Leihbacher

Ladder company personnel are charged with the responsibility of locating the fire for the engine and searching the fire occupancy for victims. The degree of danger they encounter varies with the stage of fire growth and the age and construction of the fire building. The seasoned truckman gauges the danger by reading the clues the fire scene provides and adjusts his tactics accordingly. One of the fundamental locations where essential information can be found is the door to the fire occupancy. Before taking any actions, the door should be sized up for the information it can provide.

The first thing to consider is the construction of the door. Is it wood, steel, metal-clad/foam core, etc.? The construction and relative soundness of the door and jamb will dictate the type of forcible entry to use. A steel door and jamb will respond well to hydraulic forcible entry with a hydra ram or rabbit tool. A wooden door will respond better to conventional tools. What type of locking devices are present? A standard mortise lock with a dead-bolt or drop-bolt cylinder do not present a particularly difficult forcible entry operation. However, three or four locks may suggest initiating forcible entry on the hinged side. A cylinder in the center of the door indicates a fox security lock. These are very time-consuming to open and usually require a trip back to the apparatus to retrieve a power saw with a steel cutting blade. It may be easier to breach a wall or find another way in.

The direction the door swing will effect the method of forcible entry used. Does the door open in or out? The vast majority of residential apartment doors open in, whereas most commercial doors, especially at places of public assembly, open out. A quick way to tell is to look for the hinges. If they are not visible, the door opens in.

Feel the door. Is it hot? The temperature of the door will indicate the severity of the conditions on the inside. If its glowing cherry red, there is fire directly behind it and it should not be opened until a charged hoseline is bled and in place. A door that is warm can indicate a fire that is remote from the entry door in a distant room, or a moderate fire condition inside.

The next thing to observe is the position of the door. The door’s position can help the search crew assess the potential life hazard inside. Is the door open, ajar, closed, or locked and secured? A door left open or ajar may indicate that the occupant has hurriedly left the apartment. However, it could also indicate that someone, either fire department or civilian has already entered to search. The presence of signs of forcible entry would indicate the former. Is the door closed but unlocked? This could indicate that someone is home. Is the door locked and secured? Usually, the door is locked when someone leaves the house. Therefore, a locked door may indicate that the occupant is not home, but that is not necessarily so. Many people, especially women and elderly in urban areas, lock their doors for security when they are home during the daytime, and most people lock their doors at night before retiring. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the time of day, and the type of neighborhood in your assessment. A door with a padlock on the outside is, however, a clear indication that the occupant has left or the apartment has become vacant. There are instances when someone may have been locked inside, which cannot be discounted; but that is not the norm.

Is the chain latch engaged? Upon forcing a locked door, note whether the chain latch is engaged. If it is attached to the door across the jamb, there is a strong possibility that someone is still inside. Unless the occupant left via a fire escape, they are probably inside and unable to get out.

Is there resistance behind the door? As the door is pushed open, resistance behind the door can indicate a victim. Often, fire victims succumb to smoke just before they reach the door or window through which they sought to escape. Occasionally, in high crime areas, furniture is placed against an apartment door that is not used for added security.

Once the door is opened, stay to the side and “let it blow” for a moment before entering. Take a look at the fire conditions inside. How far down is the smoke banked? What color is the smoke? Light gray wispy smoke at ceiling level, while not a guarantee of safety, usually indicates moderate fire conditions. Heavy, hot, dark smoke pushing out at you indicates a fire that is ready to light up. Smoke being drawn back into the room indicates a decay-stage backdraft. Use caution!

Is fire visible from the door? In what stage is the fire? Is it incipient? Is it early growth? How much heat is present? Are there pre-flashover conditions? If you encounter high heat conditions, thick smoke billowing and pushing out, flame rollover in the smoke, or vent point ignition, you have a fire that could flashover at any time. Under these circumstances, let the engine company go in first and hold the fire. After they move in, search off the hoseline to the left or the right. The greatest deterrent to a flashover is a charged hoseline. If no hoseline is available, at the door, do not penetrate into the apartment more than your body length. If you go in deeper and a flashover occurs, you won’t survive.

Finally, always maintain control of the door, both before and after entering. If heavy fire or pre-flashover conditions are encountered, it is imperative to keep control of the door. Often, control of the door is lost during forcible entry. If a hoseline is not yet present or charged, losing the door can place all members operating on the fire floor and floor above in immediate danger. Avoid kicking in a door. It can fly open and become irretrievable inside the apartment. Use tools instead. Before initiating forcible entry, loop a short piece of rope around the door knob so that when the door is popped, it can be pulled back to the closed position until members are ready to enter.

Controlling the door when it is forced open is of topmost importance. One option is to attach a rope around the doorknob so that when the door is “popped” open, it can be pulled shut quickly, if conditions warrant. This is especially important for doors that open inward.

Once inside, many search teams leave a member at the door to serve as a verbal tether to provide orientation to the point of entry. The door can either be closed or left open. When left open, it is easier for later arriving firefighters to locate the apartment. However, keeping the door closed (with a tool as a chock and/or a member at the door) lessens the cross-ventilation draft and may slow the fire’s development during the search. A closed door also limits the smoke entering the hallway. While keeping the door closed can reduce cross ventilation, if the smoke is thick, a closed door can feel the same as a wall and be easily bypassed unless it is chocked or a member is left there as described above.