the sides they're referring to (number 2 and 4 fully engulfed) are the way tactical units number a building when they're setting up. 1 is always
facing the road/main entry, 2 is the left side (looking at the building), 3 is the back side, 4 is the remaining side. when they say "3 4 fully
engulfed" they're referring to the corner where those two walls meet. they're not (I'm assuming) saying both sides are fully engulfed, but rather that
particular corner is now lit up. I'm at work, so I can't listen to the recording right now, but based off the transcripts it appears to be units all
around the house communicating whether their area of responsibility is lit up or not.
as for the burners: i won't even hazard a guess as to what those are. i won't say they intentionally set actual fires or not, because I wasn't there
and don't know. I will say that there are any number of things tactical units can refer to as burners, from untraceable firearms to smoke canisters to
CS canisters. it does NOT necessarily indicate an actual intent to start a fire, but i'm not saying it doesn't either. without knowing the specific
equipment used, i would only be guessing. there are different types of gas/smoke grenades that actually burn hot enough to cause combustion given the
right circumstances.
again, not offering any opinion on whether they did or did not intend to start fires, simply trying to clear up some of the lingo.
edit on
13-2-2013 by Shamrock6 because: (no reason given)
