Brennan Q&A Febuary 2005

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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.

FEBRUARY 2005

Question: I am an engine-company captain for a city fire department in the San Francisco Bay Area. Recently, my crew discussed our points of view regarding which company should leave first on a structure fire response: the engine or the truck. We do not have a department policy dictating which company should lead. Some crews have found success in having the engine lead, while others have been happy with the truck leading. Could you please provide feedback on this topic? Thanks.

Answer: The whole point of this discussion (problem) has to do with the answer to the real question: "How do I better assure the best positions for my units at structure fires and other emergencies?" This question also pertains to departments that house more than one unit in firehouse facilities.

The second impact factor is that traditionally engine units left the station in front of all other units. The argument was that the trucks and support vehicles were much slower.

The third is that truck units MUST be able to get the best position possible at structure fires to be able to use their aerial device effectively and fully and to have the enormous collection of tools and portable ladders also close to the points of operation — but mostly it was for aerial device position. Without that position, it is nothing more than a bus with tools. Another guideline was that no second unit should enter the fire block (narrower than perhaps 100 feet) after the first arriving engine or pumper until the responding truck arrives.

In the heydays of fire after fire, these considerations begat more and more "rules of the road." The term "first-due" no longer really meant anything, because it was so busy one didn't know where the initial response was coming from, as those programmed were operating at the first emergency scene. So to keep it simple: we decided that if the engine (pumper) housed in quarters with a truck was expected or assigned to arrive at the location of the alarm first, it deployed or responded first. If that engine unit was not probably the closest to the alarm location, the truck went first. All to get or assure that the truck would be able to gain the best position for the emergency.

Today that nightmare has been compounded. The use of large-diameter supply hoses for in-line supply, the practice of the second engine company gaining water supply for the first-arriving engine, and the stretching of the preconnect hose lines from the front of the fire building all combine to put the truck units out of position altogether — or, at best, at the poorest side of the structure (see most fire pictures around the circuit). The first engine arriving still has to find the adequate water supply and position to stretch the proper-size hose with as much room and as many choices as possible. The truck then must have the choices for position based on all the size-up factors (that we will not go into here) before the second and third pumpers, the rescue units, the ambulances and all the other support vehicles enter the scene. (Unfortunately the police vehicles are not under our control.) So to accomplish that more smoothly and with less aggravation and to cut down the pucker factor, I still teach the following recommendation in truck operation classes: If the engine in the house is assigned first to arrive, it goes first. If not, the truck goes! No other unit should enter the fire block until the truck is assured the "best-case" position.

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Write if you agree or don’t agree or on anything. Tbrennan@firenuggets.com

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