BY OWEN C. THOMASSON III AND MICHAEL J. BARAKEY
Phase 1 and Phase 2 were covered in the April 2023 and February 2024 issues of Fire Engineering, respectively.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, the Suffolk (VA) Department of Fire & Rescue (SFR) has conducted annual full-scale Mayday execises/drills. The third annual full-scale exercise/drill was held in February 2024. Each year, SFR provides an overview and lessons learned about the department’s annual exercise/drill so that other departments or training officers can reproduce the exercises/ drills or discuss the lessons learned. Phase 3 of the annual Mayday full-scale exercise/drill was elevated with the desire to challenge the firefighters and officers by taking the drill to the next level. SFR replicated a real-life Mayday that occurred in the Newport News (VA) Fire Department, the fire department to the immediate north of SFR, where a floor collapsed, trapping four firefighters during suppression activities and civilian rescues.
Scenarios
Phase 1 took place in February 2022. The scenario was a science lab explosion after hours in an elementary school, causing a wall to collapse and pinning a firefighter. Firefighters had many obstacles to overcome during this exercise, including not only a firefighter being down but also an active fire spreading through the cockloft of the school and a civilian worker being unaccounted for and needing rescue.
Phase 2 took place in February 2023 and had crews dispatched to a fire alarm in an elementary school. Crews arrived on the scene and were directed to the cafeteria per the fire alarm panel. They encountered heavy smoke from the cafeteria/kitchen area, which also served as an auditorium. The first-due officer requested a complete structural response due to the conditions, which were rapidly getting worse. Crews pulled an attack line and were led to an area on the stage where the fire was and a simulated hole had been cut. Crews were directed to get in as if they had fallen through the stage in the auditorium. Crews called a Mayday or a personal alert safety system (PASS) device alerted that firefighters were in trouble.
Common themes that were identified in Phases 1 and 2 included radio communications, the importance of prefire planning, firefighter removal techniques, use of rescue equipment in fire conditions, use of rapid intervention team (RIT) packs in confined spaces with zero visibility, knowledge of self-contained breathing apparatus in critical scenarios, use of tactical/Mayday worksheets, calling for a second alarm early into a Mayday event, incident command system (ICS) terminology, using multiple tactical channels simultaneously, and the dispatcher’s role in communications on fireground tactical channels.
For Phase 3, the department used the same decommissioned elementary school as in the past drills. Starting in February 2024, the department delivered 12 four-hour, full- scale evolutions. More than 325 firefighters, officers, and dispatchers participated. Each scenario included three engines, one ladder, one heavy rescue, one advanced life support ambulance, one emergency medical services (EMS) supervisor, one safety officer, and two battalion chiefs.
Taking the lessons learned from the previous two drills, Phase 3 would be the mostphysically demanding and challenging drill for our crews. The training division built a prop in Apartment 104/Mayday room that simulated a floor collapse (photo 1). The Mayday consisted of a floor collapse where the officer had slid down the floor and was trapped by home furnishings, and the firefighter (E-11 Alpha) was underneath the floor, which personnel had to cut through with saws and hand tools to extricate him (photo 2).
The Exercise
Crews were dispatched to a smoke detector activation with a smell of smoke in a commercial building being renovated, which required a complete response. The first-arriving engine conducted a size-up and established command. The first-arriving crew entered the structure to investigate and found a long corridor with notable construction debris, leading to a security door with four apartments occupied in a corridor (photo 3). Light to moderate smoke was coming from around and under the security door. The incident commander (IC), the first-arriving officer, relayed this information to all units and tothe first-arriving battalion chief, who acknowledged the radio traffic and assumed command of the incident.
The IC assigned tasks (forcible entry, search, second attack line, secure utilities, safety, and RIT). The first-arriving engine company had to pull a 450-foot attack line. Crews had to force entry to the security door (photo 4) and were met with heavy smoke throughout the corridor. They found four apartments occupied. Crews searched them and found two occupants (an adult and a baby) unresponsive in one apartment (Apartment 101) and one unresponsive occupant in another apartment (Apartment 102). All three occupants were removed from the structure.
Crews continued searching, entered the third apartment, and advised command they found active fire in Apartment 103. Crews extinguished the fire and advised command they were checking for hot spots. E-11 was assigned to search Apartment 104. While members searched the apartment, the floor collapsed, causing both firefighters to be trapped.
A Mayday was issued and a Conditions, Actions, Needs (CAN) reportwas provided to the IC. The trapped firefighters advised that two firefighters were involved in some type of collapse. The two trapped firefighters were placed inside the prop, with one being on top of the floor with furnishings on top of that firefighter and the second firefighter placed out of reach of the other firefighter. The IC acknowledged the Mayday and the CAN report but lost communication with the trapped firefighters shortly thereafter.
The RIT was activated and proceeded to Apartment 104. There, they were met by interior crews who heard the Mayday. Crews found a floor collapse and quickly located one of the two trapped firefighters, who was unresponsive. Once crews extracted the initial firefighter, they found a lot of debris (home furnishings) on a collapsed floor with a faint PASS device sounding under the floor.
Crews radioed this information to command, and a lengthy extrication/ rescue began to find and remove thesecond trapped firefighter. Crews first had to remove debris (washing machine, furniture, pipes, dog kennel, construction debris, etc.) that had slid down to where the floor collapsed (in a lean-to pattern). Once they removed the debris, they could hear the audible more clearly and figured out the area where the second trapped firefighter was located. Crews relayed this information to command. They advised they had an extensive extrication and what equipment was needed.
Crews had to cut the floor to gain access to the trapped firefighter and provided command with a CAN report. The extrication of the second trapped firefighter was physically demanding due to the amount of debris and the limited access (photo 5).
Crews used extrication equipment, lighting, saws, and multiple RIT bags to gain access and extricate the trapped firefighters. Multiple crews had to rotate with multiple bottle changes. All down firefighters were removed from the structure and handed off to a waiting EMS crew. Incident command assigned secondary searches to all apartments, and the fire was marked under control. After each exercise, a hot wash was conducted, and crews returned to service.
Lessons Learned
After each drill, a formal post-incident analysis was held with the ICs, evaluators, facilitators, the training chief, and safety officers. The execution of a Mayday event has improved over the three full-scale exercises. The department is better prepared to execute the rescues of down firefighters, successfully activate and use the RIT, and have the command and control necessary to manage and lead rescue operations of down firefighters. SFR expanded on the lessons learned from the previous two full-scale exercises and added lessons from Phase 3.
Communications. Command acknowledged the Mayday with enough urgency that all units recognized what was happening. Also, scenarios ran more smoothly when one person was in charge of the Mayday in the building or location where it was happening. Crews learned if they couldn’t finish an assigned task (such as search), they must communicate that. There were many instances where a victim was found and the search was not completed. Also, some assignments were abandoned to assist with the Mayday.
Prefire planning. Before the fire or incident, it is essential to have detailed prefire plans of target hazards (photo 6). SFR has greatly emphasized getting out into the district to conduct prefire planning and building familiarization. It was shared in each hot wash how better the incident ran for both the crew operating inside and the IC from the outside with a detailed prefire plan that crews used while en route to the drill and after arriving on the scene.
RIT packs. RIT packs were highlighted as needing improvement in the first full-scale exercise. The second full-scale exercise demonstrated that the use was exceptional. SFR successfully improved RIT pack use through in-house training and the lessons learned from the first two full-scale exercises. In Phase 3, more emphasis was placed on crews working to stay in position and receiving a bump in their air supply instead of exiting the structure to receive a new bottle. Crews recognize the need for every RIT pack on the scene to be ready to go for the down firefighter and the crew working to extricate him. We emphasized the importance of someone managing using the RIT packs and exchanging them with fresh bottles throughout a long, extensive rescue such as this one.
Firefighter removal. Based on the information and techniques learned after the first two full-scale exercises, crews executed rescue techniques using the drag rescue device (photo 7).
Rescue equipment. For this exercise, we allowed crews to use saws and hand tools to cut holes to gain access through the floor to the down firefighter.
Tactical/Mayday worksheets. ICs used worksheets that were established and refined after the first and second full-scale exercises.
Additional alarms. Following the first two full-scale exercises, we did a complete review of what apparatus and personnel would be necessary once a second alarm was requested with a Mayday event. Was the usual complement received during a second alarm enough to deal with a Mayday operation? Based on the first full-scale exercise, the question was asked, “Should more than a second, third, or fourth alarm be requested once a Mayday occurs?” Based on the second full-scale exercise, it was recommended that each department review the effective response force for theirdepartment by training on Mayday events. It is important to remember that active fire suppression operations must continue while the down firefighter’s rescue takes place. A four-firefighter RIT may not be able to execute a successful rescue operation. Learn, through repetitive training, the number of additional alarms and the effective response force necessary to complete firefighter rescues.
ICS terminology. We recommend more frequent practice and usage of the National Incident Management System (NIMS)/ICS functions, as they benefit the span of control and unity of command. Although rarely formally announced, the more we use proper function naming (division/group supervisor, etc.) in routine operations, the more it will be ingrained in our ICS structure when a larger-scale event unfolds.
Requesting a separate channel. The first two full-scale exercises taught us that this is at the IC’s discretion based on active fire suppression and firefighter rescues.
Dispatch. We empower/train our dispatchers to repeat Maydays or other significant traffic to command if it is not acknowledged. During the Mayday in Loudoun County, Virginia, the dispatcher asked command if he had heard the last Mayday transmission. He had not, and the dispatcher repeated what was said back to him.
Annual training. Mayday and RIT skills should be trained on routinely at the company and battalion levels. They should be drilled on annually with full- scale exercises to bring together the crews working together when faced with a down firefighter and a Mayday. Having the entire department participate in large-scale evolutions to help ensure proficiency will lead to modifications of practices and policies based on the lessons learned. We have seen how far we have come since our first drill.
Facilitators and evaluators saw a vast improvement from the first two full-scale exercises to the third, which included more refined rescue techniques, decision making, equipment knowledge, building familiarization, incident command, searches, and firefighter and civilian rescues. We feel we are ready for our next Mayday.
OWEN C. THOMASSON III is a 32-year fire service veteran and a captain with the Suffolk (VA) Department of Fire & Rescue, assigned to an engine company. He is an officer II, instructor II, advanced emergency medical technician, and NFA incident safety officer. Thomasson has an associate degree in fire science and has developed numerous training programs for his department’s rapid intervention team and Mayday operations.
MICHAEL J. BARAKEY, CFO, is a 31-year fire service veteran and chief of the Suffolk (VA) Department of Fire & Rescue. He is a hazmat specialist; an instructor III; a nationally registered paramedic; and a neonatal/pediatric critical care paramedic for the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, Virginia. Barakey is the participating agency representative and former task force leader for VA-TF2 US&R team and an exercise design/ controller for Spec Rescue International. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Old Dominion University and graduated from the National Fire academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program in 2009. Barakey authored Critical Decision Making: Point-to-Point Leadership in Fire and Emergency Services through Fire Engineering Books, regularly contributes to Fire Engineering, and is an FDIC International preconference and classroom instructor.