Quint Considerations at Single-Family Dwelling Fires

WHEN A QUINT ladder truck arrives first or second due at a working fire, it can present challenges depending on the department’s resources. While many see a quint’s versatility as an advantage, its effectiveness depends heavily on proper preparation. A well-prepared department that has planned for such scenarios can maximize the benefits of a quint. In my experience, though, most departments fail to adequately prepare their officers through training and preplanning. Too often, the plan is to figure it out on arrival, relying on adaptability on the fireground instead of proactive planning ahead of the incident. This article will help fire departments develop a plan for quint responses at single-family dwelling fires.

Understanding the Quint

The quint ladder truck has become the suburban truck company in the American fire service. This should come as no surprise to anyone with any time on the job given much of the American fire service is made up of rural and suburban departments. More than 80% of all ladder trucks manufactured today have some form of suppression capabilities. Many fire chiefs have purchased a quint for their department in an attempt to maximize their Insurance Services Office rating or some other form of insurance rating system in their region. Having the ability to perform multiple functions on a quint comes with some challenges, though.

Many suburban fire departments only have one ladder (quint) or only one on a single-family or multifamily dwelling fire. In addition, most suburban departments are operating with limited staffing, unlike bigger metropolitan urban departments, which have dual houses and dedicated staffing on an engine and ladder in the same quarters. Our expectations of a big-city urban fire department cannot be the same as they would be for the suburban department. One expectation, however, that we can have of both is that they will have the ability to put water on the fire as quickly as possible, given their department resources.

Assessing the Facts

Today’s statistics for civilian fatalities are not looking good. In December 2024, in his article “Aggressiveness and Analytics: Search Considerations for Firefighters,” Brian Brush wrote, “Over the last 40 years, the civilian fire death rate for one- or two-family homes has increased by 34%.” He goes on to say, “… we should be very concerned that, even with all our advances in firefighting personal protective equipment, tools, response, training, and technology, year after year our citizens are at a greater risk of dying in a fire than they ever have been.”¹

This should be alarming to everyone in the American fire service. Our primary mission has not changed. We exist as a profession to save lives. It should be our highest priority in all that we do. If the speed of fire progression has increased, so should our speed.

In his April 2023 editorial in Fire Engineering, David Rhodes wrote, “… the fire is not killing [the victims]; they are drowning in toxic gases, and the only thing that makes it better for them is to get them out.” This can be challenging if your department lacks the resources to simultaneously perform fire attack and primary search. If this is the case, which it often is for suburban departments, the next best tactic is to control the fire and begin searching back. Rhodes adds, “The victim’s chances of survival are 79% if removed within 2 minutes of arrival, 73% in 2 to 4 minutes, and 65% in 4 to 6 minutes.”² If we’re going to fulfill our mission, we are in a fight against time. The quicker we can get water on the fire, the sooner we can begin a primary search and the faster we can remove those who are trapped.

Battalion Chief Curt Isakson from Escambia County (FL) Fire Rescue, the founder of County Fire Tactics, has been preaching for years the use of tank water on dwelling fires. It is called “the booster backup.” He contends we are bringing plenty of water with us to a working fire, so why not use it to save lives? People before water. If you cannot conduct fire attack and primary search simultaneously, then rapid water on the fire to create time and space to perform the primary search is your next best option—a standard tactic for most suburban departments.

The Booster Backup

This tactic has the first-arriving suppression company (engine or quint) position for functional effectiveness, stretch a line to the fire for containment, and operate initially off tank water (the booster tank).

The next-arriving company then connects to the company performing fire attack and supplies them with their tank water. This is done using a 3-inch line, capable of 800 gpm flows. Depending on the size-up, booster tanks between the two companies (commonly 500 to 750 gallons for suburban departments), the combined quantity of water will be 1,000 to 1,500 gallons, or 6 to 10 minutes of flow at 150 gpm. Looking at the most recent victim survival data from the Firefighter Rescue Survey, 4 to 6 minutes gives the victim a 68% chance of survival. Even at 10 minutes, the victim has a roughly 65% chance of survival.³ Moreover, this time frame is well within what is needed by a department well trained in hose stretches, flow and move techniques, and conducting a primary search in a standard single-family dwelling. Much of this can be supported by recent studies from the FSRI as well.

1. & 2. Photos by author.

In experiments done by the FSRI for the report Impact of Fire Attack Utilizing Interior and Exterior Streams on Firefighter Safety and Occupant Survival: Full Scale Experiments, “even a 500-gallon supply tank can be sufficient to knock back two rooms of fire, if the attack crew can get the water where it needs to go.” The study goes on to mention that “water application should not be delayed to establish a water supply.”⁴

The amount of water needed to access and contain two rooms of fire is within the booster tank capacity of engines and most quints these days. Specific to the quint, using a tactic like the booster backup allows for quick water on the fire, supported by a subsequent arriving engine.

Even back in 1994, an article in Fire Engineering titled “The Role of the Booster Tank in Structural Fire Attack” addressed the benefits of this tactic at dwelling fires. “Although a quick attack with tank water can be appropriate for other occupancies, it is particularly effective for fires in one- and two-family dwellings. The life hazard of such occupancies requires a rapid and aggressive attack on the fire, which is the most effective means for an engine company to save lives.”⁵

Starting the booster backup with a quick attack only gets a hoseline intooperation with the intent to impact the fire and gain time and create space for a primary search. Another benefit of this tactic is the ability to tactically pair two companies to more effectively stretch the hoseline and immediately begin a search back from the fire once the hoseline is in position.

A Closer Look at the Booster Backup

The two drivers will remain outside. They will handle pumping and supply needs, while the two officers and firefighters staff the fire attack line. One officer will lead the attack with two firefighters on the hoseline. The other officer will be at the entry point feeding the hoseline into the structure. As soon as the hoseline has reached the room of origin and is gaining control of the fire, the officer and backup firefighter will begin searching back while the officer positioned at the entry point begins searching in the area around the entrance.

Within minutes of arrival, two companies can have water on the fire and a primary search completed on the ground floor. If a hydrant is within hand stretching, a sustained water supply can be obtained by the driver on the second-arriving engine. If the hydrant is a few hundred feet away, a third-due engine can drop their personnel at the scene while the driver reverses out to the hydrant. Having an engine on the hydrant helps to maximize the supply to the attack companies (photos 1 and 2).

Why Leave the Two Drivers Outside?

In addition to pumping, nursing operations with tank water, and addressing a sustained water supply from a hydrant, the two drivers can accomplish other tasks to support fire attack and search. Here’s a look at three of them:

One of the two drivers can stretch a second hoseline and throw a ground ladder to a window on Division 2, if the dwelling is two stories.
The drivers can access at the rear of the structure to conduct a defensive search for victims who might have attempted egress out the back.
The drivers can also prepare EMS kits for any potential victims.

How Does the Quint Fit into All of This?

In most suburban departments, the quint is likely to be the only ladder on the fire. The quint needs to be thinking about positioning no matter its arrival order. In my Fire Engineering article, “Quint Positioning for the Current and Future,” I say, “position the quint on the fireground to maximize the use of the aerial device. The occupancy’s size and the fire location will help to determine its functional responsibility as an engine or as a truck.”⁶

Given the fire is in a single-family dwelling, rarely the occupancy size will position the quint’s turntable such that it cannot make the stretch with a 200-foot preconnect. Some examples would be McMansions or extremely long offsetsfrom the road. The benefit of bulk beds (static hose loads) on quints is that it will give them more versatility on the stretch, as most bulk beds are 250 feet or more.

When responding to a single-family dwelling fire, the potential use of the aerial device is not as critical as it would be for multifamily or commercial structures. These days, quints can allow for a decent amount of ground ladders for one- and two-story single-family dwellings. In many cases, ground ladders can be quicker than an aerial device on a single-family dwelling. If your department regularly performs vertical ventilation operations, the aerial device can be an added benefit if the offset of the dwelling allows for the turntable to be positioned close enough to be effective. It is always good practice to position the turntable when necessary.

If the quint is arriving first, they should be thinking about positioning their turntable for the potential of the incident, even if it is only a single-family dwelling. Being first allows the quint premium positioning. If possible, the quint should position just past or to the farthest side on approach. This will allow best access to the quint’s ladder tunnel for ground ladder use.

If, on the quint’s arrival, an engine is arriving within a minute, consider deferring the hose stretch to the engine simply because an engine is better designed than a quint for hose stretches and water supply. The time it takes to give a size-up and get off the apparatus with your equipment will take all or most of the minute. The quint should support the stretch and begin the primary search with the arrival of the engine. Another benefit of allowing the engine to perform the stretch is that this allows the first-arriving officer on the quint to get a good view of the rear for a potential below-grade fire or visible victims.

If it has been determined the stretch will be coming from the quint, they should position to maximize the use of their turntable. When the second-arriving company (E1) arrives, they should connect to and supply the quint with their tank water, as I said in my description of the booster backup. If the second-arriving company can back stretch or hand-jack a supply line to a nearby hydrant, then a supply should be established right away. However,if the hydrant is a distance away, a third company (engine) should reverse out from the scene to the hydrant. If the supply goes into the second-arriving company (engine), additional lines can be stretched off this apparatus. This provides some added safety should there be a pump failure of the quint (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Arrival of the Second-Arriving Company (E1)

This setup provides some added safety in the event of a pump failure of the quint. (Created by author.)

Another benefit of the booster backup supplying the quint is that it will allow for two drivers to be available should the incident require the aerial device. In this case, the quint driver (aerial operator) would be able to focus efforts on the aerial device. The driver of the second-arriving company (engine) would then take over pump operations for both apparatus. If the supply line was attached to the second-arriving company (engine), all pump operations could be transferred over to the engine, cutting the quint out of the pump operation equation. This is where preplanning and standard operating guidelines (SOGs) would be beneficial for operations involving quints.

Our mission as a profession has not changed. We exist to save lives. Our operations should reflect that. Sometimes our apparatus type and our order arrival throw us some challenges. Spending the time to preplan and develop SOGs for operations involving quints can pay big dividends for those trapped or threatened by fire.

ENDNOTES

Brush, Brian. “Aggressiveness and Analytics: Search Considerations for Firefighters.” Fireengineering.com, 16 December 2024, bit.ly/3DmeCpZ.
Rhodes, David. “We Go to Fire to Search.” Fire Engineering, vol. 146, issue 4, April 2023, bit.ly/3VOlq5Y.
“Total Rescue Time v Survival Percentage.” Firefighter Rescue Survey, bit.ly/3P47z7O.
Zevotek, Robin, et al. “Impact of Fire Attack Utilizing Interior and Exterior Streams on Firefighter Safety and Occupant Survival: Full Scale Experiments,” Fire Safety Research Institute, 2018, p.187, bit.ly/3P6DDYU.
“The Role of the Booster Tank in Structural Fire Attack.” Fire Engineering, vol. 117, issue 7, 1 July 1994, bit.ly/41KGUog.
Fisher, Rob. “Quint Positioning for Current and Future Needs.” Fire Engineering, vol. 140, issue 2, February 2017, bit.ly/49R1QvS.

ROB FISHER Is a 36-year veteran of the fire service and a battalion chief (ret.) from a medium-size suburban department in Snohomish County, WA. Prior to his promotion to battalion chief, he spent 20 years as a company officer, primarily assigned to the department’s only quint ladder company. Additionally, Fisher has worked multiple assignments in his department’s training division over his career. He also spent time as the training consortium chief, running the recruit academy for Snohomish County. Fisher has an associate’s degree in fire command administration and a bachelor’s degree in public safety and emergency management. Fisher has been an FDIC presenter on the topic of quint operations several times.