RANDOM THOUGHTS
TOM BRENNAN
For the past couple of months we have been spending time discussing the rear of the fire, its importance, and how to access it and use it. We discussed buildings with no fire escape. multiple dwellings that are occupied by a single family per floor with only one fire escape at the back of the building, and multiple dwellings that have split floors with one family at the rear and one at the front of each floor.
Before we get into multiple dwellings, with fire escapes that number more than two to many, let me review some of the feedback 1 have gotten so far. One reader commented, “That’s fine, but how do I know that the building is split —front and rear?” While nothing is in black and white or given to us in this job as a “silver bullet,” if there is a fire escape at the front of the building, you can be pretty sure there is one at the rear.
The reason for this is simple! A fireescape disturbs the look of a structure. so if one were required in the old days for railroad (straight through) apartments, the owner put it at the rear of the building. Once variances for additional tenants were won, the owner created two apartments per floor, doubled the rent income, but had to provide a second means of egress to the new life load, hence a fire escape at the front. Local trends may present fire escapes only at the front, but once you adopt their use to access life at the rear of the fire, your preplan activities should identify those oddballs.
A major decision problem exists in larger multiple dwellings (those shaped like capital letters of the alphabet—“U,” “H,” “I,” or “E,” for example). There may be four to more than 10 apartments per floor, each served by or sharing a fire escape. The fireescapes can be located anyplace: front, rear, sides, or even within shafts (whether seen from the street or in blind shafts with access to the street from the rear of the court or through tunnels that pass the side cellar entrances). Experience has shown that an apartment with a street-side window but no fire escape most often is served by a fire escape hung on the side or in a courtyard. The only sure indication from the outside is if the flames or smoke is issuing from a window that is within the enclosure of the fire escape balcony.
So how do you know which fireescape to use? There is so little time! One of the w ays, of course, depends on preplans and experience. Other than that, a sure way is to go directly to the fire floor. Determine which of the doors is the fire occupancy. Then drop one floor below, and gain entry into the apartment in the same location. Going through the apartment, noting the layout, gain access to the fire escape you now are sure serves the fire apartment.
This may not be as simple as it sounds. Should the apartment door to the fire occupancy be left open or your frustrations bring you to the site-after the door is forced, the hallway service, five or more apartments, may be heavily charged. With apartment doors so close to one another, a guess from the stairs at best would have a 50/50 chance of success. In this case, crawl to the door at which the line is operating (or other signs) and assure yourself of the exact location before descending the stairs.
Even if the locks below stop you, you are ahead of the game. You know what direction within the enclosure walls the apartment lies. You should be able to guess from outside with more success.
Some wizards out there tell you to simply force the adjacent apartment, which should share the fire escape with the fire apartment. This is fine if there are only two apartments to one side or the other of the building—but that is not the setup we are describing here. As a matter of fact, the adjoining apartment most often does not share the same fire escape in these megadwellings.
Also, some truck instructors and action guides recommend ascending to the roof in these instances and descending the gooseneck ladder to gain access to the fire apartment’s fire escape. They tout the position that the roof will give you a quicker survey than looking on the four sides of the structure. Sounds great—except for the fact that some cities don’t require all fire escapes on walls other than the front to go to the roof level. Second, what if the proper fire escape turns out to be the one in front? There is no way to get down. Third, and most important, you always can go up to
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CONTINUING AT THE REAR
Continued from 124. the fire balcony. A small amount of flame or a heavy smoke condition can prevent you from ever getting near the fire apartment location from above the fire.
So now you’re there! Let’s review your objectives depending on whether you are the first or second firefighter to arrive. If people are on the fire escape, they are either relatively safe or not. If they are below the fire floor —safe. Stop momentarily to force entry for them to the apartment below the fire; communicate with command to get portable ladders and firefighters to assist them and to more quickly remove the weight from the overloaded fire escape. Don’t, how| ever, get “tied” to these people. You have no time and a lot to get donefast.
Get to the fire floor and momentarily check conditions on the balconies above. If civilians are in that position, delay all operations until you talk or guide them down below the fire floor. Break the storm window assemblies, should they be in place. Open the window, if possible, and enter. Should fire conditions be severe, reach out and break/vent the window of the fire apartment adjacent to the escape balcony to get relief and to direct internal fire spread away from your entry’ point. Communicate your position and your intended actions to command and the interior team. Then enter and aggressively search.
Second firefighter arriving at a rear assignment: Operate as indicated so far. However, your assignment should be the floor directly above the fire apartment. To take this risk, communicate with the first-arriving firefighter, assess conditions on the fire floor, measure your time, communicate with the team inside and the command function that you are attempting entry from the rear of the apartment above the fire, and as aggressively as possible accomplish what the fire conditions will let you accomplish.
