Single person extension ladder raise??

[jl]

What is the "approved" method for a sinlge-person raise of 24ft extension ladder, without touching the ladder to the building?

[mcaldwell]

We don't teach that, nor have I seen it in any training material I have.

We teach to heel the ladder into the building and walk it up, or use the side beam raise (with two men).

[hills191]

yeah, this would not fall into a "recommended" use for Fire Training Bureau. Firefighter I will teach the one-person raise against a building, or beam raise, but not extensions. This should always be a two-person application. Sure, it could be done, but what would be the point?

[Squad1LT]

Well first of all "approved" by who? Just because something isn't in an IFSTA manual doesn't mean it is a valid tactic. Alot of methods I have learned were not "approved".

I have only done single raises butted up against a house or building, but if I had to do it by myself I would try to extend the ladder while it was laying on the ground then raise it up. Never done it, maybe I will try it tommorrow at work. Inside though, its friggin freezing right now.

[jl]

Thanks for responding....

I agree. Should be a 2man evolution.
But I am taking a state cert test soon, going into it blind (unfortunately) and have very little info. What little I have, is that one of the evolutions is a single man extension of 24ft ladder, without touching the bldg.
I've never done it solo, just wanted to know if anyone of you jakes out there has and how ya did it.
Thanks for responding, if anyone has anything else to add, please do.

[OSD122]

All firefighters should be expected to be able to throw a 16ft roof ladder, 24 and 28 foot extension ladders by themselves. It's also possible to throw any one of these ladders without heeling it against a building. I've done it many times when riding an outside team position on the truck.

This is done by planting the butt spurs into the ground, and throwing the ladder to the building. This comes in handy when throwing ground ladders to the balcony of a Garden style apartment, or back deck of town homes. Throwing ladders like this can also be accomplished on concrete and blacktop surfaces.

As for extending an extension ladder by yourself, this too is something that everyone should be able to do by themselves. As for extending a ladder without it touching a building, I've never seen or heard of it being done, and can't think of any logical reason why it would need to be either.

[dragonfyre]

We still teach this at the Montgomery County (PA) Academy. It's great for daytime fires with manpower shortages.

Use the building as your heel man to raise the ladder flat. Make sure you're raising it FLY OUT. Go to the tip, face the opposite direction and lift with your legs, not your back. Walk under the ladder to push it up into the building. Grab a bottom rung with one hand, keep the other high on the ladder to keep it against the building and pull it out about 8"-12".

Stand along the ladder and use your outside foot to heel the ladder. Reach behind the ladder (not through the rungs) and pull the halyard to raise the fly to the desired height. Go to the front of the ladder and pull it out with both hands to bring it out to the proper climbing angle.

Never heard of doing it without touching the building. Sounds like a safety issue.

[Halligan84]

I'm not sure either why you can't use the building, but if your on grass or dirt a quick way to avoid starting from the ground up is to approach the building and as your walking drop the lower butt spur into the ground and drive the ladder quickly upright. Tough to describe but you can use momentum and kinda throw your hip into it. Single man extension ladder raises might not be recommended but are sometimes necessary.

[KenNFD1219]

This is done by planting the butt spurs into the ground, and throwing the ladder to the building. This comes in handy when throwing ground ladders to the balcony of a Garden style apartment, or back deck of town homes. Throwing ladders like this can also be accomplished on concrete and blacktop surfaces.

I remember teaching this method in FFI classes up to about 10 or 12 years ago. The firefighter would brace the beam of the ladder against the inside of a leg with the foot against the butt. Your body supports the bed section as you extend the ladder. Once extended you lower it into the building. We only did this with a 24' aluminum extension ladder.

[MattyJ]

Our OVM very often works alone, and many times this is tight, narrow ally's. A method we often drilled on was using a utility rope attatched to bottom rung of ladder and run it up the underside of the ladder (ladder laying flat on the ground), then we pick up the ladder, step on the rope and keep it tight by walking on the rope while raiseing the ladder...the rope under your feet is butting the ladder. This works well, but must be practiced to perfect.

As far as extending the ladder, it can be leaned into the building (fly towards the building) Halyard is pulled, and tip of fly rides up the side of the building. The ladder will extend easier if it is pulled away from building wall while being extended.

To move the ladder to another window by one man...simply roll the ladder to the next location...easily done by one person.

To take a window with it, simply line up the tip of the ladder with the upper pane of glass, and drop the ladder into it. Keep hands off the ladder (to avoid falling glass) but close enough to maintain control of the ladder if need be.

All these techniques are very effective ways that one person can raise,extend and move ladders alone. Im sure you wont find them in an IFSTA or whatever manual....but they certainly work on the fireground in NYC.

[NonSurfinCaFF]

I remember teaching this method in FFI classes up to about 10 or 12 years ago. The firefighter would brace the beam of the ladder against the inside of a leg with the foot against the butt. Your body supports the bed section as you extend the ladder. Once extended you lower it into the building.

Sounds like you are descibing the technique I was taught, the ladder is raised free standing then lowered into the building.

The knee holds it away from the body while the foot "hooks" the foot to keep it from skidding away from you. The 3rd point of contact is the halyard and the forearms, the halyard can be used to pull the ladder towards you and the ofrearms push it away. Kind of hard to describe but its actually pretty easy to do and is much safer and controlled than it sounds.

[SFDE37]

A single person 24 (2 section ladder)/26 (3 section ladder) ft extension ladder throw without touching the building is a regular evolution that is taught in our drill school (Seattle Fire). All recruits are expected to complete this in order to graduate.
The ladder is carried with the beam resting on the (right) shoulder, once at the location the lower spur is placed on the ground while simultaneously raising and pivoting the ladder. Once up, your (right) knee is on the outside of beam with your (right) foot on the inside. Other (left) foot is back providing stability and your hands are on the halyard. Extend the ladder to desired height and place into the building.
I'm right handed so that is why I've placed right/left the way I did.

[johnny46]

It's easy to extend it without having the ladder against the building and I find it easier. You rest the ladder against your body and pull the halyard. I'm not sure it would work in high winds or on concrete, though.

[lexfd5]

You can't get out of our academy without mastering throwing a single 24' extension ladder solo.

[onebugle]

All recruits that go through the fire academy must be able to carry, raise and extend a 24' ladder by themselves.

1) Carry the ladder, fly section against the body, to the building.
2) Stop 6" from the building, place the ladder flat on the ground.
3) Go to the tip, place hand on rung, push the ladder into the building, lift and walk the ladder vertical with fly section against the building.
4) Bring the butt out 6" from the building.
5) Bring the tip away from the building and balance the beam against your leg and thigh (prevents the fly section from hanging up on building materials).
6) Raise the fly to the desired height (at any time a safety issue arises the recruit can push the ladder back into the building).
7) Push tip into building and rotate the ladder into position.
8) Pull the butt out to the desired climbing angle.

Following the evolution, the removal of the ladder reverts to a 2 person operation. It's stressed, it can go up with 1 person when the need arises, but once the situation is resolved safety is important taking it down. There is no emergency to take down a ladder without the proper amount of personnel.

This technique has been done for many years without issues. There have been stories where graduating firefighters have used this at a fire scene to make rescues.