November-December 2011
High-rise Operations: The Standard Operating Guideline
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I frequently get questions from firefighters, fire officers, and chief officers regarding the Standard Operating Guideline (SOG) for high-rise fire operations. Certainly, one specific size does not fit all, and every individual fire department must develop and tailor a High-Rise SOG that will fit their specific needs. However, the fundamentals of what works in one corner of the fire service, will usually work in most of the other corners as well. Most importantly, once a SOG is developed and implemented, the work is definitely not done, but rather the work has just begun. Specifically, the SOG is a “living document” that must undergo constant evaluation, revision, and updating. With this and all other things “firematic” we must be pro-active, progressive, and always in the mode of improving the way we do business. In the process of developing an effective SOG, I frequently hear fire service people talk about how “every fire is different” and therefore we can’t establish any hard and fast rules for most operations. I have a slightly different opinion, in that I have found most of my fires (over the course of 29-years) have had a lot more similarities than differences. I have found this to be particularly true with high-rise operations. Specifically, as a chief officer in a large, downtown/urban area, I have, and continue to utilize a very similar recipe to solve most of my fireground problems, especially high-rise fires. With all that said, here are some basic guidelines and operating procedures that I have found to be very effective. Call for Help! The single most important action that any fire department, and specifically, any fire officer/chief officer can do, to positively effect the outcome of a high-rise fire, is the CALL FOR HELP from the outset of the operation. Pro-active and progressive fire departments have this action built into their SOG. Specifically, upon confirmation of a “working fire” in a high-rise building, the assignment is automatically upgraded, in most systems upgraded significantly. The cynics and naysayers are on the front end of this argument with negative and condescending comments, often stating: “This isn’t New York,” or they may substitute, Chicago, L.A., or any other enormous place with an enormous fire department. We must always thank them for reminding us of our specific geographic location, as if we didn’t know for sure where the hell we are. All kidding aside, we must agree with them (always catches them off guard) and than try to explain to them that because we don’t have enormous resources to draw from, is the exact reason why we must call for help early. Small and medium sized fire departments (most of the fire service) have a very limited window of opportunity to successfully combat and kill a high-rise fire. At no point do we have the option of calling for battalions 15 through 25 to help us out. Therefore, we better get battalions 1, 2, 3, and 4 rolling as soon as possible, or our goose is gonna be cooked. The specific call for help might have a slightly different form for all of us. For me in Denver it is going to be in the form of a 2nd alarm assignment, which I will request immediately upon confirmation of a working fire. For you it might be a 2nd alarm, mutual aide or automatic aide from another agency, or whatever. Bottom line, CALL FOR HELP, or you’re probably gonna lose, and losing could include the loss of human life. A L S Base I didn’t come up with this, and I’m not sure who deserves the credit (thank you Brother or Brothers), but I believe that “A L S Base” is an excellent starting point for any fire department looking to develop and effective high-rise firefighting SOG.
Fire Attack After calling for help, the specific action at a high-rise fire (or any other fire for that matter) that must take place as quickly as possible is fire attack. Yes, very simple I know, but many fire departments have lost sight of this and simply “can’t see the forest for the trees.” One of the things that I have seen is that some fire departments have focused too much attention on developing an elaborate incident management system for their high-rise firefight, and they have ultimately lost sight of our most fundamental mission; putting water on the fire. Yes, building an effective incident management framework is an essential component for high-rise operations, but I recommend a skeleton (but efficient and effective) framework at the front end, with a focus on fire suppression and rescue. Certainly our incident management positions will have to be bolstered and expanded as the incident evolves. They will in fact be bolstered as additional resources arrive, but on the front end, as listed in “A L S Base,” fire attack is and must be our number one objective (yes, I know, civilian life safety and firefighter safety first, but you know what I mean). Put the fire out, everything gets better and more manageable. Lobby Control Lobby Control is an extremely important component to a safe and successful high-rise fire operation. Lobby control serves as the principle accountability for a high-rise fire operation. Fire department resources that enter and operate within the fire building must come through lobby control and also leave through lobby control, thus maintaining maximum accountability for all personnel. In addition, lobby control must make every effort to account for occupants of the building as well. This is a very tall order, but absolutely critical. Accounting for the well being and location of all occupants of the fire building is essential as companies work to complete primary and secondary searches. Lobby control is definitely not a one-man job. However, at the outset of the operation, resources, especially resources that can be dedicated to incident management will be scarce. As additional resources arrive, lobby control can be bolstered, and evolve into a Lobby Control Group. My recommendation is twofold: First, establish lobby control as early as possible in order to establish and maintain fireground accountability within a large high-rise building, along with occupant accountability. Second, the initial lobby control should be part of the initial, skeleton incident management team, and therefore, initial lobby control can be one fire officer, preferably a chief officer. Once again, we all know this is not going to be a one-man job as the incident escalates. But one man can get us off to a good start, establishing and maintaining accountability. One last thing on lobby control and fireground accountability. The overall job of lobby control, and the fireground accountability is made much easier with a pre-established SOG. By designing a SOG that specifically assigns our initial resources, to specific assignments, and specific locations within the building, much of the accountability is taken care of on the front end. Interior Staging I specifically refer to this as Interior Staging, because the staging area for a high-rise operation is inside the building. This is clearly different from our much more common, ground based operations where fire companies will Stage, Level I for daily operations and Level II for ground based operations that require additional resources. For high-rise operations, staging is once again, inside the building, close to the fire floor. As a general rule of thumb, Staging should be approximately two floors below the fire floor. Specifically, the location should be far enough away from the fire floor to be smoke and hazard free, not within any IDLH (Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health) atmosphere. In addition, the staging location should be close enough to the fire floor so that backup resources can be deployed quickly when needed. An ideal staging location is also a large area, with plenty of room for resources and equipment. This is easier to accomplish in a commercial building with larger, open floor areas, as opposed to a residential building. However, at the commercial fire, we will likely need much more equipment and resources to combat the fire. Base Base is the name for the exterior staging location for large-scale emergency events, such as high-rise fires and wild land fire operations. It is particularly important to refer to this location as Base for high-rise operations, and staging for the interior location, so as to not create confusion with having two staging locations. Once again, Base is exterior, outside the fire building, and Staging is interior, inside the fire building. The appropriate location for Base is much like that of Staging, far enough away to be safe, but close enough to be able to efficiently deploy resources. The basic rule of thumb is to establish a Base location that is approximately 500-feet (or one city block) away from the fire building. This allows for additional resources to be far enough away from the fire building to avoid any hazards such as falling glass and other debris. In addition, this distance places Base close enough to the building for resources to quickly walk up to the point of entry for deployment into the fire building. Specific Company/Unit Assignments SOG Fire Floor: Initial Fire Investigation / Fire Attack Group: The First Two Engine Companies and the First Truck Company. The first two engine companies and the first truck company should comprise the initial fire investigation / fire attack group. These two engine companies will pair up and form one team so as to be able to effectively and efficiently stretch, advance, and operate one powerful handline. The recommended handline for high-rise/standpipe operations is the 2½-inch attack line. The reasons behind this recommendation are well documented and revolve around three specific items:
The Truck Company assigned to this initial fire investigation/fire attack group will complete the critical support functions necessary for the engine companies to accomplish fire extinguishment. These functions should include, but are not limited to:
Floor Above the fire floor: RECON / Search Group: The Second Truck Company. The second truck company to arrive should be assigned to the Floor Above the fire floor. This is a Reconnaissance Mission to determine what conditions are on the floor above, and specifically the area or apartment on the floor above that is located directly above the fire area or fire apartment on the fire floor. Specifically, is there extension of fire onto the floor above, or any smoke propagation onto the floor above? Is there a need for a handline on the floor above? Are there any occupants on the floor above? Are they in danger? In addition, this floor above truck company should complete any and all necessary support functions as previously listed. Floor Below the Fire Floor: Back-up Resources to Support/Bolster the Fire Attack: The Third and Fourth Engine Companies. The third and fourth engine companies will pair up and form one team so as to be able to effectively and efficiently stretch, advance, and operate one powerful handline. These two engine companies should proceed up to the floor below, and prepare to be assigned and deployed for one of three potential operations:
Top Floor: RECON/Search Group: The Third Truck Company. The third truck company to arrive should be assigned to the top floor of the fire building. This is also a Reconnaissance Mission to determine what conditions are on the top floor. Specifically, are there any smoke conditions on the top floor? Are there any occupants on the top floor that are in danger? And last, but certainly not least, the top of the fire attack stair must be located, opened up, and searched as soon as possible. This will likely be the top priority for this truck company, so as to determine if there are any occupants trapped at the top of a hot, smoke filled fire attack stairwell, trapped behind a locked door? In addition, this top floor Truck Company should complete any and all necessary support functions as previously listed. Floor Below the Fire Floor: RIT: The Fourth Truck Company. The fourth truck company to arrive should be assigned to the floor below the fire floor as the initial RIT for the fire attack group. This RIT truck company should complete all the necessary and potential RIT RECON functions to understand the location of operating companies/units and potential hazards, entrapments, etc. In a residential occupancy with similar floor plans, if the fire apartment is #907, the RIT Truck should identify and locate apartment #807, its location from the fire attack stairwell, and the layout of the apartment. With RIT RECON completed, the RIT truck company should take a position on the floor below, close to the fire attack stairwell, and standby for deployment. Note: Having only one RIT at a high-rise fire is very inadequate! The previously identified RIT is just a starting point. Additional resources are critical so as to establish multiple RITs. Staging (Two Floors Below the Fire Floor): The fifth and sixth engine companies will proceed up to approximately two floors below the fire floor, and establish a staging location. These two engine company’s will then stand by, and prepare to be assigned and deployed. Base: Additional resources should be placed in Base to stand by for assignment and deployment into the fire building. Special Operations Companies: The incident commander should assign special operations companies as necessary and appropriate. Water Supply: A primary water supply, establishing tandem pumping into the buildings FDC, will be completed by the Engineers (pump operators) of the first and second engine companies, utilizing their respective pumpers (two pumpers). A secondary water supply, establishing a backup tandem pumping operation to feed the buildings FDC and or lower floor hose valve outlet, will be completed by the engineers ( pump operators) of the third and fourth engine companies, utilizing their respective pumpers (two pumpers). Command and Control:
Conclusion This is a basic Standard Operating Guideline for high-rise fire operations. This guideline will get you off to a good start and help lead to a good ending. Obviously you may need to alter some of the assignments and resources associated with various assignments to fit into your system. Feel free to contact me via firenuggets.com e-mail if you have any questions. Good luck, and stay low. Chief McGrail is author of the book, Firefighting Operations in High-Rise and Standpipe-Equipped Buildings. To purchase the book go to the Fire Nuggets Store and click on the book icon. |
Rescue of a Trapped Firefighter
Ten Commandments of Truck Company Operations, Part 8 – John Mittendorf
High-rise Operations: The Standard Operating Guideline – Dave McGrail
Be Authentic, Get Results – George Burk
Training for Failure – Richard Gasaway
The Booster Backup – Curt Isakson