RT @FireTrainingToo: Have you ever been in a fire and hear Ammo going off?
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Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot, Toys R Us, or various other chain and brand name stores. No matter the name they go under they all have one thing in common.
THEY ARE HUGE!
They also provide a very difficult fire problem for even the largest and best staffed fire departments in the fire service. In these instances we must abandon our traditional “residential” tactics and deploy more logical approaches to dealing with these large structures. One of the most crucial things we must adjust is our initial on scene 360 survey.
In our ordinary residential setting the first due company officer performs a 360 scene survey on foot, noting building construction, fire conditions, presenting victims, hazards, etc. However in the commercial occupancy environment the 360 is just as important but a more daunting task. Simply put there is no way we can cover the needed ground, noting the important characteristics, fire conditions, and hazards while staying on foot. In a larger department with more resources simply assigning a company to side C could accomplish this task. However in departments that are resource challenged this is not always feasible.
THE MOTORIZED “360″
The Motorized “360″ is simply stated utilizing the apparatus to perform the 360 scene survey. When arriving on scene to a large commercial occupancy stay in the apparatus, and if possible drive around the entire building. While doing this perform your survey as you would any other time noting fire conditions, building construction, hazards, egress points, victims, water supply, etc. Once this is completed you can develop your action plan and assign units accordingly.
The benefits of this are:
1. Faster scene survey
2. More accurate size up of fire and smoke conditions.
3. More eyes on the structure (Even if only staffed with 2, fours eyes looking at the structure is better that just two, more staffing equals more eyes looking and reduction of the chance that something critical will be missed)
4. Location of deployment point options (The front door in these occupancies may not be the best option, a side or rear door may put you closer to the fire limiting your exposure to a dangerous floor plan and fire conditions)
5. Location of on scene hazards in the rear and sides of the structure
6. More accurate victim information. (Not everyone evacuates via the front entrance, especially employees in the storage areas of these occupancies. This will give you a more comprehensive assessment of how many possible victims you are dealing with, their locations, and access points to them)
7. More accurate size up of building construction and current building conditions.
While the 360 scene survey is always important the fact that these occupancy types are daunting alone when not on fire even add more emphasis. As previously stated we must abandon our residential tactic mentality and utilize a methodical approach. Taking the time to do an accurate size up will enable first in company officers to gather critical, life saving information for victims and all firefighters on scene.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
Have to thank my good friend Rude Boy for pointing this video out to me. Apparently it was on some other websites but I missed it.
I just have some thoughts, and I do not know everything about this fire, this fire department, their staffing anything like that. I just see a very small snap shot in time and have some thoughts to consider.
1. It seems a lot of focus was on the room on fire. While I think that’s a good thing fire tends to move up,down,left,right,front, and back. It what appears to be some sort of multi family occupancy with adjoined rooms where is the line above? Where is the line in the room adjacent to the fire room? In fact why are searches not being initiated in those rooms as they present more chance to produce a viable victim?
2. They found a victim after knocking down a MASSIVE amount of fire. They obviously thought this victim was viable because they drug him out of the building. Then they took what they thought was this viable victim and….left him there. Why did someone not start hands only CPR? Why was an EMS crew not close to the scene?
Again not picking because I do not know what the circumstances are that these firefighters were facing, but this incident speaks to me about some priorities I may want to make at my next fire, or that you may want to consider at your next fire.
Do we (insert your FD here) even have the resources readily available to combat a fire like this and care for a victim? If not how can we get them? If we are depending on mutual aid can we get them on the first alarm, or do we need to adjust when that process gets started?
The fire service is not easy, especially today when we have extreme fire loads, buildings that fail easier, and we have to process all of those things in a dynamic time compressed environment. On top of that every move we make now is documented and put out there for all to see, so every “mistake” is magnified. That makes it all the more important to get in the gym, get on the training ground, and do all the prep work on the front end. Lets give these amature filmmakers Oscar performances!
Thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
I say interesting because very rarely do you get to see a video with 2 victim rescue, and the forcible entry process of a heavily fortified door, with a roll down gate. Take this video and apply your departments response and staffing to it and ask yourself,
1. How would you deploy your EMS resources for the victim rescues?
2. Do you have enough EMS resources for multiple victims, and still maintain rehab and medical monitoring of your firefighters? If you don’t where/how can you get them?
3. Whats your protocols for smoke inhalation? burns? Where is your trauma hospital/burn center? Can you get there by ground fast enough or do you need a helicopter/air ambulance?
4. How/who would force that door? Would you do anything different?
5. When is the last time you reviewed roll down gate forcible entry?
Use videos like this as a learning tool, sit down with your shift/crew and ask how are we going to tackle this fire? Do we have occupancies like this in our first due? Have we visited them? Do we have a preplan?
This fire could happen in your area TODAY! Are you ready?
Lets make the year 2013 the year of training in the fire service. It does not always have to be the 6 hour-long class, it can be something as simple as watching a video, stretching a hose line, or going over a tool in the bay. If you dedicate 1 hour of your shift every shift to some type of fire training, and then 1 hour to some type of physical training I guarantee you will see results!
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
By now I am sure a lot of you who frequent the trade magazines, fire service blogs, etc. have seen videos and reports on how new and old furnishings impact fire growth and development.
We all know it yet we continue to see minimal change or acceptance to change on the tactical level.
I heard this quote from an instructor the other day while he was teaching about difficult airway. Basically he said when it comes to difficult airways he doesn’t belive in “fighting fair” and he is going to use every tool at his disposel in order to secure the airway, and secure a good clinical outcome for the patient. This brought to mind the question….
Why do we fight fair?
Lets think about it.
Fire is dangerous: It is hot, it produces toxic smoke and can use it’s by product for destruction and death. It is already well ahead of us by the time we know about it.
Buildings are dangerous: The wood used today even if dimensional is not of the same density, of legacy construction and does not perform as well under fire conditions. Additionally the buildings connection components are not as strong as they used to be.
Our training is inadequate for todays fire environment: We train in concrete burn buildings with class A combustibles that in no way mirror the fire growth, fire behavior, or building response of the modern fire environment. Even when we train in acquired structures the fuel packages and safety features we add to the houses make them unrealistic.
Some of our staffing levels are inadequate: Some departments are being made to ride with less than 3 people making it even more difficult to make a positive impact of today’s fires.
Taking into account all of these things, knowing all that we know, and yet we still make the conscious effort to fight these fires fairly!
We do not owe these fires a fair chance! We need to take the maximum amount of water, people, and equipment in order to overwhelm the fire. BY taking in undersized crews, handline, or pushing poor tactical choices is the same as going after an elephant with a BB gun.
Do not get me wrong overkill is not the answer, but when appropriate use the big guns, as an old captain of mine used to say know the difference between an infantry fire, and an artillery fire. Do not be afraid to knock it down from the outside and then finish it off, in that same breath do not be afraid when it is warranted to crawl down that dark hallway with a handline and put the fire out.
No matter what you do, or who you are the fire always has the element of surprise when it comes to us, lets minimize its advantage by using our superior fire power and not giving it the chance to win.
As usual thanks for reading spread the word and STAY SAFE!
Your just cleaning up from lunch, when the tones drop. Engine 1, Engine 2, Ladder 1, Squad 1, Medic 1 and Battalion 1 for the residential fire 1345 West St.
You drop what you’re doing you head to the rig you get all your gear on you jump on the engine, you buckle up and begin putting your pack on. The engine pulls out of the station your officer sees a column of smoke in the sky, you’re going to work!
You arrive and you hop off the rig and pull your hand line to the front door, you may be on the porch landing, you may be right in front of the door but your close, no one is getting a line on this fire before you. You drop to your knees and begin to don your SCBA face peice….then this happens
Now I am not going to quote a bunch of statistics, to you because frankly I do not even know if someone has studied this phenomenon. What i do know is that I have been to enough fires, seen enough videos, and heard enough stories to know that this stuff happens. Hostile fire events come out of open doors and windows, and even under enough pressure can open closed windows and doors or for lack of better term possible vent openings.
Take a look at this video:
Not only is the danger of a hostile fire event possible from masking up so close to the structure, but these firefighters are already in an IDLH atmosphere. That smoke the are “eating” is no different from the smoke inside the structure. It contains the aggregates, and cancer producing abilities just the same as any other smoke it makes no difference that it is outside. It is also super heated and could damage your airway.
Now everyone knows I am a big fan of masking up in the rig. However if this is not your style then perhaps you should not mask up so close, to the structure. One approach would be to treat it like a Haz-Mat situation creating Hot, Warm, and Cold zones. Cold zones no PPE required, Warm zone PPE donned, Hot zone all PPE required. This would minimize the risk of the hostile fire event and unneeded smoke intake, that is quite frankly killing us slowly. I do not care how in shape you are the damage the smoke does to your lungs and airway can never be repaired. It may not affect you now but eventually it will, what you do today will minimize its impact.
I am reminded of a story that happened a few years ago on a fire. We arrived and fire was through the roof and it was decided that we would go into defensive operations. My brother on the truck company masked up, was pulling the soffit from side A in order for our hose streams to make access to the attic space. When he inserted his NY Roof Hook and pulled tar from the shingles that had melted and pooled in the soffit space shot out and splattered all over his face piece. Had he been “mask less” because this was a defensive operation that super heated tar would have burned him, and possible gotten into is eyes, and mouth. This could have ended his fire service career! However because he wa a mask up in the truck kinda guy he came off ready to work, and was uninjured.
So whether you are in the mask up in the truck camp or masking up in the yard camp try to be aware of your surroundings and keep away from masking up in front of possible vent openings and in the smoke being produced by the fire.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
It is just about that time! The air is cold, the days are shorter, and you can smell the wood burning in the air. That is right folks WINTER IS BACK! Around here we refer to winter as fire season, as the chances of going to a fire are significantly increased by people using a variety of methods to heat their homes.
I have seen everything from your standard wood stove/fireplace, to people leaving their oven door open to heat there homes and apartments. These creative methods of heating can create a huge increase in call loads, and cal types for us from chimney fires, to burn patients.
It takes a ton of extra preparation on our end to be ready for these responses here are a few older posts where I outline some tips on how to survive the winter:
Those above posts point out just a few things to put into play before you try to tackle winter fireground operations.
Bottom line is the winter makes everything we do that much tougher, its cold, dark more hours of the day than light, and did I mention it is cold? Well then we add snow, ice, freezing rain, wind and the stakes of the game just got upped! It is hard enough for some people to pull a hoseline on a normal day, now add in a few inches of snow or a slippery surface and this task just west from tough to dangerous. Many a fireman have been put out of the job, or on the light duty shelf during the winter time.
Also take into account what we know about response times, building construction, and fire behavior. Fires are going to burn at the same rate during this time yet, during times of precipitation our response times, and deployment of resources (companies, people, hoselines) is slowed to a crawl. With everything going slower yet our enemy moving at the same rate of speed, we have to adjust our tactics, let me say that again, WE HAVE TO ADJUST OUR TACTICS! We can not go about these fires the same when our response and deployment times are doubled and even tripled in some cases.
We have to overcome these factors with increased training, and planning. Instead of just pulling hoselines on flat land during your training, pull them up a hill. I know some places even have restrictions on training in poor weather conditions, but if we are expected to fight in these conditions I feel like we should embrace them. Im not saying do 3 hour drills in the snow, but if it snows maybe pull a line and then pack it back, go out in the dark and pull some lines, or at minimum go outside with your turnout gear and walk around to see how difficult it is to walk around in the snow and how much you have to adjust. Just doing these small things could make the difference in someone’s life, or the building becoming a parking lot.
So now is the time to get geared up and ready, because this winter has already been bad for some, and it could be a rough one after the mild one we had in my area last year.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, STAY SAFE, and STAY WARM!
In multifamily dwellings all over the country outside stair wells exists. They can be made of metal or wood. In either case we do not know the up keep of these stairs, nor do we know if these stairs have been subjected to vandalism, or the quality of their construction.
While at work yesterday out int he district I noticed a particular set of stairs that looked a little suspect.
As you can see by the pictures these stairs are weathered, rusted and have seen better days. How would they stand up to the weighted of fully geared fireman deploying hoselines, tools, rescuing victims, etc.? These particular stairs lead to the rear exit for the second division apartments. How would these stairs hold up to victim evacuation, or victim rescue? If these stairs were to collapse how could we overcome them with the equipment we carry?
These are all things we need to figure out before the incident. We have minimal influence over the individual complexes to up the maintenance program, or repair/replace the stairs or other features of the buildings. What we do have influence over is to get out in our district, and discover and plan for these failures before the incident.
So in short get out in your district and find problems like these, and let the companies that respond to them know about them. DO NOT KEEP IT A SECRET!
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
The above video gives us a great chance to read smoke prior to fire department arrival. It is a great example of turbulent smoke an indicator of impending flash over. Without immediate water delivery and a cooling of the interior compartments the fire will surely reach a flash over state.
It appears that the arriving engine company elected to use an exterior attack, and then go interior once more firefighters arrived. This technique has been branded as “transitional attack”.
Some have panned this technique as not keeping with the truest sense of the fire service, that not making interior attack every time makes someone less of a firefighter. A wise fire captain told me that in todays fire service knowing when not to go in, is more important than going in. Meaning simply that the construction, staffing, fire loading, etc. are different and in order to defeat the problems of today, we must make sound tactical decisions based on a true fire and structural assessment. After that we must adjust the tactics we use to meet the needs of our problem.
Taking this video at face value you can not argue with the success of the technique utilized…a well advanced fire, producing three-dimensional, turbulent smoke was knocked down and the smoke production reduced. While the initial assessment of a rescue profile would be minimal, the rapid reduction and production of smoke by this technique could make a rescue viable in some of the rooms adjacent to the main fire area.
Every technique has its place and time, this fire with what appeared to be a reduced initial staffing level screamed transitional attack. Even a beefed up staffing level it would have been a great option.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
In this instalment of what would you do we are presented with a house fire. We get a rare look at most of the development of the fire, and a scene without fire department intervention until later. This gives us a chance to fully absorb the scene and practice our critical decision making skills, and then see what the responding department actually did.
I will just provide a few insights. I preface these insights with the fact of I know nothing about this department, their staffing, or there operations. I do not know if they have a ladder truck, squad, rescue, ambulances or anything else. These are just observations made based on my own experience level and the departments I have been apart of.
1. First In Lay In: Time and time again in real life and in video I constantly see companies forgoing laying into fires. It could be SOG, it could be preference, it could be down right laziness. I am just a fan of laying in. I find it the most efficient way to ensure that you get a continuous water supply. In the departments I have been a part of we always laid into fires, and had the second engine finish the hydrant hook up. This way if for some reason the 2nd engine never shows the hose is already on the ground, and the driver of the first rig can hook his own hydrant up. If the hose stays on the rig, and the second engine never shows, now that driver may have to hand jack that LDH to the hydrant, further delaying the water supply component. If the stretch is too difficult for one person, the entire company may have to be redeployed to the LDH stretch which delaying the fire attack.
2. Apparatus placement: Again I do not know if this department has a ladder company, but if you do we have to understand as engine company firefighters that the ladder and cord reels are the same length every time. The fire ground real estate is critical for the special service companies in order to deploy them effectively. Engine companies literally have thousands of feet of hose. It is better to have to stretch some additional hose lengths and leave room for the special service than to park in front of the residence now making the special service useless. Our ladder companies and squads/rescues show up on different apparatus because they provide a different service than the engine. Their mission, their deployment model are different and for good reason. Do not deny the special service company the chance to provide you with air superiority (ladder), high-caliber streams (ladder pipe), or any of the other things they provide that we may not have (fans,forcible entry,special tools,etc.). The only thing this apparatus position would give you advantage is if you utilized your own pre piped deck gun, which leads to the next point.
3. Line selection: Big fire big water, is a phrase that sounds good in an assessment center, and people constantly speak it at every turn, yet I rarely see people put it into play. This fire was the prime example of a large advanced fire that needed a large-caliber hand line, and or a deck gun/portable master stream. To the naked eye it may look like the initial medium caliber line (1 3/4) was effective, but if you take a look at the thermal column there is still a massive fire inside this structure. Some of the hesitation to deploy these lines is staffing. I argue that companies that are heavy staffed can make miscalculations in line selection and correct them by using the people they have to deploy another line. Minimally staffed companies can not afford to make those mistakes as the personnel to add additional lines are not readily available, and to take those from in coming companies could impact other critical functions. the 2 1/2 can be deployed exterior with 1 firefighter, and interior with 2. it is hard, dirty, and labor intensive but it can be done.
So now it is your turn, take a look and apply your departments deployment model, and practice your critical decision-making skills. Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
A couple of things before I sign off…..
I said a few posts ago that myself and Ryan Pennington (http://www.viewsfromthejumpseat.blogspot.com/) had teamed up on a new venture. I did not want to say too much about it until I was 100% it was going to happen, but now since it is a go I am very excited and proud to announce that we are providing a new Podcast for Firehouse.com. It is called “Average Jake Views From The Jumpseat” . we have already recorded the first episode and it is with the editor and will be available for listening online very soon. Additionally I may also be contributing some blog type content for Firehouse.com. Again I am excited to see where this new venture can go. If you have any topic you want to see covered on the Podcast send it via email (averagejakeff@gmail.com) twitter @averagejakeff or in the comments section of a post.
Lastly it is NASCAR race weekend here in Richmond Va…and the start of NFL football season. So I will be at the race track starting tomorrow until the race is run. I will however also on Sunday be taking part in the 2nd Annual Richmond Virginia 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb. It will be an honor to once again share the stairs with firefighter that truly embody “Never Forgetting”.
Well that’s all for this time!
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
What I want to focus on, is the fire and its effect on the victims. This is not a large fire, the smoke is not turbulent, three-dimensional, no signs of impending flash over, or even violent free burning within the structure. Almost all fire departments in the country would look at this as a bread and butter, one line fire. Most fire departments would even look at this and assume any victims inside would have a great chance of survival and aggressive search tactics should take place. I would even agree that an aggressive offensive approach to this fire should be launched into this occupancy, and that our searches if proved positive with locating victims the outcome would be positive.
Why where they not?
Captain Marsar from the FDNY has written several articles on “Survivability Profiling” and has been met with mixed reviews, mostly from old school purists who belive in searching anything anytime no matter conditions or information available. One of the thing Capt. Marsar talks about in his class and articles are the toxic levels of smoke, temperature within fire buildings and the human bodies ability to withstand these dynamic factors. Bottom line is the human body is fragile when it comes to high temperatures, and toxic, oxygen deprived environments.
So whats the point?
The point at least from my perspective is that in today’s fire service with minimal staffing, and the increase in toxic smoke from todays fire environment the emphasis on extinguishment rather than search needs to be placed back at the top of the priority list, and a self-evaluation of each fire departments individual capabilities needs to be conducted to establish how to do business. Speaking more plainly we need to decide how we are going to put water on the fire, as fast as possible, with our resource compliment. Andy Fredericks once stated that a properly placed hoseline has saved more victims that the best search teams. It seems we have gotten away from that.
While my experience with victim rescue is not as prominent as others, I have participated in several and of all the victims I have pulled out of fire buildings NONE of them had any thermal damage (burns), all of them died from SMOKE exposure not THERMAL exposure. The fire is what is producing the toxic killer, putting the fire out stops the production of toxic smoke, and can allow the survivability chances for anyone inside the structure to be increased. Take the post from the other day http://averagejakeff.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/what-would-you-do-4/ While this seems like a cut an dry scenario, we can not assume that the presenting victim is the only victim. While throwing a ladder will save him, extinguishing the fire will provide a chance for anyone still inside to be saved including the exterior presenting victim. Simply put the line offers the chance to save them all, the ladder only provided the chance to save one.
Engine operations are the backbone of everything we do, if you were going to start a fire department and could only buy 1 fire truck, you would buy an engine. While today’s engine companies are inundated with other seemingly important responsibilities we can not push fire scenario training to the back burner. The fire department, and specifically the engine company are the only ones who can do what we do, there is no back up plan for someone having a fire, so we have to be experts at getting water on the fire as rapidly as possible, utilizing multiple techniques and varying degrees of resources.
Thats all I have got for this time….
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
