David McGrail

After attending the Second Annual Andy Fredericks Memorial Golf Tournament, I had a few revelations. One was another confirmation of what tremendous, top shelf, first cabin, “A” team, supreme individuals Ted Corporandy and Paul Schuller (publishers of Fire Nuggets) are. These two brothers went above and beyond the call, again, and organized another outstanding event. Another revelation was that for all they do for me, I should get off my ass and make a contribution. So here’s a Fire Nugget with a great big thanks to Ted and Paul for all they do for us. Yes, several months late, but finally submitted!

I have had a few changes in my life, including a new assignment on the job. For the past two years I had been assigned as what we refer to as a “roving chief.” On the Denver Fire Department (DFD), roving chiefs fill in for the regularly assigned chiefs on their respective Kelly Days and vacations. It was a great assignment. I got to see several areas of the city and meet firefighters and officers I had never before met or worked with in the past. Best of all, occasionally the fires and good incidents would follow me around the city. The down side was living out of my car and the road trips to our far northeast district during rush hour.

Due to the normal course of events on any fire department, retirements, promotions, etc., I finally have achieved the necessary seniority as a chief to get a permanent assignment. I have been assigned to the DFD’s District 3 for close to a year now. This area includes much of south and southeast Denver. There is a good variety of work in District 3, from single family dwellings to commercial high rise, and a whole lot of multiple dwellings in between. An interstate highway (I-25) runs through the middle of the district, and due to a major construction project to expand it, I find myself with companies on what we refer to as the “Valley Highway” every shift, sometimes for good wrecks, and occasionally parties trapped. The South Platte River is the western border of the district and can occasionally provide some wet work from the men.

Shortly after being permanently assigned to the district we had a very busy Friday night. The shift included two working fires, both of which were good jobs. The first fire occurred in a single family dwelling. We got it as a report of smoke in the area of East Asbury Avenue, between South Magnolia Street and South Monaco Parkway. Ladder Co. 22 was first to arrive in the area and reported a lot of smoke but couldn’t immediately identify the source. After a short time, companies located a dwelling, mid block on Magnolia Street with heavy smoke showing from both the basement and first floor.

Ladder 22 quickly forced entry, and the first engine company, Engine 22, stretched a line into the house. Engine 24 assisted 22’s with their stretch and then stretched a backup line of their own. These first-due companies were doing a great job getting this operation off to an excellent start. Engine and Ladder 19 arrived on scene within a few minutes, along with Rescue Co. 1, and District Chief 4 was my second chief. Engine 19 was my RIT. They completed a 360 for me and collected information for me by performing a RIT RECON.

Usually at this point during the course of operations at a typical single family dwelling fire, you begin to see some positive results. However, the smoke conditions were getting worse, fire was actively venting through two basement windows, and communication from interior crews reported that they were having a difficult time finding the stairs.

The dynamic environment of an interior structural fire has several elements, including the products of combustion, most notably the smoke and heat. A failure to quickly deal with the production of smoke and heat can lead to serious problems, not the least of which is potential flashover.

It was clear to me that additional horizontal ventilation would be necessary in order to relieve the dense smoke and high heat conditions facing interior crews. I assigned Ladder 19 to complete additional horizontal ventilation, along with Engine 19 during their RIT/RECON/360. Companies took several windows, which immediately relieved a significant amount of built up smoke and heat from within the house.

With the much improved visibility, Ladder 22 quickly located the stairs and directed the engine company to the location of the main body of fire. Aggressive water application via the “peoples choice” nozzle, delivered a powerful 180 gallons of water per minute through a 100-percent dependable 15/16-inch orifice, immediately knocking the fire down. This rapid knockdown allowed Ladder 22 to complete their primary search and conduct a thorough check for extension via pre-control overhaul.

From my perspective at the front of the building, I was starting to see good, positive signs, including white smoke and positive feedback via radio communication from the interior. Within a few minutes, radio traffic from the interior chief reported primary searches were negative, and all extension of fire had been stopped. I had Rescue 1 complete my secondary searches, and once that came back negative I was ready to go under control.

And that’s it for the exciting stuff. After some initial difficulty finding the stairs, some pro-active horizontal ventilation took the lid off and allowed the interior teams to push their way in and find the seat of fire. Just good, old-fashioned, common-sense, back-to-basics, fireground strategy and tactics. There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters. The building obviously suffered some damage from fire, smoke, and water, but it was still standing. After a few months of repair, the occupants were back inside.

OK, here’s where things start to get interesting. After the fire was declared under control, all the excitement is over, most of the companies are picking up, I’m holding the first-due engine and both truck companies for the investigation and post control overhaul. That’s when an officer from one of the companies approached me and stated the following: “I think the guys got a little carried away breaking these windows, don’t you?”

First, I must tell you, the officer that made this statement is a very good officer. He has plenty of experience, many years on the job, and was well respected by the men and the chiefs in the district. A very likable guy and one I have had many fires with; each time he was someone I could truly depend on to get the job done.

However, his comments bothered me for a number of reasons. I didn’t jump in the middle of him; I simply said: “Lieutenant, I ordered the men to take those windows out.”

I could tell by his expression that he was a bit shocked by my response. I think he was looking for me to agree with him and address the broken windows with an ass-rippin’ for the perpetrators. He said to me: “Chief, we have had our asses ripped so many times for breaking windows in this district, I thought that I should probably come over and smooth it out with you before you came to me.”

With that one statement, it was clear to me that there was a serious problem that I needed to address quickly. I had already spoken with all of the officers in the district on my shift, laying out my expectations. However, I didn’t think the specifics of when and where to break windows was something that had to be addressed.

The night of that fire, I had a brief conversation with that company officer, explaining to him my philosophy with regard to breaking windows. He understood, and I think he appreciated my position. I made sure that all of the officers and men on my shift had a complete understanding of my philosophy as well.

I believe that the real concern behind this incident is the underlying disease that firefighters have a fear of reprimand and punishment if they happen to break a window. That’s a real shame! I hate to imagine the young firefighter inside of a building contemplating breaking out a window and during his analytical struggle, a flashover occurs, killing him and the other men around him. As for that window he was afraid to break, it, along with all the other windows in this building, will be forcefully removed in an effort to rescue the firefighters trapped inside. This will be another example of too little, too late.

Let me share my Fire Nugget philosophy with regard to breaking windows on the fire ground. First, we must all come to an understanding of why we break windows to begin with. Whenever I pose this question, most firefighters answer with “ventilation” as the reason behind breaking a window. That’s not correct! We must all come to fully understand that the primary reason behind breaking out a window is for the purpose of firefighter secondary egress from the fire building. A very wise old timer by the name of Tom Brennan once told a group of firefighters at a seminar (at which I was in attendance), that if you’re going to break a window, “make a door out of that window.” I say absolutely! And I have passed this Brennan Nugget on to many firefighters over that past several years.

Now at this point, I am sure there are some readers, probably mostly chief officers, who are just salivating, thinking of how badly they're going to scold me in their editorial replies and rebuttal to my condoning these acts of urban terrorism against innocent windows. But before you jump to any conclusions, hear me out. I am not in favor of a testosterone-laden firefighter moving through a building like a bull in a china shop. I too realize that a big part of our professional responsibility lies with preventing unnecessary damage and achieving No. 3 of the big three strategic goals, 1) Life Safety, 2) Incident Stabilization, and 3) Property Conservation. My intention with this article is to bring the crazies on both sides of this issue back down to earth and achieve some middle grown with regard to breaking windows on the fire ground.

Remember; the reason behind breaking window glass in the first place is to “make a door out of the window” and provide a secondary means of egress for the firefighters operating inside the uncontrolled environment. The horizontal ventilation just happens to be a secondary benefit to the primary reason behind this tactic. Sure, that ventilation can be, and is, very helpful in many situations; but I am most relieved to know that my men have another way out if things go south.

OK. So we do it for purposes of secondary egress. Now, when do we need a secondary egress? Not for burnt food! I attempt to educate firefighters, especially young firefighters, by explaining that forcefully taking windows is typically necessary and mainly done during the pre-control phase of the fire ground operation. Furthermore, your decision to take a window should be based primarily on the heat conditions rather than the smoke conditions. That’s not say we shouldn’t take a window under extremely heavy smoke conditions with no heat; it’s just another good basic rule that can be applied to many situations.

For example, I have been to some burnt-food incidents that produced a very heavy, nasty smoke condition that required a great deal of ventilation effort to remove the nasty stuff from inside the building. I certainly wouldn’t fault a firefighter who took out a window during the early stages of some of these incidents, because it might not be clear to him that it is only burnt food; and enough of this burnt-food smoke can also kill civilians and firefighters alike. However, experience will help firefighters by evaluating the heat condition, which will be absent at burnt food incidents (and other benign fire incidents), leaving the firefighter with a clear decision to perform horizontal ventilation with finesse by opening the window and removing any screens.

So, we base the decision to take a window on several things, including heat, and whether or not the fire has been brought under control. Most fire departments have all members, or at least teams of firefighters equipped with portable radios. Truck/ladder company firefighters (or whoever is assigned to support functions), must listen to the radio and monitor the engine company’s progress. If they are making obvious progress and have knocked down the main body of fire, we can begin to slow down on the aggressive breaking of windows. We must get factual, reliable information reporting that the main body of fire has, in fact, been knocked down, along with a thorough check for extension and the verification by truck personnel during primary search that no other fires are burning in the structure (arson sets or extension of the original fire). With these facts in place, we can now move to a property conservation mindset and not actually break any additional windows.

Here are a couple other tidbits of insanity. Over my years in our great profession, I have actually heard chief officers over the radio scream for the interior crews to stop breaking the glass because it was coming close to hitting him and others in front of the building. Suggestion: “Hey chief, move away from the building.” I always pass on to other chiefs (the ones that will listen), that the men on the inside of the fire building are in a better position to determine if windows should be broken than a chief standing outside (with one notable exception — breaking window glass at high-rise fires). No need to micromanage; let the men do their job. If it gets real scary, you can always turn your back to the building.

Here’s another one. How about the positive-pressure-ventilation folks who are telling their guys to NEVER take any windows, because you can’t complete effective PPV if the windows are gone? What about secondary egress? Let me just say this: there is not enough holy water and candles available in the entire world to complete the exorcisms necessary on the people in the fire service who believe that blowing air into a fire environment is an appropriate tactic.

Firefighters operating on the interior, specifically truck company firefighters performing support functions should be equipped with substantial forcible entry/exit tools. A set of irons, including a flat-heat axe with a heavy 8-pound head, or a TNT Denver Tool with a 8.5-pound head. Have something that you can get through a barrier with, quickly.

Firefighters reluctant to break glass to begin with, will frequently use a very passive approach to taking out a window. When you’re going to make a door out of a window, go for the big payoff. Rather than focusing on the glass, and using several individual strikes against multiple glass panes, make your first hit count by striking the middle sash of a typical double-hung window. A powerful blow, with a heavy striking tool will shatter all glass and take a big chunk out of the entire window and frame. It will only take a few more well placed strikes to remove any remaining glass and the window frame itself.

After the first few blows, focus on the window frame, not the small pieces of glass. Once again, the idea is to make a big opening. This is best accomplished by removal of the entire window frame.

One last thought. Let’s all remember one very important point: FIREFIGHTING IS LIKE HOCKEY, NOT BALLET!

The following series of photographs illustrates the proper method to use in order to quickly and effectively “make a door out of a window.”


Firefighter equipped with a 40-inch T-N-T Tool, with an 8.5-pound head. This is an excellent choice for firefighter forcible exit.	Firefighter strikes the middle sash of this double hung window first, breaking both panes of glass, and weakening the window frame for removal.	Firefighter strikes the middle sash again and begins removal of the window frame. The remaining glass will come out with the frame.	Firefighter strikes the middle sash again and begins removal of the window frame. The remaining glass will come out with the frame.

Firefighter has “made a door out of the window,” allowing plenty of room for an emergency egress.	Same procedure from the outside. Firefighter strikes the middle sash of this double-hung window first, breaking both panes of glass, and weakening the window frame for removal.	Same procedure from the outside. Firefighter strikes the middle sash again and begins removal of the window frame. The remaining glass will come out with the frame.	Same procedure from the outside. Firefighter cleaning out remaining frame and glass.