THE FIRE has been extinguished and the hosebeds have been packed, ladders have been stowed, and firefighters have deconned their personal protective equipment and self-contained breathing apparatus. While they’re drinking water and cooling down in rehab, their chatter begins. Most of the talk centers around the tactical operations and conditions that the firefighters faced during the firefight. While all this informal talk is going on and before taking up, the officer should grab his crew and conduct an informal company critique.
Separating your unit from the others allows you to dive into your company’s operations without worrying about eavesdropping or chatter from outsiders who weren’t even on the scene yet when you arrived. Each member should reference their personal size-up of what they saw and encountered and how they accomplished their tasks, which helps inform and educate the whole unit.
A good example of this would be the chauffeur relaying where he saw visible fire from two windows of the structure. Pulling past these windows with the apparatus and positioning the turntable there allowed him to ladder the three adjoining windows of the structure. The inside team can discuss how forcible entry operations and primary search went and if they were able to control the fire room’s door. The engine company can discuss difficulties in establishing a water supply or stretching because of obstacles or wraparound stairs (that wrap around an elevator shaft) and the nozzle team’s forward advance.
The tricky part for the company officer is when a firefighter makes a mistake or a small blunder that could have delayed operations, made the fire worse, or caused an injury to himself. Let’s say a firefighter assigned to the roof position went into an adjoining exposure to access the roof of the fire building. When he took the interior stairs of the exposure and exited the bulkhead, he realized this building’s roofline was about six feet lower. Although the buildings looked like the fronts lined up, they didn’t because they were built on a descending hill. Luckily, he was able to use some old cans of tar on the roof to make an improvised ladder to access the fire building. While looking for these cans, he was smart enough to radio the second-due roof firefighter to advise him to use the opposite exposure or an aerial ladder to the roof of the fire building.
As the officer, it’s very important that you not lose your temper and scold the firefighter in front of the team. It’s demeaning to anyone and makes your “stock” go down in the respect they have for you. Mistakes happen, and it’s our job to train, lead, and build the confidence of our members, even when mistakes occur. So, gather them in front of the building and point out that the front cornices don’t line up and by stepping farther back from the building you may be able to see it better. Plus, if you shine your flashlight up to the area where they align, you may be able to see they’re not even. Also reinforce that crossing in the front is always better with these types of dwellings because open-ended air and light shafts tend to be located toward the rear. Sounding the roof before crossing over ensures there’s a substantial roof for you to land on.
Another important part of the company’s critique is to venture back into the structure as a team after the members have gotten some fluids and cooled down. Discuss interior and exterior operations such as the hoseline advance, the search pattern used, and checking for fire extension. Members can see where the heaviest fire conditions were (point of origin) and how the fire traveled to other areas of the structure. Seeing plaster with wire mesh embedded in it or hoarding conditions gives the outside team an idea of why companies were having difficulties opening up and advancing the hoseline.
While surveying the area, you might notice old gas pipes in the ceilings once used for lights or a dumbwaiter shaft in a kitchen now used for a pantry. Both can allow for rapid fire extension. Discuss specialty equipment such as bent tip nozzles and the value of using their design for fires running the plumbing walls or shafts.
Now that everyone has had the chance to witness the uncontrolled fire on arrival and critique it, they’re able to understand the path of destruction it had on the building and its components. They’ll also understand the efforts required for the companies to work in unison to control it. While riding on the rig and heading back to quarters, many of us will recall the events of the incident.
A self-critique is always important, whether it’s your first fire or your last. “Did I do the right thing?” “Should I have done this or that?” “Why did I do it that way this time and not this way?” These are some of the things that many of us ask ourselves after a fire or an incident. Is it because we’re trying to overanalyze our actions or that we don’t want to let the company down, injure somebody, or cause a fireground mishap? Really, it’s part of your overall critical learning process of the intricacies of this job, and you want to be better for the next one. Things are hectic when you arrive, panic is ensuing, visibility is limited, adrenaline is flowing, and your focus should be on controlling yourself. Now is the time to let your training kick in so you can follow the proper tactics to perform for the situation at hand.
Self-critiques should be a priority. As the late Fire Engineering Editor in Chief Tom Brennan once said, “You can’t train enough for a job that could kill you.”
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 38-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos.
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