Brennan Firepics Comments 9

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TOM BRENNAN has more than 35 years of fire service experience having responded to 33,000 fire alarms. His career spans more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (Conn.) Fire Department. He has a bachelor of science degree, summa cum laude, John Jay College; Alumnus of the Year Award, John Jay College; chairman of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association and a charter member of the National Fire Protection Association, Fire Service Section. He has delivered courses and seminars throughout the United States and has instructed at the National Fire Academy. He was the editor of Fire Engineering Magazine for eight years, is currently a technical editor, and his column “Random Thoughts,” is a regular monthly feature. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition. He is the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.

DEFENSIVE VS. COLLAPSE DEFENSIVE

First we have to recognize the easily discernable strategy in place at this incident. That is: “Defensive.” Perhaps the hand line is in place as an assist to large-caliber streams set up elsewhere. The hazards of the burning products may be of significant proportions — note the foam runoff in this photo. If you were arriving at this scene, what questions would you ask prior to engaging in your assignment?

Let’s now address the collapsing building. In this photo, it appears that this is a one-story structure that is probably frame construction. The point is here that the fire-ground commander should have enough collapse indicators in place to order the shift to defensive and then further into collapse defensive.

What is the difference?

Defensive operations are aggressive outside operations to extinguish the fire structure that is in question. There are not enough collapse indicators to indicate the probability of collapse, and outside operations may be aggressive. What are these aggressive operations?

Interior offensive operations on-going in exposures (remembering an exposure is anything within 30 feet of the fire building).
Aggressive aerial stream use. Elevated streams placed low in the window openings of the floor assembly that is the primary target. Remember, aerial streams directed to the roof above the parapet wall are usually ineffective and counterproductive.
Tower ladders — beginning at the original fire floor, move from window to window horizontally and then vertically and then horizontally and then return and then … and then....

In short, extinguish the fire from the lowest floor to the highest.

Defensive collapse operations are less aggressive, and the highest concern is the protection of the personnel and the fire department equipment.

All apparatus must be moved outside the collapse zone. Aerial devices must operate further and further from the building as the building gets higher above the stream.

In this case, a one-story building, the units must be as far from the structure as there is structure above them. One-story buildings, the sidewalk and the parking lanes are ALWAYS in the vertical-collapse zone.

Incident commanders in situations of collapsing fire structure like this have both a problem and a blessing. The blessing is that the point source of the fire will be diminished greatly as soon as the frame structure collapses.

The problem is personnel. Up to the point that you are operating offensive, you never have enough people. After defensive shift and preparation for collapse, you have too many people. You must give operating firefighters at this scene either a task or send them home. Idle personnel at collapsing structures almost always get in “trouble.”

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