Continually Evaluate Your Fireground Environment

All firefighters are aware of the benefits of conducting an initial size-up when a structural incident comes into view. Considerations such as the type of building, amount and extension of fire, evaluating fireground priorities and numerous other factors begin to set the stage for the mitigation of the incident. Conversely, another size-up that can be potentially more important is a size-up that is defined as a continuing size-up that continues until the incident has been mitigated. The focal point for this commandment is that interior personnel must continually evaluate and monitor their environment until the fire has been extinguished and/or the environment has been adequately ventilated.

However, the ability of PPE to shield a firefighter from their external environment has resulted in the need for every firefighter that is operating in a hazardous environment to constantly monitor the status of their environment. This is particularly important for truck company personnel operating within a structure as they may not have a source of protection (the availability of a charged hose line) and/or they may be operating alone.

When In Doubt, Ventilate

Of all the fireground operations that deserve attention at a structure fire, ventilation operations can (depending on the incident) often be a top priority more often today than structural fireground incidents of yesterday. This is an obvious statement from the perspective that what is burning today is significantly different than what was burning yesterday. The fires of yesterday were primarily comprised of conventional materials (cellulose based materials) that burned slower and cooler than fires of today. Fires of today routinely involve synthetic materials (petro-chemical based compounds) that burn hotter, faster, and can produce a denser smoke than the fires of yesterday. These factors can not only more severely inhibit the visibility of interior personnel but have resulted in an increase of flashovers which can instantly produce a fatal environment to human life within the flashover area.

Therefore, when considering operations from the perspective of quickly developing fireground priorities, remember that forcible exit and ventilation collectively combine to significantly increase the safety of interior suppression personnel at most structure fires. This is not to imply that every structure fire requires holes are cut in roofs, windows are broken, and positive pressure blowers are implemented. As with other fireground tasks, ventilation must be coordinated with attack and/or search operations.  However, when ventilation is properly executed, four major benefits are normally the result as follows — visibility will improve, interior temperatures will be reduced, flashover conditions will be minimized, and dangerous fire gases will decrease while the percentage of oxygen will increase. These four benefits are worth considering during the initial size-up at any structure fire encountered by suppression personnel, and as a general rule, the earlier ventilation is started, the better!

Ensure the Viability of Your Escape Route Inside, Outside, and Topside

Throughout this series of articles, the terms forcible entry and forcible exit are synonymously used from the perspective of safety in that if it is important to get into a structure, then it should be as important if not more important to get out of a building. Unfortunately, firefighters routinely force entry into a structure but do not succeed in providing alternate, multiple, or timely exits points for interior personnel. Let’s look at three forcible exit considerations as follows:

Inside: A fundamental rule in wildland firefighting operations states that — personnel on a hill shall never let a fire fishhook below them. This same rule can also be applied to structural firefighting operations and can be stated as follows — interior personnel shall never let a fire above and/or below them (i.e., attic, etc) get between them and their exit point. From a simplistic perspective, always keep your primary entry and exit point available which can enhance your ability to exit a structure if necessary. In some cases, this dictates that personnel pull ceilings to verify the condition of an attic when fire is known or suspected to be above personnel. If fire collapses a ceiling between personnel and their entry-exit point, exit options will be compromised.

Topside: When fireground personnel are assigned to roof ventilation operations, what is the minimum number of ladders that should be raised to the roof? Answer: two! Although every firefighter is aware of the right answer, it is more than interesting when looking at pictures of fireground operations from around the country that it seems as though a single ladder is the common answer to the previous question. So, let’s apply the tenth commandment of ensuring the viability of your escape route and raise at least two ladders to a roof when operating above ground. The phrase at least means that if the number of  personnel exceeds two, then the number of ladders raised should also exceed two. As an example, if four personnel are on a roof and there are two ladders to the roof and it is suddenly necessary to exit the roof, what do firefighters 3 and 4 do while firefighters 1 and 2 are exiting the roof via the two ladders (this should be a major consideration if you are a firefighter with minimal seniority)? Always take the time to enhance the safety of your above ground operations!

Outside: Ensuring the viability of your escape route options from the interior of a building means to provide at least two ways to get out of a building. This is normally accomplished from the exterior of a building by forcing additional doors (other than the initial entry door), appropriate windows (and this means opening the entire window with all glass removed), and any other considerations that could obstruct or slow down exiting the building. Several examples of obstructing considerations are security bars and plywood-OSB panels over doors and windows on vacant or abandoned buildings. In these cases, obstructing devices shall, not should, be removed prior to or during the initial phases of interior operations. Always maximize your ability to exit a building.