February Fire Scenario: Is anyone home?

[Dalmation90]

Beep Beep Beep
You're responding to a reported structure fire, a house fire, 30 Elm Street...dispatch clear 11:00 29 January 1999...this is a fictional scenario to see what departments in different places do.

"Chief Smith to dispatch, 2 and half story balloon frame house, divided into apartments. We have heavy smoke coming from the basement, and pushing from the eaves" Quickly things run through the Chief's head. Water supply -- hydrants in sight, so shouldn't be a problem. How many apartments? There's three mailboxes on the front porch, damn. These old house were converted into apartments, usually one of the first floor, one on the second, and a small one in the attic you have to use the back stair case to get to. The Chief pokes his head in the front door -- it's open, some civilians have tried to make entry but turned back. Noises -- fire is crackling down below, but there is no smoke detectors sounding in the building. The first floor is full of smoke, not untenable yet, but you wouldn't want to be in here long. The Chief backs out, and circles around continuing his size up. Utilities come in on the corner, shouldn't be a problem for the ladder. Exposures? Similiar buildings 10 or 15 feet away on either side. There's fresh snow on the ground, an inch or two from this morning -- stopped around 10. Kids toys covered by snow -- it's a school day though. Back door to is still locked -- there is footsteps under the fresh snow though. Well, do these go to someone in the first or second floor, or do I have some poor bugger who worked third shift sound asleep in the attic apartment? "Chief Smith to dispatch, 2nd Alarm, 30 Elm Street. Chief Smith establishing Elm Command."

Ok Chief,
What Resources (engines, ladders, etc and staffing) do you have coming in on your first alarm?
Where are you going to deploy them?
This could be a complicated evolution, so let's stick to the initial deployment of vent, search, and hose crews.

Have fun,
Matt

[SBrooks]

beep beep (House assignments only get two beeps) But since the chief was on scene and knew it was apartments:

Beep, Beep, Beep "Engine Companies 11, 35, 13, and 7 Trucks 14 and 12: respond for the apartment fire 5812 Ruatan St....."

Standard box assigment in my county is 4 engine companies and 2 special services, I chose the assignment for a street in my first due. . . Today, the crews would have been mostly career staff, but since they're not here now, we'll pretend it was a county holiday (but somehow school was still in session). It would probably not go to a second alarm, certainly not yet, as a second alarm would net 8-12 engines and 4-6 special services.

Since the volunteers are running the show now...it is most likely that one or more of the above companies would be able to staff more than one piece of apparatus. We'll say Co. 11 responds with E111 & E112 and Co. 12 responds with E121 & TK12. We'll say 35 13, and 7 respond with E352, E131, E72.

Since this is down the street from our firestation, and we don't run an engine company out of this firehouse, we'd be first arriving with the ladder truck (106' TDA, no water) with a staffing of 7 men. Engine company 11 is going to be right behind us.
Truck 14's officer, ironsman, and hooksman would begin an interior search, probably being directed to the third floor by the chief. Truck 14's tillerman (OV) and two laddermen would begin laddering the building, performing horizontal ventilation as soon as E111 & E112 are ready. Truck 14's driver would control utilities as well as assist the tillerman gain access to the roof.

Engine company 11 would arrive on scene at approximately the same time as TK14. Between their wagon and their pumper, they'd have 6 men. They would drop one or two 3" lines from the nearest hydrant, and have their pumper pick up their line at the hydrant. They would stretch their 1 3/4" crosslay to the basement. If the rear of the building had grade level access to the basement, the chief would direct them to use that. Otherwise, they would make the attack down the basement stairway. By this time the tillerman would have made it to the roof and begun making an inspection cut.

The next arriving company would be E352 followed very closely by E121 & TK12. E352 is coming from a different direction than Co. 11 & 12, and would lay a second line from a different hydrant, to be pumped by E131 upon their arrival. E352 would stretch a line to the attic. E121 would stand by at another hydrant, while the crew of E121 would be assigned as the RIT company. TK12 would be assigned to check for fire extension on floors 1 & 2. E131 would be assigned to take a line to side three and protect exposures, if necessary. E72 would relieve E111 & E112 in the basement.

By this time TK14 would have made a primary search of the building, including the basement. TK14's tillerman would have cut a decent sized hole out of the roof, if necessary. TK14's driver would have controlled utilities. Co 11 would have achieved a knock on the basement fire, and truck 14's crew would be overhauling the basement. TK12 would have been pulled from RIT duty and utilized for the secondary search and assigned to hook the walls throughout the building. E131 would be assigned RIT. TK14's outside team would have placed lights throughout the building, as well as smoke ejectors to ventilate the building. Elapsed time from dispatch, 10-15. Total staffing E111, E112 (6), E352 (4), E131 (3), E72 (5), TK14 (7), TK 12 & E121 (8), C11, C7, C14, C14A, A129 (2)=39.

This staffing is more inline with night-time volunteers...during the day you'll get 3-4 from each company.



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Sean Brooks
Firefighter
Berwyn Heights V.F.D.
Prince George's Co., MD

[This message has been edited by SBrooks (edited 01-29-99).]

[This message has been edited by SBrooks (edited 01-29-99).]

[Aniello Burr]

Our dept. is a very small rural dept. The initial response would be for an engine (1250 pump, 1000 gal tank), a second engine ( 500 pump, 1500 gal tank). Each engine would have a creww of at least 3 FF. The first arriving engine would immediately set up for interior attack. the second in engine would be used for S&R. We don't have access to a ladder Co. We could call for mutual aid from the U.S Army FD. They are about 20 minutes away from us. If needed we would call for mutual aid from surrounding depts.

[RSQ6MAN]

Sounds like a good one ! Our first alarm will yield E6,E3 E30,T6,R6,B4,S1. We will put Batt 4 on scene in command. Im sure that he would ask the bystanders who are leaving the building if they know of people living there and if they are home (the possibilities are endless and need to be covered).E6 would of course be first in and fire attack would be ours pulling 2 attack lines and bringing in a water supply. T6 would be given ventilation and utilities. Roof ventilation and basement ventilation is in need due to the extension and the need to control fire spread. R6 would be assigned R.I.T. team. E30 will go into search and rescue using the cairns iris from T6.Ladders would be placed by the truck company to the front and rear windows of the second and 3rd floor if possible(after ventilation is completed via 100'stick).E3 upon arrival would assist fire attack or search while looking for extension of the fire. Fire attack is going to be tough and if the basement stairs are not passable then a whole could/would be cut as close to being over the fire as can be,and use hose from above to knock down the fire. After that access may be possible using the steps.yes, some homes do have outside access and would be of great value in attacking a basement fire. Positive pressure ventilation in this case could be a danger, if it is used it should be closely monitored as to the fire conditions and progress of the fire attack( smoke color and location are of great importance to gauge the effects).I dont think that this would go to a second alarm quiet yet but a second truck company may be called to assist T6 in the many duties needed in this type of fire.After a primary all clear is given a company accountability would be called for from the BC. A secondary search would be carried out by a diffrent company than the first to help in not over looking any spaces. Pulling lath and plaster walls is hard work and a rotation of truck companies would keep crews fresh and hydrated. I think a second alarm would only be called for off the start only if , victims were found,exposures were already involved,or multi floors were involved in fire upon arrival.If a knock down is not within the first 5-10 minutes and progress is not being made on the fire a second alarm maybe called.With out going into specific details of each crews job this is about it! so that my 2 cents. looking foward to the next one or feel free to drop an e-mail to me. Be safe and keep low, RSQ6MAN

[This message has been edited by RSQ6MAN (edited 01-31-99).]

[RSQ6MAN]

[This message has been edited by RSQ6MAN (edited 01-31-99).]

[eng4]

The real thing went like this Sunday:

This is a summary of events based on personal experiences, observations, radio
traffic, and interviews.

Sunday, January 31, at approximately 12:30pm, Battalion 112 notified ECC of a house fire. He requested a house fire
response with no further information. The first alarm consisted of Engine 103, Quint 104, Engine 102, Truck 106, Medic 102, Rescue Squad 104, Battalion 112, EMS 112, and
FM 114. Shortly after dispatch, Battalion 112 advised he had a working fire and
would establish command. I do not know the subsequent order of special alarms,
however I noted Engine 101, 108, Truck 105,Medic 105, and Light and Air 103 on
the scene.

Engine 103 arrived and laid a 4" supply line. They advised Quint 104 to take
the first due position and Engine 103 would take second due, as Quint 104 was
arriving simultaneously. Quint 104 positioned on side four and was used
for the primary attack lines. There was a basement door on the exterior of side
four and units advanced the initial attack lines through that door.

Upon our arrival on Truck 106, there was smoke showing from the rear of the 2
1/2 story, frame single family dwelling. The Truck Captain ordered the crew to
begin ventilation of the second floor and placing ladders for means of egress.
The tillerman and I placed a 24' ground ladder to a large second floor window on side 2 and he began ventilation with a long pike pole. The driver and I attempted to place a 20' single ladder on side 4, however there were too many utility wires. We placed the single ladder on side 1 to the porch roof. While the driver took a moment to put his turnout gear on, the tillerman and I prepared a backup line to go into the basement. Another company ended up
taking a line to back up the basement crews. We entered the first floor to
begin the check of vertical extension. The Captain discovered that the floor of
the dining room was compromised and advised command. This would prove
crucial to our ability to contain the fire as the main avenue of fire in the walls
centered on the area. We opened the walls on the first floor and found charring
on the interior of the walls. Smoke was pushing up from the basement through
the interior walls. Our crew then moved to the second floor in an attempt at
cutting the fire off prior to it entering the attic. We noted smoke pushing up
around the stair treads as we moved to the second floor. The tillerman worked
in quadrant A while I worked in quadrant B to open the walls. The second floor
was relatively clear at first, but as we opened the walls the smoke and
heat began to bank down considerably despite having removed all of the
windows. This condition was also relayed to command. Each hole I punched in the wall
released more black smoke and heat. The Truck Captain advised me that he believed
the fire was above us already in the attic. We did have a hoseline available
on the second floor the whole time. The Captain also noted heavy heat and smoke
venting from around the top of the stairwell bannister. My low air alarm sounded and I began preparations to exit the structure. By this time, visibility was near zero and I had to feel my way back to the stairwell. It was my intention to change air cylinders and rejoin my
crew, however they evacuated the second floor as additional low-air alarms
sounded. While I was changing my cylinder, I heard someone shouting for a medic. I could see a firefighter laying on the ground on side 2 with fire now venting
from the basement window in quadrant B. The firefighter had been pulled from the
basement window after becoming disoriented after a flashover in the basement.
He had transmitted a call for help and the RIT (FAST TEAM) was activated. Shortly
after his removal, the first floor and basement became fully involved in fire.
Truck 106's crew successfully exited only seconds before the first floor lit up.
Command had ECC initiate evacuation of the structure and an accountability check
was completed. Engine 106 positioned a 2 1/2" handline on the front porch and
darkened down the fire on side 1. During the positioning of additional handlines, the electric service drop for the dwelling burned through and lay arcing in the side 4 yard. After the evacuation, master streams were established and the second
floor became involved and then the attic area. As the structure became more involved,
the radiant heat became a factor for the side 2 exposure. Engine 103's deck gun
was used to attack the fire on side 1 and 2. Quint 104's aerial master stream
was used to attack side 4. Truck 105 also established a ladder pipe and attacked the fire on side 3. Engine 103 also supplied a 2 1/2" handline in the rear yard.

The remainder of the incident consisted of darkening down the fire with master
streams and large caliber handlines. The fire appeared to have started in the
basement, however no cause determination had been announced prior to our clearing the scene.

Lessons learned or reinforced:
1) The importance of the RIT (FASTeam) was driven home at this incident.
Conditions deteriorated rapidly at this fire. It is my understanding that the
basement flashed over and the Captain from Engine 108 got separated from his crew. He
called for help via his portable radio and the RIT was activated. As
luck would have it, a member of his crew was able to retrace their steps and guide
him to safety at a basement window. The crews on the exterior pulled the
Captain out the small window and administered first aid. Other crews were also put in precarious positions when the fire subsequently intensified on all levels
of the structure. The second and first floors lit up as Truck 106's crew
exited. Engine 106's crew narrowly escaped the first floor as it flashed over.

2) Plaster and lathe walls create a very tough situation when attempting to get
ahead of a fire. The incident commander and fire officers must be aware
that the check for extension will be delayed in old buildings when plaster
walls are encountered and additional staffing will be required. I found that the
pick of a pickhead ax was more effective than a pike pole or the blade of the ax.
In fact, the ax bounced off the plaster when I used the blade to chop at the
wall. The tillerman said that he was very strained trying to use a Clemens hook
on the walls. Neither one of us made ANY headway on the ceilings. The ceilings
were also nine feet high, further complicating the effort to open them.

3) Balloon frame construction was primarily responsible for the rapid
development of this fire. This type of frame construction should be
anticipated and assumed when dealing with older homes. Once the fire reached the
wall voids, it raced upward toward the attic. In retrospect, we believe the
fire had posession of the interior of the walls, ceilings, and floors around our
crew as we operated. It was only a matter of minutes from apparently having the
fire knocked down to full involvement of the first and second floors. The key
to fighting a fire in a balloon frame house seems to be getting ahead of the
extension and being proactive. Roof ventilation is also indicated in many cases
to vent the gas and heat build-up that occurs in the attic space.

4) Smoke conditions are good indicators of fire development. The
darkening smoke accompanied by heat that was escaping from the second floor walls
was a sure sign of bad things developing. The smoke was also "pushing" out
from the walls and around the stairs, or sometimes it will be referred to as
"smoke under pressure". The color of the smoke is an indicator of firefighting
progress. As hose streams reach their target, dark smoke turns lighter and eventually to white steam. It was fascinating to watch the smoke boiling out of the attic windows just prior to ignition of the area.

5) The incident commander requested the evacuation of the dwelling just
prior to significant fire development throughout the structure. Personnel
should be familiar with the evacuation signal and the proper procedures when the
signal is activated. The incident commander did a good job of ensuring personnel accountability after units evacuated the building. An accountability
check must be conducted after evacuation to confirm complete evacuation of the fire
building.

6) Master streams were initiated after the evacuation of the structure.
The master streams were not charged until all personnel were pulled back to a
safe distance. Debris can be thrown a long distance by the powerful water
streams. Roof shingles, siding, and shutters are just some of the building
components that are susceptible to being blown off by a master stream. Personnel
should also be aware that the structural integrity of the fire building can be
significantly deteriorated after master stream operations. The basement
of this building was filled with runoff water up to the windows by the time our
operations completed. All utilities had to be shut off at the street.

7) Exposure protection became an issue during the height of the fire. The side
2 exposure was a 2-story frame single family dwelling with vinyl siding.
The radiant heat became rather intense before the master streams were able to
darken down the fire. Consideration must be given and allowances made for
assigning crews to babysit neighboring buildings when they are endangered by
venting fire.

8) As happens on many serious fires, the electric service line to the
fire building burned through and dropped to the ground. This poses a serious
threat to all personnel operating on the scene. The hazard area must be
identified and secured to prevent electrocution of firefighters working around the building. The location of the electrical lines should be considered when
positioning fire apparatus and equipment. Assume that the fire will vent and expose the
service wires. The downed wires at this incident also cut off the primary route
into the basement area. The proactive incident commander had already
requested Power and crews were able to secure the power and allow operations to continue in short order.

9) Know what to do when your low air alarm sounds. It is imperative
that you keep your composure when operating in a hazardous atmosphere and your
SCBA runs low. It helps to keep track of your air consumption as you work, so you
may anticipate the sounding of your alarm. Always be aware of the way out of
the hazardous atmosphere. In my case, the visibility had gone from moderate
smoke to zero visibility within a few minutes. Always notify your company
officer when you need to exit so they may maintain crew accountability.
Additionally, chances are that other members of the crew will also need to exit soon if you have all been operating together.

10) Always be aware of the means of egress for the area you areoperating in.
Don't become so focussed on the task at hand that you miss the details of
your surroundings. The smoke conditions were only moderate to light on the
first floor, however I removed the window nearest me in anticipation of bailing
out since we believed the fire was in the walls. Once on the second floor, I made
sure the two windows in the bedroom where I worked were cleaned out prior o
opening the walls. The front and rear of the fire building had porches with
roofs that could serve as areas of refuge from the second floor should a hasty
retreat have been necessary. I figured the roofs were a much more palatable
option to dropping out the second floor window to the ground.

11) A thorough and concise size-up is important to incoming units. The
first arriving units never described the structure nor the fire conditions
observed upon arrival. We had no idea of the scope of the incident prior to arrival and had little chance to draw a mental picture or anticipate our course of action.

12. Big paid departments do stupid things, a lot

13) There is no sensible hydraulic, staffing or safety reason to ever use 2 1/2" or 3 inch hose for handlines. It is an archaic sized hose that requies 2 to 3 companies to advanceand withdrawl. It wears the crew out and is 300 to 400% over kill for the flow attained. 2" hose and in some case 1 3/4" hose is more than capable of attaining the same flows (200 to 325 gpm) while maintaining the crews mobility and not killing them in the process.

14) A RIC team without a thermal imager is worthless. Seat belts are nice to have if you own them and insane not to use. The same is true with imagers. Operations in smoke filled buildings without imagers especially ballon frames is Kamakazi operations.

15) You must use foam, medium sized attak lines, radio PASS devicesl imagers, remote deck guns, the lighest gear and air paks, automatic hydrant valves are all essential to avoid funerals. It is far better to lay folks off and cloe stations than continue operating with 1800's technology.

16) If you cannot give a sizeup/condition report on arrival you should take the words BC DC AC or Chief off your rig and give someone else a chance to do your job right.

17) Buying pike poles versus sheet rock, tin, halligan, om hooks etc is simply foolish. The new tools work better.


AND ANYONE ELSE????

[Dalmation90]

Hi Guys:
Excellent story Eng4!
I think that got to point that fires in large old balloon frames are often lost before the F.D. ever has a chance.

These buildings are going to need aggressive "truck" work to do a thorough search -- you may only have one chance. Very likely, the fire is going to overwhelm the ability to attack it with handlines because it will start to appear in so many places at once.

Because of the how many things need to be done simultaneously is why I had "Chief Smith" calling for the 2nd alarm immediately. A lot of resources will be needed if you successfully mount an interior attack...if you're not successful, you have a lot of exposures to protect!

How would I handle it?
1st Engine/hose #1: 1.75" to the interior stairs to the basement -- do not open the door, just standby to protect it in case the fire breaches the door. You will soon have crews depending on the stairs above.
1st Engine/hose #2: 1.75" to rear staircase, defend the stairs if fire gets into them.
1st Truck/crew #1: Get to the third floor, search for fire & victims and report.
1st Truck/crew #2: Search 1st floor, then 2nd.
1st Truck/aerial: Open the roof. Interior teams will be opening windows as they search.

2nd Engine: Stretch 1.5" with second story applicator to a basement casement window. Initiate an indirect attack by putting the applicator into the basement. 65gpm through the applicator, even at 50% conversion, will still yield 7,400 cu. ft/minute of steam...this will fill the basement and the wall voids within a few minutes with steam. Class A foam would probably help increase the efficiency. Hopefully, this will knock down the fire which is attacking the structure the crews are inside. I would be concerned any major openings into the basement, either from exterior or interior doors, would result in a rapid blow up of fire conditions from the extra air supply. Better to vent from above, and attack the seat indirectly with steam. And absolutely no PPV!

Additional companies would be setting up safety/backup teams, and if conditions allow aggressively conducting secondary searches, opening the walls, and attacking pockets of fire.

Would assign safety officers both front and rear, given the possibility of hidden fire in the building.

Thermal imagers would be real nice!

Well, keep the ideas flowing guys!
Matt

[dbff]

I actually belong to two departments. One paid and one volunteer. I will try and answer as to what each dept. would do, and answer it from my position on those dept.s which would be an acting Lt. on an engine company.
First my paid dept. response on a first alarm would be three engines, one ladder, and a chiefs vehicle with a driver. First in engine would "blitz" with an 1-3/4 line, doing a search as they go. Second engine would lay into the the first truck with 5" 5" hose. After laying in to the first engine, they would don airpacks and help with the search. Third engine would don airpacks and stretch a second line. Chiefs driver would enter with the first engine crew. ( Each engine has a driver, plugman and Lt.) the truck would stage and vent. Most likey venting would be done with ground ladders and not the aerial. first line would be taken in through the front and to the fire area. The second line would be to the second floor. Most likely this has gotten in the walls and is running to the attic. Attic would be searched for possible resident. Truck crew is going to have to come in and open up walls and ceilings to stop any exentsion.

Now my volunteer dept.
Initial response for an in district fire is two engines with automatic mutual aid of an engine from a neighboring town. First engine would blitz and conduct a primary search. Attack would be with an 1-3/4 line. Second engine would lay into the first with 5 " hose. They would then don aripacks and go to the roof to vent. The third engine from the mutaul aid dept. would don airpacks and stretch another line. Manpower is a problem and would be called for from other dept's around us if needed. Our dept would also send additional personnel in support vehicles.
This is similar to my paid dept. Concerns are the same, rescue and stopping the fire in the walls. Both departments would need more people than they have on the initial alarm.
I know this is probably differnat from most departments and will be picked apart, but this is what I have to work with and am still learning myself. Hopefully I covered the bases.

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