Bryan Husband
Chief
Lewis Township (IN) Fire Department
We use PPV for initial fire attack on all structure fires. We set up our fan as lines are being pulled and attack crews are being assigned. The incident commander does a size-up and determines if the structure has ventilated itself enough by burning through or if doors and windows need to be opened to allow the smoke to be pushed from the structure. We start the fan as lines are entering the structure as the smoke is being cleared. This removes the heat, leaving a cooler air to move past the firefighters. This has worked on many fires in our area and mutual aid over the past four to five years. We have extinguished fires with less than 250 gallons of water when one or two rooms were involved and with 1,000 gallons or less for most other fires. We can go directly to the seat of the fire more quickly with the PPV while using less water and keeping water and fire damage to a minimum. We use 134-inch lines with automatic nozzles on attack lines, allowing us to get the needed flow for the size of the fire. We use a fan that pushes up to 20,000 cubic feet into the structure. I have discussed this with many area fire departments and found that many don`t use this for initial attack, but we have convinced a few to try it–with success. After the knockdown, the fan runs until the fire is completely out, keeping the fresh air moving throughout the building. As with any ventilation, lines must be ready before the ventilation is started so the fire doesn`t extend farther when the fresh air enters the room.
