please contact me directly if you are interested in participating.

Respectfully,

Brent Brooks
International High-Rise Operations Conference (IHROC)
highrise332@gmail.com