March-April 2010 Issue

	March-April 2010

As We Get Better, It Gets Worse

By Brian Brush

For the guys in this picture, properly ventilating the structure was the only way they were going to work. In the absence of SCBA and PPE, releasing heat and getting smoke to lift had to be done first in order for any interior operation to take place. That is in large part why there are nine guys on this truck company.

Fast forward 100 years and we are in a very dangerous place. We get to fires faster, thanks to cell-phone notification, computer-aided dispatch and “Quantum” pumpers. We are dressed and fully encapsulated when we step off the rig. We quickly stretch a pre-plumbed cross lay to the front door. This all comes together for “fast attack,” putting interior crews all too often in the transition stage of fire behavior from growth to fully developed.

The fires we are fighting are consuming more synthetic and petroleum-based materials than natural products. This new fuel is causing hotter environments that are more toxic with explosive byproducts and dirtier smoke. They burn in structures that are being built tighter and more energy efficient than ever before, secured to a greater degree than ever before, and built out of lighter weight materials with the poorest quality construction methods ever.

The simple point is that technology has advanced us in our abilities as much as it has advanced our opponent. Therefore, addressing ventilation needs early and often maybe really hasn’t changed that much over the years.

Commit this to memory: As we get better, it gets worse!

Once we acknowledge this as truth, we will stop asking the infamous line-of-duty death question: “In this day and age, why are we still killing so many firefighters?”

Wake up! We are the “we” that is “killing” firefighters when “we” place false hopes in the fact that technology will give us an edge. We have response-time statistics, staffing-level studies, and fire codes, all showing how we are better today at what we do. Guess what? The statistics prove that fire is getting better at what it does too. Fire is causing more damage and killing civilians and fire fighters more efficiently every day.

See the NFPA 2008 Fire Loss Report: www.nfpa.org/assets/files/PDF/OS.fireloss.pdf

In 2008, there were 515,000 structure fires. Down 3 percent from 2007 and the lowest number since NFPA began collecting data in 1977.
This is less than half the 1,098,000 structure fires that occurred in 1977.
At the same time, the death rate per 1,000 home fires was 8.1 in 1977 and 7.2 in 2008, for a decrease of only 11 percent.
When property loss is adjusted for inflation, the increase in the average structure fire loss between 1977 and 2008 is 80 percent.
In 1977, 156 firefighters died in the line of duty, with 118 LODD in 2008 — only a 24 percent decrease.

These are just the numbers. Consider how much better we are at collecting fire reports today versus 1977, and I am sure that the American fire service responded to more than that reported million fires. The civilian fire death rate is the most concerning. Thirty years of technological advances in detection and alarms coupled with a 50 percent decrease in structure fires and only 11 percent decrease in the per 1,000 fire-death rate. Finally, line-of-duty deaths: 30 years has brought SCBAs to all firefighters, radios to almost all firefighters, the incident command system, and RIT teams. The list is long but maybe pointless, because the fact is we only reduced the number of line-of-duty deaths by 24 percent in those same 30 years.

If 30 years ago was before your time, as it is mine, here is one to bring it home to our generation: NIOSH reviewed 444 firefighter fatalities in structure fires over a 15-year period from 1990 to 2005. Eighty-seven percent of those fatalities occurred at fires without recognized or coordinated ventilation.

Here “we” are killing firefighters in the “modern” fire service. This 1990-2005 time period is a pretty common career at my department. “Our” generation is doing this! We always recognize bad communication is a key contributing factor on line of duty death reports. We claim at the coffee table that will never change. I would say that the fact that “lack of recognized or coordinated ventilation” appears on 87 percent of those reports as well demands equal attention and should be something we can change.

Just because we are stressing the need to vent doesn’t mean we got the green light. Eighty-seven percent of the 444 firefighter fatalities occurred at fires “without recognized or coordinated ventilation.” Translation: Venting without a plan may be as dangerous, if not more so, than foregoing ventilation entirely.

Initial ventilation of fires in enclosed structures is a necessity for a safe, effective interior fire attack. Enclosed environments compound the effects of heat, pressure, and steam and increase the rate at which oxygen is consumed by fire. Every second a fire burns without ventilation, our job is getting harder and the potential of occupants surviving is drastically reduced.

We as the “professionals” must show the discipline to avoid the tunnel vision the aforementioned technology is forcing on us. The “wet stuff on the red stuff” is the blind leading the blind, and it is costing us lives and property more frequently than ever before. You are doing something about this problem by reading this article and subscribing to Firenuggets.com. Take the next step and revisit the importance of understanding sound ventilation principles and practices with your company.

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