Photos by author.
By Justin Mann
Now more than ever, we are seeing a resurgence in engine company operations. If you are a naysayer and feel as though there is not enough training and or opportunity for engine company operations, you are looking in the wrong places. Many firefighters across the nation are not just getting on the job training but are getting into it, and engine company operations is one of their main passions.
The word “dogma” used in this article’s title was chosen because of its meaning for individuals on the job and who “dig into the details” to improve themselves and the fire service. This story of the word Dogma follows:
“The origin of the word dogma acts as a reminder to English speakers that now established principles and doctrines were once simply thoughts and opinions of ordinary people that gained popularity and eventually found their way into the universal consciousness of society.”
This is what’s currently sweeping the nation by the way of Andy’s Ambassadors. Truck work, rapid intervention teams, and other fireground functions have ruled the training agenda for many years. They are, of course, vitally important, but the most vital tool on the fireground is still the nozzle and its precise use.
Whether you’re staffing is low and you get two on a line (or four in larger departments) for advancement, you have to take the time to make sure we are on the same “sheet of music” and check our equipment every morning so it is ready for use. Aaron Fields of Nozzle Forward said, “We have to approach it as Marvin Gaye and not Metallica.” This includes slowing down at shift changes and checking the attack nozzles, not just checking if they are attached to the line at morning check but physically taking the nozzle off, operating the bale, checking for debris, and working the tip (if you run fog tips). This may seem like overkill, but consider a 2015 nozzle study conducted at my local department which found a frontline engine with an automatic nozzle that had a 1¾-inch hose gasket lodged in the nozzle. Did it make this nozzle unsafe to use? Yes!
While flowing the nozzle, it took twice the pump discharge pressure to get the required gallons per minute (gpm) out of the nozzle, but the pattern and reach appeared to be adequate for a nonexperienced firefighter who has no knowledge of nozzle reaction and its correlation with proper flow when flowing prior to entry; firefighters simply trust the line and their operator before making entry. What they don’t know is that the department’s standard operating procedure (SOP) required a 70-gpm nozzle in the firefight. Luckily, this was caught before the nozzle was ever used on the actual fireground. Actual flow on the nozzle was 70 gpm from the flow meter used during testing, which is well below what 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, which recommends a minimum of 100 gpm on a first-attack line that has capabilities of 300 gpm between the first two lines on scene.
It is our responsibility to make sure our citizens are protected and that we give our personnel the highest chance to go home to their loved ones. Taking five to 10 minutes each morning to check and work the nozzles is not too much to ask of ourselves or each other. Reloading a hose load for proper deployment makes sure that, when called on, we show the professionalism that has gone into the job we are so grateful to have.
And what about our hose load? As with the nozzle, the hose load and its deployment are pivotal to our mission of rescue, fire attack, and safety for all involved. Should we come on shift and chose and/or redress which hose loads are currently on our rigs? Again, yes! We should take the pride in our jobs and know which loads work for best for our districts and our crew. This “one-size-fits-all” mentality that has taken over the fire service has to stop, and one of the first steps to do this is to create thinking firefighters that can estimate stretches and not be put in a “box” with the 200-foot preconnect. We are all different, and the fire service must pride itself on diversity, so let’s take that attitude with our hose loads.
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A combination of preconnects and static hose beds offers our firefighters their greatest capabilities. Consider the article “The Deadload Isn’t Dead” by Brian Brush.1 It’s absolutely amazing how many have gone away from the low hose bed and now have to literally climb on the back of the engine/rescue engine to remove the hose. The push to preconnect from the mid-ship and supply it off the rear has had its time in the fire service; now is the time to take back supplying it off the rear and better serve those that use the tool rather than the new manufacturer’s “bells and whistles.”
The first-arriving engine usually pulls past the involved structure to leave room for the truck, to allow a three-sided view for the officer, and to allow an easier deployment for fire attack off the rear. At my department, we have a 200-foot preconnect on the front bumper, which is constantly getting caught up and has to be brought around the rig and back to the fire, losing at least the first 25 to 50 feet before it can turn to the fire. One of the main points to take away from this paragraph is that you must know which hose loads your department pulls or wants to pull, and specify the rig to them vs. changing your loads because of apparatus manufacturers dictating hose beds.
With all this said, one of the best things we can do is get out in our districts and find the hard, long, and unusual stretches that may give us problems and overcome them before the emergency happens so when it does, the preparation will pay off. Why should we be surprised when we constantly have the opportunity through preplans and routine medical calls to take the five to 10 minutes to preplan or pull a line to see the results?
Two of the most impactful comments I’ve heard at a conference was from Army Ranger Keni Thomas at the 2015 Northwest Leadership Seminar. He said, (1) “Better to have and not need than need and not have” and (2) “I see it, I own It.” We never know when the next call is going to drop and where it is going to be, but countless times we have gone out and drilled on either a medical or structure call or had a roundtable discussion, and during the next tour, what we drilled on or discussed showed up in some form.
I leave you with this:
The Nozzleman’s Dogma
This is my nozzle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
The nozzle is used to save lives and property, so I must master its use.
Without me, the nozzle is useless. Without the nozzle, I am useless. It is the tool to protect those I swore to protect and serve beside. I must use it to the best of my ability to take down the fiery enemy before it flashes on me, my citizens, or my brothers. I will!
We know that what counts in this battle is not the halls we crawl, the crackle of the fire, nor the steam we make. We know that it is the “devil in the details” that makes or breaks us. We will extinguish through discipline, attention, and action.
I know my nozzle is set up for success, because it is my lifeline. I will know its disadvantages, its strength, its parts, its accessories, and its flows for which I will use to my advantage to take down the fiery enemy. I will keep my nozzle clean and ready, as I am ready. We are one. We will…
Before my Brothers, I swear this creed. My nozzle and I are the protectors of our community. We are the masters of the fiery enemy. We are put between the flames and our citizens for one reason: because we are the courageous ones that will lay our life down for someone we don’t know.
So, until every last sole is out and every flame extinguished, we will dedicate ourselves to our mission and be victorious.
– J. Mann
Reference
1. Brush, B. (2013). The Deadload Isn’t Dead. Retrieved from www.fireservicewarrior.com/2013/05/the-deadload-isnt-dead.
Justin Mann is a 13-year fire service veteran and a resident of Moore, Oklahoma. He is a member of his department’s training division. Mann is a partner in a training company out of Oklahoma as well as the vice president of the Mid America F.O.O.L.S. Oklahoma City Metro Chapter, which promotes the fire service and training. FTM-PTB-DTRT-KTF.
