Time to revise basement fire tactics?

Captain Danny Stratton’s “Fires Below the Residential First Floor” (March 2012) was timely to a project underway by the Safety, Health and Survival Section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs. In the article, Stratton describes the risks and difficulties experienced in fighting fires below grade in basements and cellars. Any firefighter who has fought a basement fire can attest to the extraordinarily high risk firefighters face when fighting this type of fire.

The Safety, Health and Survival Section is concerned about the continuing trend of firefighter fatalities related to basement fires. While firefighter fatalities have declined over the past decade, the rate of basement-related fatalities has remained unchanged. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) data for the period of 2000-2011 reflect that at least 30 firefighters have died in basement-related fires at 21 individual incidents. The latest fatalities include two firefighters caught in a stairwell above a below-grade fire when flashover occurred.

The National Near-Miss Reporting System has received more than 300 reports of near-miss incidents related to basement fires for the period of 2005-2011, and the trend is increasing. Any one of these events could have resulted in a fatality. In that near-miss reporting is voluntary, the published reports almost certainly underreflect the actual larger number that is certainly occurring.

An anecdotal review of the NIOSH fatality investigation reports indicates that in 20 of the 21 incidents (95 percent), the incident commander (IC) was aware that the incident involved a basement fire before the Mayday event. At least 86 percent of the Mayday events occurred after crews had been on the scene for 10 minutes, and 62 percent of the Mayday events occurred after fire crews had been operating on scene for more than 20 minutes. These data suggest the IC was well aware of a basement fire and beg the question whether the action plan was appropriate for the extraordinary risk factors present. In only one case was there an occupant in the home at the time of the Mayday.

Additionally, basement fires have a history of multiple fatalities. Of the 21 individual Mayday events, seven (33 percent) resulted in two to three fatalities each; a total of 15 firefighters were killed. The 15 multifatality deaths accounted for 50 percent of the basement-related fatalities during the period of 2000-2011.

The NIOSH reports also clearly identified the extreme difficulty of searching for and then extracting a down firefighter from a basement. Where fire conditions allowed a rescue attempt, 18 of the 21 events required more than 15 minutes to locate and remove the victim from the basement. The bulk of the rescue attempts fell into the 20- to 40-minute time range; five took more than an hour. This time frame would be beyond the projected remaining air supply in the firefighters’ self-contained breathing apparatus and exceeds the protective features of the firefighters’ personal protection equipment.

With this history in mind, the Safety, Health and Survival Section is concerned whether the current tactics for basement fires (which are largely based on tactics going back to the early 1900s) are still appropriate for today’s building construction and contents. Or, should the American fire service adopt safer approaches to fighting basement fires, such as the indirect attack method, as mentioned in the article? Those readers who may wish to comment or provide suggestions on the Section’s research project or offer recommendations for a safer “model procedure” may contact me at mercurymorris@hotmail.com.

Gary P. Morris
Chief (Ret.)
Director at Large
Safety, Health and Survival Section
International Association of Fire Chiefs


The costs of not having volunteer departments

“Summer Essentials Program” by Thomas Garrity (Volunteers Corner, March 2012) shows what some original thought can do. A program like this has been in progress at the Orange County (NY) Fire Training Center for a number of years, and it has worked very well for our younger firefighters.

Although it helps the “student” firefighter get started, it cannot address the new members in their 20s or older members with full-time jobs or firefighters working up the ladder.

After a few years, the pump and ladder operator, EVOC—the list can go on—is wanted and needed, and you have to have classes. The same problems show themselves—one or two nights a week for many weeks for one class. Consider the normal activities and responsibilities we all have as we get older—homes, work, children—and those classes are more difficult to take, as are the costs of driving to class two or more days a week for months.

In 2007, I wrote the article “Paid Two-Week Training Spurs Retention and Recruitment” (Fire Engineering, June 2007), attempting to address this problem. As with any solution, it does cost money. But if you consider the cost of a training program vs. a minimally trained or a full paid department, the costs are much less.

If the politicians really want to support the fire service, they need to think of the vast areas of this country that are protected by volunteer departments and create laws that will allow us to continue to protect our neighbors with the highest levels of service. And, as noted in my article, this needs to be funded to the greatest extent at the local levels. We cannot expect the state or federal government to fund local emergency response.

Tim Pillsworth
Past Chief
Winona Lake Engine Company
Newburgh, New York


One-man ladder carry

As a 43-year veteran of the fire service, both line and training, I was very disappointed with “One-Firefighter Ladder Carry,” by Jake Jarvis and Ryan Gilbert (May 2012). Whether a single wall ladder or an extension ladder, this is an extremely dangerous way to transport and handle a ladder anywhere in any situation.

First, the ladder is unstable from a balance standpoint; any lack of stable walking is going to cause the individual to lose control of the ladder. Any obstruction that strikes the ladder is going to result in the same reaction. These conditions would be magnified in the dark. I have yet to run a fire emergency in a completely open area with no obstructions of any sort and a completely flat and stable area to walk in.

Second, there is no way a firefighter can see in all directions—up, down, and sideways—without turning his head and striking the helmet in some way. This results in reduced visual access and could be potentially fatal.

Third, everybody may not be able to do it. Most people could suffer serious or even permanent damage to the shoulder and neck area if anything goes wrong.

Jim Kiser
Captain (Ret.)
Adjunct Instructor
Arlington County (VA) Fire Department

Ryan Gilbert responds: Thank you for voicing your concerns about ladder safety. You are not alone in having an initial negative reaction to these techniques. Part of the reason we wrote the article was the negative reaction in our own administration, and we wanted to help firefighters who may also be struggling with well-meaning, but ultimately restraining, notions of safety. Let me start by saying that the high shoulder carry is nothing new in the fire service. In fact, the practice of carrying a two-section 24-foot wooden extension ladder by oneself in a high-shoulder orientation goes back as far as I can find and continues today in many departments. Although I agree that your concerns about balance and obstructed vision seem blatantly obvious at first sight, they are actually quite small once one tries the technique and has a modicum of training experience. We have performed this technique thousands of times in training and emergency environments—day and night, with solid and loose footing—without incident.

Finally, you are right that everybody may not be able to do it. Although we would never advocate firefighters perform a technique that made them uncomfortable or felt dangerous, we believe that it is our duty to maintain a level of athleticism that allows us to perform as the public would expect. If firefighters’ physical fitness precludes them from lifting, carrying, and balancing a 72-pound ladder on their shoulder, perhaps some broader introspection about their readiness to do the job would be indicated.

You can find a video of this technique being performed in a typical urban environment at https://vimeo.com/basicfiremanship. We absolutely respect your experience and are humbled by your continual passion for the fire service. We only ask that you try the technique before condemning it. If it’s not for you, well that’s okay, too.

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Four Firefighters Hurt in Fire in Abandoned Harlem (NY) Building

Four firefighters were injured battling a massive fire that tore through an abandoned Harlem building where jazz icon Billie Holiday reportedly once lived.