Roof opener and method for the venting of structures by fire fighters

Claim 1

A roof-opening device for use by fire fighters to open a vent hole for the venting of gases from a burning building of the type having a roof of underlying plywood panels attached by nails to roofing beams wherein a saw cut has been made through said panels, comprising: a shaft having a longitudinal axis and a top end and a bottom end, said shaft having a handle defined at said top end; a fulcrum member positioned transversely to said shaft at said bottom end; a pair of tines attached to and extending outward from said fulcrum member, said tines spaced apart in parallel relationship to one another a distance wider than the width of one of said roofing beams wherein said fulcrum member has an upper top portion and a bottom portion and said tines extend from said upper top portion of said fulcrum member, said device further including a pair of reinforcement members extending from the bottom portion of said fulcrum member to an intermediate position on said tines, respectively; and wherein said tines are flat planar members approximately 10 inches in length and approximately 1.75 inches in width, said tines thin enough to fit in said saw cut, said tines spaced approximately 2.5 inches apart from one another for positioning around a roof beam of said building for leveraging and forcing a roof panel upward from said roof beam to release the nails that hold the panel to said beam by pulling them out of said roof beam.