Designing a High-Rise Policy for Small to Mid-Sized Suburban Fire Departments

BY CHRISTOPHER L. RYMUT

REGARDLESS of its location, a high-rise building fire will present the same challenges and require the same fire department resources. For many small to mid-sized departments, the idea of a fire incident in a high-rise building is something we all hope will never happen. As a result, we may fail to adequately plan for it.

As suburban cities grow, they run out of room to expand laterally. Ultimately, they develop vertically, meaning high-rise buildings have become commonplace. As a result, it is not uncommon to find that a department’s efforts to meet the challenges of high-rise firefighting have failed to keep up with its city’s growth. Our department revised our high-rise policy, transforming an out-of-date document into a realistic and workable solution for our high-rise challenges.

Arlington Heights
1. The Arlington Heights Fire Department used this building for high-rise training. (Photos by author.)
High-rise
2. Each high-rise kit contains two spanners, a 2½-inch gate valve, an elbow with a relief valve, a pressure gauge, a 40-foot rope, a brush, an 18-inch pipe wrench, a 13⁄4- to 2½-inch-hose fitting, chocks, and 150 feet of 2½-inch hose with a 11⁄8-inch smooth bore nozzle.

Getting Started

Our department’s first step was to define the problem. Understanding our response capacity and the capacity of assisting agencies was a good place to start. Developing a plan an agency cannot fulfill will not help anyone.

The next step is to build a workable plan. The Arlington Heights (IL) Fire Department staffs the following equipment daily:

  • Tower ladders: 1.
  • Light-duty rescue squads: 2.
  • Engines: 3.
  • Ambulances: 4.
  • Battalion chiefs: 1.
  • Firefighters: 25 (minimum).

In addition to these numbers, daily vehicle staffing consists of three personnel on engines and tower ladders and two on ambulances or squads. These numbers serve an approximately 85,000-person population.

The high-rise policy was last updated in 2003, after the Cook County Office Building fire in Chicago.1 While this better prepared our department, the policy still required revisions to address several critical areas, including increased staffing requirements, initial investigation teams, and designating chief officer roles. The lack of preparation prompted the department to review the policy. Next, we established a committee to examine the problem and offer recommendations to update our procedures.

The committee’s first task was to define the problem, including the criteria for what our department considers a high-rise building. For example, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) defines high-rise buildings in terms of their height—at least 75 feet qualifies as “high-rise.”2 Rather than focus on exact height, our department decided to consider any building five stories or higher a high-rise building (photo 1). (Departments across the United States use this criteria to determine and label these buildings as high-rise structures.)

To figure out the extent of our building stock, we enlisted the assistance of the building department. They provided a list of occupancies that fit our criteria. Collaboration between the fire and building departments was essential in our planning process. Often, the information both agencies sought out was already known to the other, which streamlined the plan’s development. (Smaller jurisdictions or fire districts may have to contact their county’s building department or multiple building departments in cases where one jurisdiction covers several municipalities.)

After much consideration, our department decided that despite learning so much from lectures, we needed more hands-on experience with high-rise operations. We contacted the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) high-rise working group for assistance. The group helped us develop our plan and helped us put it into operation. It provided context to textbook details, enabling a deeper understanding of why fighting a high-rise fire is much different from fighting a fire in a single-story home.

Help is available. If you’re looking to take steps like these, keep in mind that networks and training groups curated from social media can be helpful. Another approach is to reach out to an article author who can shed some light as you develop a plan. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Eliminate the Weak Lines

Next, we needed to reconfigure our standpipe hose bundles. The current hose pack was cumbersome and challenging to deploy cleanly, which added complexity to an already stressful environment. Here is a list of criteria the committee agreed the new hose load needed to be able to accomplish:

  • Carried by one firefighter.
  • Simple to load and deploy.
  • Workable with minimum staffing.
  • Possible to distribute among the firefighters.
  • Eliminate excess weight. The existing bags designed to carry the hose and tools weighed nearly 80 pounds and took two firefighters to carry.
  • Replace the existing 1%-inch hoseline with a 2 1/2-inch hoseline and a smooth bore nozzle.

After researching high-rise packs from across the United States, we chose three to test: Denver (DFD), the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), and Chicago (CFD) . Our department had been using a variation of the FDNY-style pack. This consisted of the following:

  • Two 100-foot bundles of 1%-inch hose with a low-pressure combination nozzle. These bundles were carried in two large, heavy bags.
  • A 5-foot section of 3-inch hose.
  • A gated wye.
  • A drain elbow with an in-line pressure gauge.
  • An 18-inch pipe wrench and spanner wrenches.

Because of the size and weight of these bags, it took an intense effort for two people to carry them.

After thoroughly testing all three hose loads, the department decided that both FDNY and DFD packs deployed well. However, the committee felt that the CFD load was the best fit for our criteria. Essentially a flat load on its side, it was the easiest to repack and the closest hose loads to what we currently use in our department. While deployed, it pulled smoothly with minimal tangling or snagging.

By removing the bags, the 5-foot section of 3-inch hose and 2 1/2-inch to 1 1/2-inch wye allowed each firefighter to drape the individual hose section over their SCBA for an evenly balanced weight distribution via the harness system of the SCBA. This distribution left their hands open for holding handrails or other tools and reduced the weight from cumbersome, two-person 80- pound bags to 31 pounds per individual.

Our primary goal was getting the initial line into place. Knowing that NFPA 14, Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems, says the minimum flow rate for standpipes is 250 gpm, using a wye to get a second line would exceed this capacity.3 Rather than carrying a larger, heavier wye and expecting the minimum rather than an excess flow rate, we eliminated the three-inch hose section and wye. Later-arriving companies would be tasked with deploying secondary lines using other standpipe outlets or another stairwell.

Packing the load was easy. With both couplings at one end, we laid it into a six-foot bundle with three hook-and-loop fasteners. Each engine would have three sections of 50-foot hose, a high-rise bag with connections, a wrench, a gate valve, and more tools. This allowed an engine of three firefighters to carry the entire kit (photo 2).

We cut most of the deployment and loading mistakes with our previously used hose packs. For example, if the packs were loaded improperly, trying to couple them became confusing when the male or female couplings ended up on the wrong side of the pack. With this new pack, if the couplings were backward, we had to flip the pack over. Then they would line up and be able to couple easily.

Similarly, flipping the packs so the swivel coupling is on top helps in connecting to a standpipe outlet or another section of the hose and stretching as the hose plays off the shoulder or forearm. We found that it was beneficial to have the lead length of the hose with the nozzle attached to be a separate color from the remaining line. This way, before the hose was charged or afterward, while someone was actively stretching the line, we would know which line was the lead section.

Advancements in the Dispatch System

The committee members verified and added buildings using the list the building department provided. They found nearly 80 structures that fit this description. We worked with our regional dispatch agency to create a separate list in our computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system. Activated fire alarms with no additional information would automatically receive two engines, one truck, and one battalion chief.

Whenever they received a call reporting any indication of smoke inside a structure or a reported fire at an identified address, the CAD would dispatch a working fire response. It would begin tapping into neighboring agencies to dispatch, bringing four engines, three trucks, one squad, three ambulances, and two battalion chiefs to the scene. If a fire was confirmed, it would be upgraded to a second-alarm response, tripling the equipment already responding to the scene. Our department is fortunate to be in a resource-rich area. However, the same concept can be applied to areas where resources are scarce. The priority is getting the resources in motion, reducing reflex time, and ultimately getting water on the fire faster.

Radio Communications

Radio traffic at a high-rise incident will also quickly overwhelm a single fireground channel. Appointing channels is imperative to success. Use the incident command system (ICS) and assign radio channels by functional assignment. The companies involved with fire suppression should not be on the same channel as the staging or medical groups. Each division should report to a supervisor who will communicate with the operations chief or incident commander (IC). They will communicate the message to the right individual. The goal is to minimize traffic on each channel in favor of vital messages.

The Importance of Mutual Aid

With very few exceptions, smaller and mid-sized departments will need help from surrounding agencies during a high-riseincident. Mutual-aid agreements and regional high-rise operating plans are essential. All departments at a high-rise fire must be on the same page.

During training and promotional cycles, many departments use high-rise texts written by highly experienced firefighters who have fought many high-rise fires. The number of fires is higher than what most mid-sized departments will ever have to handle. However, they are all written from the point of view of having anywhere from four to six people per company.

For smaller organizations, this is often a highly unrealistic assumption. In these cases, staffing can range from one to three people per company. And staffing varies in volunteer departments. This does not mean that suburban fire departments can operate at a high-rise fire with fewer personnel than larger city departments. A high-rise fire will require the same resources, regardless of where it is. Mutual aid is the only way for small to mid-sized departments to overcome the staffing and equipment gaps.

 

50-foot hose bundles
4. Both 50-foot hose bundles are staged on the floor below the fire, ready to be deployed. If couplings don’t align, you can adjust them before leading them out.
bundle is led
5. Each bundle is led out individually. This ensures that they do not overlap.
floor landing
6. As the firefighters lead out the hose on the floor below the fire, the firefighter with the nozzle section of the hose continues to the fire floor landing.
lead length
7. Once both teams are ready, it’s time to couple the hose from the floor below with the lead length of the hose.
firefighter leads
8. A firefighter leads the nozzle length up the stairwell to use gravity in the stretch. When the line is charged, a firefighter will be stationed here to ensure that the hose deploys smoothly.
connected
9. Once all hoses are connected, the officer will confirm that they’re ready and then call for water to flow the line into the fire room.

According to NFPA 1710, Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments, 42 firefighters should respond to the initial alarm of a high-rise fire to fulfill all the necessary jobs required.4 Our department has 25 to 30 firefighters on duty per shift. To make up for this shortfall, we needed to increase the response to these types of incidents. A response to a possible fire received three engines, two trucks, three ambulances, one squad, and one battalion chief. This encompassed nearly the entire department, but still far less than what is outlined in NFPA 1710.

It was clear from the start that our response to a high-rise fire was insufficient. We still needed to bolster the response at initial dispatch. This type of need comes up all the time. In fact, suburban fire departments in the Chicago area developed the mutual-aid box alarm system (MABAS) to bolster cooperation and resource sharing. Our agency has been in MABAS in northern Illinois since the late 1970s. It has become the model for seamless, interoperable mutual aid in several midwestern states.

By using the capabilities of the new CAD system, it was possible for what would typically be dispatched as a potential fire in a high-rise to be dispatched with a more robust working fire response. According to predetermined MABAS assignments, the system would add an extra engine, truck, and ambulance on initial dispatch. It would also bring in companies and command chiefs from neighboring departments. Established mutual-aid agreements like MABAS ensure that departments can quickly fill gaps in the initial response.

The Role of Incident Command

This policy primarily focuses on the command aspect of a high-rise operation. A low-frequency, high-hazard event, likea high-rise incident, must have the proper command structure. Controlling occupants, building systems, and contending with a mass-casualty incident will quickly overwhelm even the most capable fireground commander.

My department has one battalion chief on duty daily and six administrative chiefs, including our deputy chief and fire chief. If an incident happened during the week, the administrative chiefs would fill the first several command positions. However, the situation would be different if the incident were to occur outside of working hours. We realized that along with the substantial number of fire suppression and emergency medical services (EMS) companies responding, we would have to ask for a sizeable number of chief officers to supervise the multiple working groups. Our policy outlined the responsibilities assigned to each chief officer as they arrived, in order of priority.

Chief Assignments for a High- Rise Building Response

The chief officer assignments for a high-rise building response are as follows:

  1. Initial incident commander: On-duty battalion chief.
  2. First chief: Safety.
  3. Second chief: Assumes IC role, while the on-duty battalion chief is reassigned to the fire sector (operations).
  4. Third chief: Search and rescue.
  5. Fourth chief: Lobby control unit (logistics).
  6. Fifth chief: Forward staging.
  7. Sixth chief: Firefighter rehab.
  8. Seventh chief: Medical.
  9. Eighth chief: Apparatus-base staging.

The assignment could be changed at the discretion of the incident commander but always follows the same general procedure, which relies heavily on the response of chiefs from surrounding departments. Those departments are accustomed to working according to their policies. To ensure everyone is operating on the fireground in harmony, chiefs receive laminated reference cards as they receive their position assignments.

These cards include the following information:

  • Each chief’s assigned task.
  • The group supervisor to report to.
  • Assigned and alternate radio frequencies.

A unified command post should be set up early in the incident. This will ensure collaboration between stakeholders, such as fire, police, building management, municipal departments, civil and elected leaders, the Red Cross, and transit, who will relocate occupants. Additionally, if the building engineer is on scene, have him report to the command post.

Here’s a closer look at each role.

IC: On-duty battalion chief. This individual will be reassigned as the operations officer and direct fire attack operations.

First chief: Safety. The role of the safety chief is critical. This individual handles the overall safety of operations and is part of the incident command staff. As the size of the incident escalates, more safety officers can be assigned to various locations. They will work directly with the chief of that location and report back to the safety chief.

Second chief/IC: Incoming chief. The second chief will assume the role of IC and will remain in constant contact with the on-duty battalion chief. While this plan stays in line with the tenets of the ICS, if needed, the IC may assign more officers to act as assistants, keeping track of the many aspects of the many details and ensuring that nothing gets overlooked. The IC handles the overall direction of the operations and ensures that all groups run in unison, toward a common goal.

Third chief: Search and rescue. The responding truck companies are responsible for search and rescue tasks. Three trucks are due to respond to the initial alarm.

  • The first truck arriving is responsible for searching the area nearest the fire.
  • The second truck is responsible for the floor above.
  • The third truck is responsible for searching for trapped victims in the stairwells or the top floor.

The company officer from the first truck will assume the position of the rescue group supervisor until relieved by a chief officer if needed. The rescue group supervisor coordinates with the search companies and the operations officer.

In the event of a rescue, the team will bring the victim to a collection point three floors below the fire floor. They’ll hand the victim off to members of an advanced life support (ALS) or basic life support (BLS) triage team. That team will facilitate the victim’s movement to the ground floor and the medical section, if needed. The IC should make frequent check-ins with the search and rescue chief to monitor the progress of the rescue effort, and additional resources should be called to the scene if available.

The rapid intervention team (RIT) consists of one engine, one truck, and one ALS ambulance. The members of each group are notified of their role upon dispatch and will be staged two floors below the fire. Their job, just as in any other fire, is only for firefighter rescue and shouldn’t be used for general firefighting operations.

If there is a critical medical event for a victim and no available EMS units, the ambulance company can be assigned to the medical care of that victim while another ambulance is requested to fill their position. For any other incident, if the RIT is called into action, all other companies will try to reduce unnecessary radio traffic. If they’re in the rescue area, they will assist with the rescue.

Fourth chief: Lobby control unit. These incidents can become complex quickly. A solid logistics plan will reduce confusion, increase equipment accountability, and transport everyone to where they need to be. Within the lobby area, a lobby control unit (LCU) needs to be established. This team is designated to coordinate the movement of equipment and supplies between staging and the forward operations staging area.

Not only are they responsible for the movement of equipment, but they are also in charge of bringing civilians and victims from the upper floors to the medical teams in the lobby. The LCU would communicate with both operation teams to anticipate the needs of the suppression and rescue groups. At that point, the LCU can request more equipment be moved from staging to the lobby area to be deployed to the fire floors. This group is responsible for many tasks, including refilling air cylinders and obtaining new batteries and additional hoselines.

In addition, the building engineer representative should be present to provide directions about the building systems and assist in their operations as needed. Any change to the building’s systems could have an unknown, catastrophic effect onfirefighting operations or smoke movement. The IC should only make changes after consulting with the building engineer.

Fifth chief: Forward staging. As additional companies arrive on the scene, they should report to an established base staging area and remain with their apparatus until they have an assignment. They will then move up to the scene and report to the forward staging officer two floors below the operations area. Next, they will form a tactical reserve to relieve the initial suppression units or deploy additional hoselines. The operations officer and forward staging officer will ensure adequate resources in forward staging to maintain suppression and rescue efforts.

Sixth chief: Firefighter rehab. High-rise fires are labor-intensive operations. They will quickly absorb resources and push firefighters to the limits of their physical capabilities. This often requires firefighters to move the equipment they will need to the fire and do it by hand. Even a short climb up a stairwell can be exhausting, and they have yet to fight the fire.

Firefighter rehabilitation is essential in these incidents and must be in a safe area that’s close to where the operations are occurring. Placing a rehab section one floor below the forward staging area provides a nearby place where firefighters can remove their equipment, cool down, rehydrate, and assess their vital signs. During fires on lower floors of high-rise buildings, this can follow the department’s regular policies and does not necessarily need to be inside the building.

Seventh chief: Medical. There will likely be injuries in an event of this size. Suburban fire departments must consider that even a relatively small fire readily extinguished by firefighters can produce heavy smoke. Smoke from a manageable fire can result in a multiple-casualty incident, as it can rapidly become unmanageable.

Problems with smoke intensify under the following circumstances:

  • With elderly occupants.
  • With occupants who ignore fire department announcements to shelter in place.
  • In the presence of stairwell doors that someone has blocked open.

Enough medical support at an early stage is crucial for success. One of the responding ambulances will be assigned this duty until a chief officer arrives on the scene to lead the group. They can communicate needs with the incident command staff and relay information to the local hospital, coordinating important information such as transport locations and where each patient was taken.

Eighth chief: Apparatus-base staging. Once a working fire is confirmed, the alarm will be raised to a second-alarm response. Further mutual aid will bring the following:

  • 1 dedicated RIT truck and engine.
  • 1 dedicated RIT battalion chief.
  • 2 command and SCBA support vehicles.
  • 2 squads.
  • 5 ambulances.
  • 6 trucks.
  • 7 additional engines.
  • 7 chief officers.

While this level of outside support may not be available in some areas, the idea is to get a large amount of assistance mobilized sooner rather than later.

The base staging chief is responsible for creating and maintaining a resource pool. The person in this role should locate an area far from the incident so vehicles and personnel are not in danger from falling debris or other hazards.

The location should still be close enough to allow for quick deployment into operation. The base staging chief needs to stay in contact with the IC, advise of the amount and type of available resources, and make recommendations on future anticipated needs. If resources are depleted, it would be this person’s responsibility to notify the IC that the alarm needs to be raised. The base staging chief should also keep a log of all the units that arrived and left from the staging area to ensure proper documentation.

Coordinate Efforts

As the incident progresses, you may need more groups to accomplish the required tasks. The IC should use the ICS structure to designate these groups and assign them to the appropriate sector.

The best plan is only helpful if personnel are familiar with it. We were fortunate to have a five-story building scheduled for demolition to conduct real-life, hands-on training. This was an excellent opportunity to instruct personnel on why changes were needed in how we approached high-rise fires; current science and industry standards; and, most importantly, why we are increasing from a 13A-inch hose to a 21/2-inch hose. Personnel became familiar with hose management techniques and why advancing a hoseline of any size requires teamwork, strong leadership, and discipline.

It may sound simple, but we learned that no hoseline will reach the fire if all personnel gather at the nozzle. Personnel must be strategically positioned at intervals along the hoseline to maneuver it around corners and stair landings, and they must have the discipline to remain at their task until ordered to move up on the hoseline. Next, we explained the importance and functions of the investigation team and why a hoseline should not be deployed until the location of the fire is determined. All participants in the training performed in the roles of investigation and suppression teams.

Through training and events, the company officer must lead the team to a safe, smooth operation. And the possibility of disaster must not be underestimated. The individuals leading the initial fire suppression and rescue teams must coordinate their efforts to be successful. It is crucial to maintain situational awareness and accountability regarding where each firefighter is located.

Firefighters are responsible for carrying out their assigned roles and not delving into other areas. Solid and clear communication is essential. Repeating back instructions ensures the correct message is received and understood. Additionally, communication helps departments maintain accountability for the location of each member. In this situation, the company officer is similar to an air traffic controller, directing and leading the team toward the fire rather than being directly integral to physically moving the hoseline. This coordination direction allows officers to maintain the overall picture of the situation, keep their teams moving cohesively, relay updates or needs to command, and account for their firefighters.

Finalization and Implementation

When our department publishes a new or updated policy, it is posted for a 30-day review. This is where we can ask questions, make suggestions, or point out typos we may have missed in the development process. This was no different. Our policy was published after internal and external reviews. We received—and addressed—several comments. This policy was a significant change, and concerns about staffing and operating a 2 1/2-inch hoseline were at the forefront.

The training team took great care in explaining how this policy would work. The team also explained that the added line size was mitigated by increasing the size of the fire attack company. Finally, the orders for the new equipment were placed. Once the equipment arrived, it went into service. Further refresher training will be added to the departmental training calendar to maintain these highly perishable skills.

Prepare for High- Rise Firefighting

High-rise firefighting is a labor-intensive endeavor that will quickly absorb large quantities of staffing. As buildings grow, there will inevitably be fires and other emergencies. A workable solution for whatever size agency handles these events is critical. Planning for the initial operations, including adequate resources to staff those positions, is the first step in the right direction for these events. The use of the ICS is another element that cannot be overlooked.

This event is beyond the scope of an individual IC running alone. Tasks must be delegated and overseen by multiple levels of leadership. As the population grows, the demand for living space will continue to increase, leading to the development of even more high-rise buildings. Responding to incidents in these structures is the new reality for many small to mid-sized agencies. ?

Author’s note: This monumental project would not have been possible without the tireless work of the members of the high-rise committee, the administration, and the membership of the Arlington Heights Fire Department. Thanks to Captain Jim Davis, CFD, for many hours of assistance, phone calls, and support.

ENDNOTES

  1. Madrzykowski, Daniel, and William Walton. “Cook County Administration Building Fire, 69 West Washington, Chicago, Illinois, October 17, 2003: Heat Release Rate Experiments and FDS Simulations.” National Institute of Standards and Technology, 1 Jul. 2004, bit.ly/4gf8wpB.
  2. Ziavras, Valerie. “Sprinkler Requirements for High- Rise Buildings.” NFPA, August 2020, bit.ly/3ZdJS1r.
  3. “NFPA 14 Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems” NFPA, 2024, bit.ly/4cv3F11.
  4. “NFPA 1710 Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments.” NFPA, 2020, bit.ly/3ZgQAFa.

CHRISTOPHER L. RYMUT is a 23-year fire service veteran and a lieutenant with the Arlington Heights (IL) Fire Department. He is also an adjunct fire science instructor at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. He has a master’s degree from Benedictine University and a bachelor’s degree in fire science from Southern Illinois University.

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