Posts Tagged: ‘fire attack’

The Long Stretch and Push

April 9, 2012 Posted by Jason

Take a look at the pictures and think about getting water on the fire to the upper floor and/or making rescues.  This building is one that is old and not sprinklered.  It sits off of the road and aerial access is extremely limited, almost ineffective.

When looking at this type of building we need to consider the construction type, occupancy, access and egress points and any special hazards.  What are our initial resources and what should we have coming on the way?

This building is four stories and is a dormartory at a college.  The corridor length is 225 from stairwell to stairwell. As you look at the building in the picture, the stairwell on the right is more remote from a parking surface than the one on the left.  The elevation that you see in the picture from this side is the same on the opposite side.

There is a basement under this building with tunnels that lead to other campus buildings with limited access and egress where kids sneak away to do what kids sneak away to do. There is a great deal of combustible storage in these basements and tunnels.

Type 3 construction is the type of building we are dealing with and the interior has been altered over the years.  There is an automatic alarm system but no standpipes.  Water supply is limited; the closest hydrant is approximately 300 feet from where you would likely place first in companies and that hydrant, if laid from, would severely hinder access by other units because of only one access to the campus.

So, here we go……..what are your tactics and why?  Watch the video and let everyone know what you would do and why.  Use this for discussion purposes and relate it to buildings that you might have in your jurisdiction.  Share your thoughts and ideas.

Train hard and we hope to see most of you at FDIC 2012 next week.

 

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Categories: building construction, fire attack, firefighter safety, rescue, SCBA, search, Uncategorized

Company Officer Basics

February 10, 2012 Posted by Jason

The officer must be the one that watches for conditions.

The officer must be the one that watches for conditions.

 

When a  crew is making an interior attack, or any task, on the fire ground, the officer must be the eyes and ears of his crew.

Although everyone is responsible for safety and identifying unsafe conditions, the officer must continually keep a watchful eye on conditions.

Too often I have witnessed the officer take the nozzle, dragging the firefighter along into a burning structure.  The officer should be the more experienced person on the line; there is a reason he is the officer. ( I know that is not always the case, but, you get the point.)

I can remember being in a 3-story house with fire blowing out the rear on the first floor and making an aggressive interior attack as the nozzle man.  About 5 minutes or so pass and I am right up on this thing not making much progress.  The acting officer tapped me on the shoulder and said we needed to back out.

I of course did not want to, but what I didn’t see, because I was focused on the fire fight, was that we were pushing fire around the stairwell back to the front door, where we entered.  Mostly because we had the wrong sized line for the amount of fire we had.

But, the point is, he was doing his job. Not just helping me with the hose line, but seeing the “big” picture.  He was paying attention to more than just what was in front of him.

As officers on the hose line we are expected to be aware and to get the job done.  On that fire it meant pulling out and going back with a larger line, which was effective.

Watch for changing smoke conditions. Look for fire behavior that may be odd.  Just look at everything and stay aware.  Get the job done and get back safe.

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Categories: building construction, fire attack, firefighter safety, rescue, SCBA, search

“Follow the Coupling Drill” Anywhere

June 30, 2011 Posted by Gary Graf

We have all done a “Follow the Coupling Drill” where we are placed in the center of a pile of hose spaghettied around the engine room and told to find our way out.  Here is a quick, inexpensive way to do this drill at every training exercise or anywhere around the engine house.

Find a piece of hose that has been removed from service, it works best if the couplings are not damaged.  Cut both couplings off the section of hose, leaving about 12” of hose.  Connect the couplings to each other and you’re finished.

During a training exercise walk-up to any firefighter, ask them to close their eyes, then place the coupling in their gloved hand and ask “which way is out”?

This can be taken anywhere, completed in seconds, and requires no set-up or tear-down time.

Take it and Train with it!

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Categories: fire attack, firefighter safety, rescue, SCBA, search, Uncategorized

Searching Off of the Line

June 5, 2011 Posted by Jason

With today’s fire service being cut to the bone, fire departments are finding themselves short handed in every aspect of our day to day functions.  This affects how we operate and it may require us to change how we perform some tasks.

In other areas fire departments have been running “short” since their inception: 3-man crews.  They have never had the man power to separate functions like fire attack and search.  They have always had to  and continue to adapt to the resources that are available.

In my part of the country, the second example is by and large the most prevelant. The majority of departments that are not volunteer operate with 3 person crews. That includes the driver.  This obviously creates some challenges and some adaptability to each situation.

One area is searching buildings.  The best way to protect victims and icnrease their survivability is to improve the atmosphere by putting out the fire and venting to let toxic gas, heat and smoke to be evacuated out of the building.

However, there are many instances that require us to physically find and remove victims from burning buildings.

Many areas are seeing large homes that are difficult to use traditional wall searches because we are not getting to the middle of the room.  This becomes a challenge also due to the many doors and additional rooms that these buildings contain.

One method that we teach and practice is searching off of the hose line with a length of webbing.  The initial crew can stretch a line and search at the same time. Is it a little slower? Sure, but they can perform both functions effectively if they train properly.  What is important is that they understand that they must put out the fire if they come to it first and remove the victim if they find them first.

When searching with a line one firefighter can tie a girth hitch onto the hose and advance with it. When they get to an area large or cut up, they extend off of the hose line while holding the webbing and staying in voice contact with the nozzle firefighter.

Depending on the length of the webbing the search firefighter can cover a lot of area in a very short time without ever losing contact with the hose.  The nozzle firefighter can continue to watch for changing conditions and has the ability to push back fire if encountered.

This is just one method that can be used in these instances.  You must train and practice to your department’s guidelines. If you have techniques and methods that you use, please share them.

Stay safe and train often.

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Categories: fire attack, firefighter safety, rescue, search, webbing

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