BY TOM BRENNAN
Today we expect to cover the gamut of lessons from high-rise to combustible structure to leadership and management. For instance, we all are willing to point to the portable ladder raised upside down in the photos in a magazine. Usually, the “pointer” is other than the department member in the photo or, at least, a member of another department. Have you ever done the pointing? (Let he who is without ….)
When is it most important to raise a portable ladder upside down? If you ever need a ladder to the rear of a building that is large in area and short in height or if it is a row of short buildings-strip stores and attached dwellings-or if there is an extension from your two-story roof that is one story in height in the rear or if there is a reason to get a ladder to an opening in the rear for one reason or another (rescue, removal, entry, ventilation, and overhaul are just a few).
It is easier and quicker to raise the butt ends to the roof team members; they then can carry it straight to the rear roof edge (or window for that matter) without having to turn it. Their choice is to lower it by its own halyard to a waiting crew or to hold the fly and drop the bed ladder to the ground and lock the dogs from the roof and climb down themselves! Simple, huh? Put on your high-rise hat for the next multiple-part question.
How many members of the fire department enter the first elevator to a designated height? Take some time on this one. I assure you that it is not a trick question and, because of the title of this column, the answer is simple. The answer is in figuring out what you would need on the floor below the fire and what the usual load limit is for an average well-installed elevator: no more than six fire department personnel to an elevator!
What are the ranks? There is no reason to restrict the ability to have logistics for tactical application at the initial arrival point. Only one is an officer; the rest are trained firefighters. The officer of the second-arriving unit may remain in the lobby for communication until the next elevator is available and filled with the additional personnel and resources.
What are the firefighters carrying-besides sufficient radios? A hoseline is needed, so three should each be carrying a length of hose. The officer is carrying the key tools of forcible entry through the lock and the bag of fittings necessary for the standpipe hookup. That makes four.
The two remaining firefighters are carrying a set of forcible entry tools, a metal cutting saw, a 21/2-gallon extinguisher, a six-foot hook or pike pole, and a bag of search rope.
See, it’s still simple! Figure out what you want to do, and carry the stuff to do it.
Why three 50-foot lengths of hose? Because some building codes require that standpipe outlets (in buildings that require them) are placed in sufficient quantity so that no area of the protected perimeter of the building level is more than 130 feet from the outlet-that is one length from the floor below, 100 feet to the fire location, and 30 feet of reach for the stream!
Why the forcible entry tools? Well, aside from the obvious of forcing the doors necessary to get the team to the fire area, what about elevator safety?
A halligan or an ax should be at the ready to spread elevator doors should the car refuse to stop at the floor you programmed for testing. The adz or the blade of the ax will spread the door wide enough to engage the safety and stop the elevator before the fire floor. The firefighters are also now ready to perform any exit maneuvers that are too complicated to discuss here and now.
Where are forcible entry (conventional prying or through-the-lock) tactics necessary? Getting out of the elevator lobby is one example. Getting into the evacuation stair shaft is easy, but getting out is another matter. Many high-rise buildings have these doors locked from the occupancy side-most embarrassing for the engine team that is all ready with water to make entry on the fire floor. These doors are allowed by law to be locked if they meet specific building code requirements-that all locks be released on fire alarm initiation in the building and that they be capable of being manually released from the high-rise fire command center. But make no mistake about it: You can find them all locked! They would rather take a chance on getting a warning from the overworked and never seen fire inspector than to have the purse snatcher in the hallways every payday.
Why the metal cutting saw? Carrying this tool derives from the experience of the local department and its inspection and preplan teams. What do they find enclosing the elevator lobby of your area’s high-rise office buildings? Simple locks = simple tools, but what of the scissor gates and rolldown metal doors? They must be opened if you are to get out of the elevator lobby and into the fire stairs. The second-arriving officer awaits the second-arriving elevator car.
What is (at least) one six-foot hook for? Search is the common answer, but it is used also for elevator operations and plenums that control airflow within the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system. Firefighters who are searching have to know where the fire is and where it is not. Simply raising the tiles in the ceiling of the occupancy will give indication of how serious a condition you are facing. If the fire is in the plenum, retreat! And begin again!
Last but not least is a lesson in leadership from an ol’ professor of mine, Hugh Caulfield. It seemed as though the company officer could never get respect from his personnel no matter what he did or read or practiced. He knew the management and leadership texts well. He was a disaster, and so was his command.
When interviewed by superiors, he stated, “I don’t know what the trouble is. I try to understand them and be friendly. Why, I show up every morning in the kitchen before roll call to share the ‘free’ buns and donuts that are always on the table!” Simple, huh?
TOM BRENNAN has more than 36 years of fire service experience. His career spans more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was the editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and currently is a technical editor. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995). He is the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award. Brennan is featured in the video Brennan and Bruno Unplugged (Fire Engineering/FDIC, 1999).
