
FIRE LOSS MANAGEMENT
Part 23: THE “HOW” OF MANAGEMENT
There are five steps in the management of any fire: discovery, alarm, evacuation, suppression, and recovery. There is a basic assumption that discovery and alarm are one and the same. In firefighting we often compare ourselves with an army and use terms that indicate the fire is an enemy to be confined and outflanked. All of these analogies are good, but we might consider whether we are the only army in the world that leaves it almost entirely to chance or at least to somebody else to let us know whether or not the enemy is attacking.
DISCOVERY
A hundred years ago most major city fire departments maintained watch towers. In these towers men looked out over the city. If they discovered a fire, they sounded an alarm. With the development of electrical alarm systems came the belief that all citizens under all circumstances immediately would seek to transmit the alarm. Our responsibility was to make the fire alarm box available and put a light on it so it could be seen at night.
There are many reasons that a person who discovers a fire or, more likely, who has reason to suspect there is a fire will not transmit a fire alarm. For example, a supermarket has an automatic sprinkler system with a local water motor gong on it and a sign that says “In case of fire call the fire department, 123*4567.” Research has shown that at 3:00 a m. when that bell goes off, the majority of the people who might hear it are with somebody they shouldn’t be with or doing something they shouldn’t be doing and are unlikely to call the fire department.
Occasionally we see such signs. What they really want to say is “If you have reason to believe there may be a fire or if you smell smoke or gas, call the fire department so that it can in fact determine whether there is a fire.” The difficulty is that nobody has been able to reduce this message to two or three words to be said by Sparky the fire dog.
The day of the terrible Chicago school fire I had business with the Chicago lire Department I was picked up at the airport by a fire department vehicle that bore the sign “In case of fire call 117-1313 ” I commented on this deficiency. It showed up tragically the same day. The fact that there was reason for alarm in the school was known to a number of adults. Several teachers removed their own classes from the building but did not sound the alarm because they felt that they had no authority. The authority was reserved for the principal, and the principal could not be located.
(All photos by author.)
Does this authoritarian situation exist in establishments in your area? Is it clearly and explicitly provided that any person who has the slightest reason to believe a fire exists should transmit the alarm? Students, janitors, maintenance personnel, and others arc more likely to discover the fire than the manager.
ALARMS
Do regulations or your procedures interpose a barrier to guard against “false alarms”? It is a function of the firefighting force to determine whether there is cause for alarm. T his function is not always readily recognized. Many fire departments have the classification “Unnecessary alarm.” There is no such thing. There are fires. There are malicious false alarms. There are emergencies in which a citizen needs help and calls the firefighting force. The help required was to determine that in fact there was not a fire.
Consider the situation of an employee who summons assistance for a smoke situation that turns out not to be caused by a fire. There is a great deal of excitement, apparatus, flashing lights, two-way radios, and loudspeakers blaring out over the area, and finally an officer gets on the radio and announces for all to hear: “Unnecessary alarm.” Somebody within earshot of the person sounding the alarm is sure to comment on the cost to the taxpayers of calling out all of that equipment and the waste.
Most of us do not wish to be the center of attention. We can be quite sure that an individual who is subjected to this sort of treatment or who sees this sort of treatment and projects it to himself will hesitate before he ever transmits an alarm again. He will make every attempt to be sure that there is a raging fire. If he sees smoke coming from around a room door, he will open the door to make sure; and when he opens the door, the fire may be unleashed with explosive violence.
Eliminate the terms unnecessary alarm, smoke scare, and justified false alarm. If it is not a fire or malicious false alarm, it is an emergency. It looks much better on the annual report to the people who control the money that there were 100 emergencies—drownings, extrications, investigations—rather than 100 “unnecessary alarms.” Nothing the fire service does is unnecessary, and we can’t stress this enough.
There are others who are not anxious to transmit a fire alarm immediately. They are the “guilty”—not guilty in the sense of being arsonists, but guilty of carelessness in starting the fire, perhaps by smoking in a forbidden place or by the careless use of a burning torch in removing some old paint. In most cases, the individual involved will make every attempt to suppress the fire himself without summoning assistance. Only if the fire gets completely beyond control will he call for help. He may think he has suppressed the fire when in fact fire can be hidden in the walls of a building.
Motels and hotels are notorious for delayed alarms. Have an officer check each motel in town late at night and ask what the person at the desk would do if a guest reported a room on fire. Quite possibly many of the night staff are recent immigrants, with poor English skills and no desire to deal with officials. You may find out that they have no instructions at all. In other cases they may be well-instructed in how to reset the alarm system before the alarm is transmitted to the fire department, as happened in the Westchase Hilton in Houston, Texas, which resulted in the loss of 12 lives. What good is your new 5500,000 aerial platform of which you are so proud if a fire can burn for 15 minutes or more unreported because you made no effort to close the gap in the reporting system?
Police departments and guard forces seem determined to “see for themselves” before transmitting an alarm. The first alarm for the Los Angeles Interstate Bank Building fire came from blocks away while the guard force was resetting the alarm system. An employee died “investigating the alarm.” This practice should be specifically addressed and corrected.
If the only means of summoning assistance is by telephone, be sure the telephone service is available 24 hours a day. In some properties the switchboard is closed at night. There have been instances where no night lines were made available to the watchman. In all cases, the proper number to call for assistance should be prominently posted and checked out from time to time to make sure that it is correct.
Be absolutely certain that the watchman is properly instructed. There are a number of cases on record in which management failed to instruct the watchman in what to do when he discovered a fire. It is totally unsatisfactory for the watchman to call somebody in management before he calls for assistance, as might be done in other problem situations. It is dangerous to permit him to make any intensive investigation or attempt to fight a fire on his own. The vital rule is “Get help on the way first.”
The delayed alarm (not delayed discovery, necessarily) remains a major factor in large-loss fires. In our fire prevention work we should carry on a constant campaign to make it crystal clear to all from the manager on dow n that the alarm must be sounded on the slightest suspicion, that it is not the function of the discovering employee to attempt to be absolutely sure that there is a fire, and that we would far rather have the fire force check out 10 or 15 or 20 situations that turn out not to be fires than to have one fire get away.
Employees should be trained to transmit the alarm first, then use fire extinguishers. There are many cases where the use of extinguishers delayed the alarm until it was apparent that the extinguishers were not effective.
The laboratory is a special situation where small fires occur with some regularity. Here guidelines must be set. If a fire can be extinguished with a small extinguisher at hand, which discharges its contents in a matter of 10 to 1 5 seconds, fine. This should be done and a “fire out” report called in. If the person must go to the corridor to get a larger extinguisher, then he must simultaneously sound the alarm.
In making a fire inspection, therefore, it is not sufficient to determine that the fire alarm system is in working order, that the electrical supply is adequate, and that the bells will sound. A vital part of the inspection of any manual fire alarm system is to determine whether the people in the area will sound the alarm in the event that it is necessary. Check out the fire alarm procedures from the bottom up, since it is often there where the fire is discovered, by a night guard, janitor, or other support personnel.