Category Archives: Case Study

Exponential Engine “Fire Streams”

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Fire Streams P1

Fire Streams and the Exponential Engine

By: Brian Brush

http://www.FireByTrade.com

As of late I have been fielding a lot of questions regarding apparatus set up and nozzle selection. It is encouraging to see such an interest in one of our professional foundations. I believe it means that firefighters are taking greater ownership in decisions which may have been more recently dictated to their departments by savvy vendors. I enjoy assisting firefighters work through nozzle studies and flow testing because I know the value of these processes to a department and its members.

In 2005 my department conducted a year-long fire stream and nozzle study; the information collected and changes made as a result of it have made our operations more efficient and our operators more knowledgeable. Since that study I have been fortunate enough to train and network with firefighters from around the country and at the highest levels of education and experience in engine company operations. I am still very much a student of the game and continue to learn on a daily basis. With that said there seems to be recurring questions in many of contacts I have had lately. I believe that I may be better able to answer them to the masses rather than one at a time. So settle in for a little bit of rambling or pick off sections that you are seeking.

Fire Streams P2

Fire Streams

IFSTA will tell you that a fire stream is the “Stream of water or other extinguishing agent after it leaves the fire hose until it reaches the desired target.” To me this is too narrow of a view on the fire stream. The stream of water leaving the fire hose on its way to the target is the end result of a system from the source to the nozzle. If a group or department wants to evaluate their fire streams they must be willing to analyze all parts of that system for influence and change. If you are given the chance to lead or be a part of a fire stream evaluation process or nozzle study you will fail the opportunity if you get trapped in a smooth bore versus fog focus.

Link Below is to full article.

 Fire Streams and the Exponential First Due Engine Company

Anyone looking to evaluate their current nozzle selection and Engine Setup should read this article. County Fire Tactics fully agrees and supports the above article by Brian Brush.

Brian Brush’s article on the Exponential Engine is right on the mark.

We have added an Engine Company Operations page on this site and has Dennis Legear’s articles on Hose & Nozzle Dreams. They too are a must read.

Videos below from Gallons Per Second Program

Leadership & Tactics Seminar May 9 Pensacola Beach

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Leadership Seminar

Pensacola Beach at the Hilton Gulf Front

First Floor Coral Reef Room over looking the Gulf of Mexico

Hilton

Full Day Seminar on Leadership & Tactics

Battalion Chief Todd Edwards, Atlanta Fire

1) Atlanta Fire Line Of Duty Death: The Steven Solomon Case
This course provides the students a true insight into the how and why this firefighter lost his life. During this course students will hear the radio traffic from the incident, view pictures of the entire scene and come to understand how easy it is to loose a fellow a firefighter. Students will learn what went wrong, how to prevent these types of incidents, and learn some very valuable safety lessons.
2) Real Leadership : It’s not complicated!
There are hundreds of books, theories and articles about leadership. Our firefighters and officers are overwhelmed with information and in the end never learn any practical applications. This no non-sense course was designed from experience, trial & error, and numerous interviews of both firefighters and fire service leaders. Students will learn it’s not that complicated.
Battalion Chief Curt Isakson, Escambia County Fire Rescue
3) Front Yard Leadership
Providing Tactical Direction for success on and off the Fire Ground. Understanding where to focus your attention for overall success. Leading with Passion and Vision.
Pensacola Beach Hilton
May 9
08:30-16:30 Hours
Register at this Pay Pal link:

Leadership Seminar

May 9, 2014

Pensacola Beach

0830-1630 Hours

 

 

This will be a full day of Fire Service Leadership and understanding how to lead and SURVIVE in the Firehouse and on the Fire Ground. Chief Edwards spoke in Fort Walton last year and was enjoyed by all.  We were requested to bring him back to Northwest Florida for another day of Leadership and learning from the death of a fellow brother.

There will be 50 Seats available at a cost of $50.

Register at www.countyfiretactics.com under Leadership Seminar page.

 

1) Atlanta Fire Line of Duty Death: The Steven Solomon Case

This course provides the students a true insight into the how and why this firefighter lost his life. During this course students will hear the radio traffic from the incident, view pictures of the entire scene and come to understand how easy it is to lose a fellow a firefighter. Students will learn what went wrong, how to prevent these types of incidents, and learn some very valuable safety lessons.

2) Real Leadership: It’s not complicated!

There are hundreds of books, theories and articles about leadership. Our firefighters and officers are overwhelmed with information and in the end never learn any practical applications. This no non-sense course was designed from experience, trial & error, and numerous interviews of both firefighters and fire service leaders. Students will learn it’s not that complicated.

Robert “Todd” Edwards

 Battalion Chief, Atlanta Fire-Rescue Department

Chief Edwards has been an active firefighter, leader and trainer for over 30 years in the American Fire Service.  For the past 25 years, he has moved his way rapidly up the ranks within the Atlanta Fire-Rescue Department, and continues to serve the department as an established leader who has consistently worked at the some of the busiest companies in the United States.   He is currently assigned to the Atlanta 5th Battalion in the capacity of Battalion Chief.  In addition, Chief Edwards serves as the Chairman of the Atlanta Fire-Rescue Department Operations Committee, and operates as the Lead Instructor for the Acting Officer Strategies and Tactics training.   Chief Edwards has also developed numerous in-service training programs, has written the department‘s “Rules of Engagement”, and authors and administers a large portfolio (both in-class and hands-on/live) of department-wide trainings.

The New Yorker “Urban Legend”

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The New Yorker

“URBAN LEGEND”

garrity life lite fireman

     The New Yorker style helmet with a Garrity light held on by a rubber strap; that was all I wanted as a young junior firefighter. I cut out the Garrity light advertisement from Firehouse Magazine, and requested both the New Yorker and Garrity light for my next birthday. I wanted that helmet, the light, and everything that I viewed came with that advertisement. That image was as COOL to me, as the Malboro Man was to many.  I so badly wanted to get out of my Metro and into a “Leather New Yorker” style helmet. I didn’t get a New Yorker the following birthday, but I did get a flashlight to mount on my helmet. I then ordered a full box of Garrity lights direct from Garrity; a full box of 50 lights. I then had my Dad get me a large black inner tube to cut up as helmet straps, and  I started pushing helmet lights as a junior firefighter.

Shortly after this, an upstate New York firefighter had relocated, and joined the next FD over from mine. I first met him on a call, and he was in full gear with a box light held on by a rope sling. I thought, he’s from New York, wears a leather helmet, and has a hand lantern held on with a rope sling, he must be an URBAN Firefighter.  I immediately requested a new hand light from my Dad.  He picked me up a nice rechargeable hand light, and I built a rope sling. I now had a Garrity helmet light, a hands free lantern, and had acquired a plastic version of the New Yorker. I was on my way to being just like an FDNY FIREFIGHTER. I believed in wearing full bunker gear on all calls, carrying a box light, and always having a tool in my hand. I was all about this and I had yet to see my 18th birthday. I just knew that New York firefighters wore their gear, had hands free lights, and always seemed to have a tool in their hand. I wanted to be an FDNY FIREFIGHTER.

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Suburban Tools of the 80s and 90s

This was in the late 80s and early 90s. I started reading Firehouse and Fire Engineering Magazine cover to cover, always reading the URBAN authors first. I officially got issued my first set of gear on May 21, 1988. It consisted of pull up boots, a long coat, and a TURTLE SHELL style helmet. I was so excited on this day, and really had no clue how lucky I was to be subjected to the Fire Service. I started reading the back page of Fire Engineering called  “Random Thoughts”, and this became the highest priority on my monthly reading list. How LUCKY I was for Tom Brennan to have started this monthly column only months before I started legally wearing gear and legally operating on the fireground. Each month I read and

re-read Random Thoughts. I would read about carrying a rope, and then immediately drive up to ACE Hardware and purchase a personal rope.  I would read about carrying wire cutters, a personal radio,  having a good search light, a personal alert sounding device, and many other excellent tips before 1990. Tom Brennan, an URBAN Firefighter was teaching me, a young junior firefighter from a small SUBURBAN/RURAL community.

I would then share what I had learned with others in the firehouse. It was at a very young age that reality set in, and I learned another valuable lesson.  Not all firefighters share the same passion, enthusiasm, and love for the job as others.  I also learned that many grown men have serious insecurities about this job and themselves. They would say, “This isn’t NEW YORK,  and we are NOT the BIG CITY”. I just couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t want to read and learn from somebody that had been to so many FIRES.  This would get me a little frustrated, but I continued to read Random Thoughts and implement everything I could.

I started reading Chief  Vincent Dunn’s articles and books, and then the book Firefighting  Principles and Practices by William E. Clark made it into my hands. Chief Clark was appointed to the FDNY in 1937 and served for 20 years. He then moved on to Prince Georges County Fire Services to assist in the regionalization of fire protection. Chief Clark did not stop there, he then went on to become the Bureau Chief of the Florida State Fire College.  There are so many leaders like Chief Clark, Chief Halligan, Chief Dunn, Chief Downey, Chief Norman, Lt. Andy Fredericks, and so many other FDNY Firefighters that have highly and positively impacted the American Fire Service. I sometimes wonder where we as a fire service would be without these great leaders and visionaries.

The FDNY and other Large URBAN Fire Departments have made a huge impact on the SUBURBAN Fire Service. The experience they receive from a high volume of fire activity has given them the ability to fine tune techniques and tactics. If you do some research, you will see where these authors were from back in the late 80s and early 90s.  I look back and realize that the URBAN Firefighter and the FDNY  in general has made a huge impact on my career, and I have learned so much from their instruction and experiences. I try and deploy URBAN Tactics in the SUBURBAN/COUNTY setting. Yes, I said URBAN Tactics. When forcing the back of a stripmall, I use the Forcible Entry techniques taught to me by URBAN Firefighters  Mike Lombardo and  Bob Morris. When operating the nozzle, I use the nozzle position techniques taught to me by Tim Klett and Andy Fredericks. I could go on, but hopefully you see my point.

I believe URBAN Tactics are many times necessary in the SUBURBAN/COUNTY setting.

The fire does not care what your staffing is or is not. Stretching a line, forcing a door, venting a roof, searching a house, throwing ladders, and every other tactic or skill performed on the fire ground does not always require URBAN staffing. It seems that recently, many want to discard what the URBAN FIREFIGHTER has to offer us as SUBURBAN/COUNTY Firefighters. I couldn’t imagine operating at a JOB without the knowledge and training given to me by highly EXPERIENCED URBAN FIREFIGHTERS. I believe that ALL firefighters have something to offer, but we cannot discount an individual’s experiences on the fire ground. Tests, experiments, and training are great, but nothing replaces true combat experiences in the field under stressful circumstances. The URBAN Firefighter has been conducting ongoing tests through trial and error for decades….on the FIREGROUND.

So, before you dismiss the URBAN Firefighter and what they have to offer as LEGEND, remember what they have done for us in the SURBURBAN/COUNTY Fire Service. Where would we be without what they have given us as a COLLECTIVE FIRE SERVICE over the last 40 plus years.  I would like to thank all the URBAN FIREFIGHTERS who have personally impacted my career and taught me so much. I deploy your URBAN tactics on the SUBURBAN fireground regularly. Without URBAN professionals like Mike Hayes, Tim Klett, Bob Pressler, Jim McCormack, Ray McCormack, Mike Ciampo, Andy Fredericks, Mike Lombardo, Bill Gustin, Bob Morris, and so many more, myself and many others would probably still be deploying the SUBURBAN tactics of the 80s on today’s fireground.  A fireground that now

more than ever, requires the knowledge and precision of an URBAN LEGEND.

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County/Suburban Firefighter of Today.

Remember, much of what is  taught by the fire service LEADERS of TODAY is derived from the LEGENDS of YESTERDAY.  So why do all these “Random Thoughts” matter to the SUBURBAN firefighter today.  It doesn’t matter whether you operate on the URBAN or SUBURBAN fireground, many of these tips and tactics can be applied equally.  The helmet mounted light is always illuminating where your eyes are looking.  It is hands free, and allows you to look up while pulling ceiling, and does not require you to hold your light vertically. If you don’t need it, just turn it off, but when you do need it, is always there, shining in the right direction.  The radio sling carrying your radio makes simple sense, as it holds and protects your radio under your coat, and allows the lapel mic to be hands free.  URBAN firefighters were doing this decades ago, yet the debate still rages on today.  The lantern on the sling was a no brainer to me the first time I saw it, as it keeps your hands free to carry not one, but at least two tools.  Why show up to go to work without having the proper tools in your hands?  So many of these ideas I tried to share with others many years ago, but met serious resistance as a young, inexperienced URBAN wannabe.

Many in today’s fire service jump at the latest trends and techniques endorsed by manufacturers without so much as a second thought. Yet, try to replace the hooligan tool with its nearly useless straight adz, and a fork more fit for a door chock than forcing a door, with a Pro-Bar halligan, and the arguments commence.  “You only want that because they that’s what they use in FDNY”.  The IFSTA manual told us that when we encountered a steel door in a steel frame, we should find an alternative entry point.  It’s a good thing that as a SUBURBAN firefighter, I went to a forcible entry class taught by an URBAN firefighter, and learned that with the proper tools and techniques, entry was achievable. Another tool, the NY roof hook provides more uses on todays fireground than the traditional fiberglass pike pole that is specified as standard equipment on many of today’s apparatus. The 8 lb flat head axe will outperform the 6 lb axe day and night, and as we know is quite versatile.  Carrying a personal rope is worth more than its weight in gold.  Carrying the “can” (2.5 gallon water extinguisher) can be extremely helpful in trained hands, as SUBURBAN staffed companies work to stretch an attack line.  Converted channel locks  and a multi tip screwdriver in your pocket are  other great tools, again many ideas brought to us by our URBAN fire service brothers.  Give ANY trained and motivated firefighter a six foot NY roof hook, a pro-bar halligan, the “can”, and watch out.  So from the URBAN to the SUBURBAN fireground, always remember it is the QUALITY not the QUANTITY that matters on your FIREGROUND.

Curt Isakson

Do You Know the Monster Within?

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So your a hard charging, fire eating, truck ape … not scared of anything, as a matter of fact you fight what we fear. You tell your friends your job is snatching lives from the jaws of death, running into buildings that the roaches and rats run out of. Your collection of fire department t-shirts is only surpassed in awesomeness by the tattoos on your flesh depicting the 343 … your a mans man, and dam proud of it.
You hear the stories of brothers, and sisters who are claustrophobic and you chuckle. You scoff at the people not capable of making decisions, they seem to “freeze” when they are under duress. You “tch, tch, tch” the NIOSh report of the fireman who made a mistake ventilating, setting the stage for the burns sustained by another firefighter that lead to his death. You watch a video of our “brothers” on a fire where tactically they appear to not know what they are doing. This video spreads virally from Youtube, to Statter, to Facebook. The comments by all the other “hard charging fire eating truck apes” are often harsh criticisms, all in the name of better training, and tactics “killing fireman the old fashioned way” … you fall in line posting “train like your life depends on it, because it does”. You read an article about a fireman who rips his mask off in a fire, and standing up, he begins to run in an atmosphere he must know is toxic, and fatal. You shake your head incredulously wondering “what was he thinking”.
Then one day everything changes, something happens, and your world is turned upside down. What you were once so sure of seems to have abandoned you, leaving you wondering if you were ever that “good” at your job. Your breathing becomes accelerated at times, and the anxiety builds. Your ability to do the things you once were capable of doing has left you … your left feeling emasculated, you begin to avoid certain training exercises, maybe even making excuses for your new found “weaknesses”. These weaknesses seem to be gaining ground on you … maybe I’m just not drinking enough, or puffing enough weed … maybe I should conquer more infidelity to prove I am a man … and if all else fails, there is always rage, and if all else fails I’ll just isolate myself. No one will ever know my secret.
Sound familiar, or far fetched?
According to researchers this is not just an occurrence, but a very common occurrence in law enforcement, the military, professional sports, aviation, and the corporate world not to mention rape, and assault victims, or terrorism.
So why should the Fire Service be exempt? Ignorance.
The fire services dirty little secret is firemen get scared. Bad shit happens, and it effects us, it builds within us, and can have a synergistic effect. Then one day it happens, your armor cracks.
You try EAP (if your lucky enough to have it) and your told your normal … by a woman, or a mild mannered man with a sensible manicure (fml), neither who have ever made a hot smoky hallway. What do they know, PTSD my ass! I’ve never been to war.
The truth of the matter is they are right, your probably more normal than you think. How much tragedy can anyone see before it effects them? Who determines what a tragedy is? Maybe it is just a bad experience, and not a tragedy. Maybe you barely made it out of the hallway into the stairwell as the floor flashed … or maybe you were pushed too hard in training as a recruit, and you developed a fear, albeit a “small” fear.
Did I just mention training can cause these symptoms? Bet your ass I did. To quote a term from Christopher Brenan it’s called “Training Scars”, and they will turn into monsters (The MOnster Within) if left untreated, just like any other PTSD exposure. I’ve explained many of the common signs of PTSD above, now I will explain how it happens.
It starts with the fear, (maybe from a previous experience, or founded in a lack of confidence) the anxiety builds, which in turn causes your heart rate to accelerate. Your physically taxed, and the anxiety adds to the rate increase, once your rate exceeds 170 (+/-) your brain shifts into the “Mid-Brain” which is commonly referred to as fight or flight. This is where the irrational thought processing takes place, its where your respirations get rapid and shallow, where your inability to think rationally will kill you … it has been the demise of over 230 firemen over the past 15 years (info provided by USFA via LODD NIOSH reports).
There is a host of other symptoms such as tunnel vision, auditory exclusion, loss of small motor function, loss of bowel/bladder, and dry mouth to name a few. These occurrences, and symptoms are well documented in law enforcement, and the military, but virtually invisible (undocumented) in the fire service.
Back to training. For those that confuse battles of attrition as training, your wrong, and worse yet your responsible for creating PTSD in firemen by teaching it as training. Listen closely, I AM NOT SAYING ENDURANCE TRAINING IS BAD. I am saying confusing training, where you teach firemen viable skills that they can develop over time, and once they are mastered, they may then confront endurance (testing). Like boxing, if your new to boxing you would not step into the ring with a pro. If you did you would wake up in the emergency room with a broken nose, broken jaw, and both eyes swollen shut. What did you learn? You have to start with the most fundamental things first, like the jab, and how to hold your hands when you throw a punch. As you refine those skills, more are added, maybe body punches, how to bob/weave, to generate power from your hip. As you refine these skills you then learn to throw them in combination with each other. All the while your practicing on heavy bags, speed bags, focus mitts, and in front of a mirror. Then, maybe, you can start to spar with someone who will go easy on you so you can learn rhythm, breathing under duress, keeping your balance centered. As you get better, your sparring partners get better … and if your good enough, maybe you reach pro status … a big reach, but I think you follow my example.
The technique of using an example other than your primary subject (fire fighting) as an example allows for your subconscious to make the associations with the techniques I am discussing. If I were to discuss SAR, Force Entry, Ventilation, Hose/Stream Management, Incident Command, Situational Awareness, Staying Oriented or any of the other hundreds of techniques we use in the fire service it would have elicited a justifiable response, causing you to miss the point, and justify rather than listen … the point is best made with a neutral experience, which is why I used boxing.
To this point, in this article, we have covered PTSD, the development of neural pathways, RPDM, and we haven’t even begun to speak of body control. This is where you incorporate visualization techniques, which is what almost all of us do subconsciously but need to learn to do consciously. Self talk always precedes anxiety, mastering what we tell ourselves is the first step in getting better at anything we wish to do. Breath work, breathing is not done properly in the fire service, and it is the key to physiologically regaining control of ourselves.
If you objectively look at the information I have provided (I know it is extremely difficult to get intent and meaning across with the written word) you can probably recognize some things in your life that have effected you. You may even find yourself agreeing with some of these things, even though you may not completely grasp the concepts, that is not uncommon. I think the subconscious recognizes things … similar to that “gut” feeling that has kept you alive all these years. Some things just resonate.
I apologize if I have not answered all the questions you may have regarding Stress Inoculation, my lecture typically takes at least 4 hours, and a lot of ground is covered (character, learning processes, decision making, training, ptsd, and much more). I wanted to try and unlock a provocative thought in you … that maybe, just maybe, the stories you hear, videos you view, or actions you see in person may not always be explained away as people being ass clowns. Maybe there is more involved than you know … because after all, how do you know what you don’t know?
Think about the men and women who have died not knowing what may have kept them alive … there are at least 230 of them … so check your ego at the door, stay teachable, and remember, we don’t wear capes, we wear bunker gear.
God Bless, stay low, and stay strong brothers and sisters.
Ric Jorge
PBCFR
Station 33A
The Fire Factory
(561)239-1908

Tactical Safety: Much Ado About Nothing

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The following is from Ray McCormack’s Tactical Safety Blogs, you will be able to see all Ray’s Tactical Safety Blogs here on County Fire Tactics.

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Much Ado About Nothing

Tactical Safety for Firefighters

By Ray McCormack

We have Near Miss reports. We have LODD reports. We even have accident reports, but the last category doesn’t get much play. Accidents happen and firefighters get hurt. Many say accidents are preventable, but only if you have the wisdom to see the fault beforehand. That’s what we try to do when it comes to training – eliminate accidents that hurt firefighters especially at live fire events. Not everyone is successful, not everyone is as aware as they should be, and someone always pays a price.

Sometimes the price is steep; a job or title is taken away and it usually coincides with the level of injury sustained or the lack of injury prevention put forth. Sometimes it is the injury itself that is the price paid. A recent example of firefighters injured and people fired concerns a live fire training event that happened last year. The video now posted on the web shows how flames filled the room two firefighters were in. They escaped death by bailing out of a window. I was not there. Most of the people who will read this were not there. So, what do we do? How do we learn from this?

This was a training event.
The training involved live fire.
The training involved PP fans.
The training went bad and fast.

Training is the one world where we should aim to make sure that no catastrophic events occur. We have all the time in the world to make it a safe environment. As safe as possible, that means closely examining every element and taking a fresh look at all burn sets and how they will develop. Live fire events are guided by NFPA 1403. It is the standard you will be judged against if injuries occur; that’s the way it works. You can do as you like, but if it comes to litigation, that will be the rule book you answer to.

So how come the fire service doesn’t erect web sites and pour grant money over preventing training injuries? Maybe we find it more enjoyable to discuss the almost event instead of facing the reality of real training injuries.

It’s not about finger pointing, it’s about finding the root cause and how the dominos fell. Many times, especially with live fire training injury you might see are the nozzle firefighter sustaining a minor burn. People jumping out of windows however is a bit more critical. In the first example, the firefighter may have gone to deep to quickly or the fire moved a bit faster than they thought, or a piece of gear showed some skin. but at least they had the protection of a charged handline. The firefighters who jumped out the window did not appear to be similarly protected.

Are you placing firefighters at live burn events in a position which will force them to bail out a window? No, not if the drill is laid out correctly. When we watch a video such as the aforementioned one, even if we were not physically there, we all know some huge mistakes were made. There are some “nevers” at a live burn when it comes to avoiding preventable injuries.
One is to never let anyone ahead of the safety line or attack hoseline.
Another is to never allow anyone to be past the fire room or allow anyone just to hang out inside the building without a hoseline.

Not hard to figure out, yet not always done. The biggest problem with live burn injuries and past tragedies is that the trust was broken, the trust between student and instructor.

You must decide for yourself what level of commitment you bring to the table. I believe we must bring the highest level of training possible to these events. Much ado about nothing?

Keep Fire in Your Life

Hand in Drain Pipe

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A husband and his wife are attempting to snake out the basement floor drain. The husband sees some debris enter the back of the drain, he instinctively sticks his hand down there to clear the debris just as his wife turns the snake on. The snake impales the mans hand and pulls his arm into the drain causing his hand and arm to become stuck. This exact scenario has played out to a couple of friends of mine from 2 different departments, and you can see how this could easily happen again.

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Picture of actual snake and pipe that a mans arm was extricated from.

I wanted to try to recreate this scenario in training, I thought it was a great scenario and it gave you multiple materials to cut. So I set out to build a fairly cheap prop to reenact this rescue scenario. I built a small box out of old wood that I had laying around, this would act as a form for the concrete that I was going to pour in it. I also used some left over PVC pipe that I had to make a section of drain that the arm would be stuck in. Once the PVC pipe was in place and capped the form was filled with a couple bags of quick dry cement.

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After the cement is dry it was time to build the arm and auger. I use the foam in the glove trick from our previous post. I used a small spring epoxied on the end of a old hose to act as the snake. Once the finger was wrapped up in the snake I put it into the drain pipe and we were ready to drill.

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handpipe2

To start the scenario we talked about medical considerations ad we also discussed non evasive solutions we could do (soapy water, etc). Then it was down to the extrication, we used a Partner saw with a diamond blade to cut the concrete and the pipe out.

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Once we had all the concrete broken off the pipe we used a Dremal tool to dissect the pipe, a multitude of other cutting tools could be used for this operation but we chose to stick with the Dremal tool for this drill.

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We used old hacksaw blades for hard protection from the saw blade. The Dremal worked extremely well at cutting the PVC, another tool that could possibly be used is a PVC Wire Cutter. Once the arm was free from the pipe we needed to cut the metal spring that acted as the snake, again the Dremal was used but far more accurate cuts were needed. A mix of some modified spoons and some old hacksaw blades were used to act as hard protection to protect the patient.

All in all it was a great drill to show several different types of material in one scenario.

Use your imagination and push your training to the next level, you may never go to an extrication like the one we described in this drill but it will help build a tremendous set of skills that you can use in other types of extrication calls.

Water Extrication Pt. 2

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In the last water extrication post we talked about extrication tactics for vehicles partially submerged and what type of tactics and tools you would use for extricating a trapped paitent. Now lets look at you game plan if you had a fully submerged car with people trapped, what is your game plan? what tools, equipment, and training do you have for this? Do you have a dive team? If not what are you gonna do?

There are many different answers to these questions and all of them depend on your level of experience and training. What about attempting to haul the car back to shore? When was the last time you did a good heavy rigging drill? How much will your winches hold? what type and grade chain do you have?

What about using your SCBA as a SCUBA tank? The picture below is of the Norwalk Ct. Fire Department using their SCBA’s to rescue two people from a submerged car. Both people were removed from the car, one was resuscitated the other was not. I know several other fire departments have used this method to successfully rescue people from submerged vehicles, so what do you guys think? Is this a valid rescue method? Is this something your department would do? Ever trained in this method? Let’s hear your thoughts!

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Water Extrication

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In all work that we do as firefighters preparation is one of our biggest keys to success. Training must be extremely realistic and must constantly be pushing us forward in our capabilities and our competence level. Aggressive and realistic training is the answer.

Below are a couple pictures of some auto extrication training that was put on at Bowling Green, Ohio Fire School, these are great photos of pushing your training to the next level. The fist time you cut a car apart in or under the water should not be at 3 o’clock in the morning at a real call!

What types of tools do you have besides the hydraulic cutters and spreaders that you can utilize underwater?

What types of water rescue gear do you have to help facilitate this rescue?

Do you have a mask and snorkel? What else could you use if you don’t have a mask and snorkel?

How would you stabilize this vehicle?

There is a huge difference between what you think will happen in these situations and what you know will happen….. Aggressive training is the key to success.waterex3waterex14waterex11waterex13

The First Three With Three “Low Staffing”

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How would you handle this, with the first three companies being staffed with only three firefighters?

 

The First Three with Three

 

So many FDs are responding with crews of three and sometimes even worse; less than three. Three is not ideal for fire company staffing; but if this is what you have, then have a plan to maximize through alarm assignments/seat and tactical assignments based on arrival sequence. The first arriving company with water must stretch and advance an attack line 99% of the time. The other 1% may be a VES or some other rare first due tactic that must be performed over stretching the line. When first due is stretching there must be a competent company officer to size-up and give the direction of apparatus placement and attack line size. The placement of the apparatus should take into consideration full involvement of structure and ladder placement. Second, length and time to stretch attack line to fire area. When possible the apparatus should be pulled as close as possible to curb on fire side as to leave room for later arriving companies to get passed for placement and/or reverse supply lay. If the first due holds short, evaluate if the ladder can get passed for placement to fire building. The second part of a three person company is the driver and his or her ability to park and prepare for assault on fire. The driver must be able to multi-task and be prepared to enter IDLH if needed or directed because someone else is able to take over pump operations. This is not a perfect world, nor is the fire ground a real stable place. We must be able to change plans at a moment’s notice. Drivers in understaffed companies must wear structural firefighting gear and have SCBA available. They must be able to assist with the stretch while the CO is conducting the size-up “outside the apparatus”. The driver must have the ability to get feeder line in place for second due booster tank. Good length for feeder line is 75′. This will act as measuring stick for second due on where to position. This will help insure the second due does not block ladders that may need to be removed from rear of first due company. After the first line is properly operating and feeder line is in place the driver should stretch back- up line to point of entry to be manned by later arriving companies and / or in an emergency, the driver may need to operate it in case of rapid fire growth or vent point ignition while crew is still inside operating. Consideration should always be given to what type of ventilation and when it’s needed. May just place PPV Fan at point of entry and wait until interior officer advises its ok to start. They may even be directed to take one or two windows on front side of house. “Always keeping in mind that primary job is supplying attack water”

 

How many hallways has the nozzle firefighter been down? Can they make the push? Do they have the experience to work independant of an officer?

 

The Nozzle firefighter!

The firefighter that will most likely get the closest to the fire. They must be able to work independent of the CO under hopefully rare circumstances. This firefighter must be able to size-up, size and location of fire to determine proper amount of hose needed at entry point. Fifty feet is not always the answer. The fire service continues to respond to more and more, larger homes that require more than fifty feet at the entry point. This firefighter must have the discipline to call for water when the officer has yet to call for it and there is no other option. They must always bleed the line and confirm a good flow pressure in unison with the driver setting flow pressure. We must enter with a fully loaded gun.

The Second Three!

When the Second Due Company reports directly to the scene.

The firefighter must be assigned as the door/ point of entry control. This position can also staff the back- up line and watch for vent point ignition. After the initial attack line has advanced to its furthest point. Then the second due firefighter can start a search from this point, penetrating the building and hopefully joined by their company officer. Second due driver must position apparatus to allow for a feeder operation and also assist with attack lines if needed. Hopefully the third or fourth line would be stretched off the second due, to assist in line accountability. The second due driver should become the water supply officer and evaluate if the first two tanks will get it, or if the third due needs to lay and charge supply line from hydrant. If the fire has not been knocked down when the second dues booster tank is empty; the third due should be securing a hydrant. “When in Doubt, Lay it Out”. You can lay and not charge it or lay it and charge it. Either way, third due laying a supply line on a house fire is never a bad thing. With 6 already on-scene the initial line is staffed and searches should be underway or shortly underway. The second due driver should be prepared to receive hydrant water and continually feed first due and also pump additional attack lines. Second Due Company Officer must be ready to take command, when a command officer has not arrived and a fast attack mode has been initiated. They must reevaluate the fire scene and the first dues progress and consider the arrival time of command officer. Once a command officer has arrived they can assist with the primary search and or staffing the back-up line.

The Third Three!

The firefighter may on a forward lay be at the hydrant. When this firefighter is at the hydrant they must take the time to fully gate all hydrant ports and confirm a 5 to 10′ tail of supply to ensure no kinks when charging supply line. They must also take time to fully turn hydrant on. Before turning on hydrant, confirm the scene needs and wants it turned on. Just because they hear charge the line, does not mean the supply line from hydrant. This request over the radio could be for the back-up line and/or the feeder line from second due. Once the hydrant is charged the firefighter should advance down to the scene with purpose and possibly assist with LDH clamp or making the break/connection of hydrant supply line. After the hydrant is providing sustained water to the scene, them the firefighter can be assigned by the OIC. “Most likely Truck Operations”.

 

More to come on how to make the most out of limited staffing……..

 

Other options to consider: RIT, Forcible Entry of entry point and opposite entry point, vertical & horizontal ventilation.

How do you assign your first nine firefighters or first three companies at a working fire? Do you have seat assignments?

Death On The Nozzle “Engine LODD”

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Could the Nozzle position be more dangerous than 20 or 30 years ago? Why does it seem more firefighters are getting burned and killed with a nozzle in their hands? Did you have an Instructor tell you, no water on smoke?

Please Share your Nozzle Position Close Call and/or Death.

Don’t Hesitate to share links. Looking for Big Input and Shared Experiences.. Look under Close Calls on Home Page for more Pics and Video of another Close Call here in Northwest Florida.The Nozzle Firefighter was burned while making entry through front door of small house. He was burned from Vent Point Ignition.. Video under Close Calls on Home Page..

Mask starting to fail. Short period of flame contact made it impossible to see through lens.

Firefighter burned and transported. Close call of Firefighter assigned to nozzle.
How long will your gear protect you? Have you inspected your gear lately? What kind of hood do you wear? What is the rating on your gear? Do you wear your ear flaps pulled down?

ECFR Firefighter Suffers Facial Burns-Lessons Learned click here

Our Next Generation of LODDs from Live Fire Training

Kevin Story Captain

 

Who are they: They are all around you and they are graduating from academy’s every day.

What are they: They are our next generation and the future of the fire service. If you are a Company Officer, they are riding behind you. If you are a Chief, they are the Troops you had coffee with this morning.

Why are they going to be LODDs: Because what live fire training is today, is ill preparing them for what they will face once they are riding on the apparatus.

But we have NFPA 1403: Which is part of the problem, as it has watered down fire training (pun intended) to something unrealistic, to the real world of rapidly growing fire conditions we now face.

There was a definitive need for NFPA 1403: that was plainly seen by some of the training events which left you saying that favorite three letter acronym that also works for, Well Trained Firefighters. Training evolutions that were not thought out all the way through no doubt. They were not planned with intent to do bodily harm but had tragic results. But these same departments go to real world fires without killing their Troops.

There is often a more lax command and accountability at a live burn event because, “It’s just a training burn”.  As if the fire and smoke are training fire cooler or smoke training toxic level. That apathetic attitude will most definitely get someone hurt or worse. So to combat this we have tamed our burns down but our fires in the streets are doing the complete opposite. Basically like training and equipping the Troops to fight in the desert and shipping them to the North Pole to fight and hoping for a good outcome.

Today our fire attack is more enhanced than ever before. We have more technical and laboratory information produced than ever before. With all this what we are teaching sometimes does not match our enhancements and the information we have gained. Now it has been awhile since I was on the military training grounds but, even back then we were not taught, go till you feel bullets hitting you and then start shooting.  Still we have firefighters that think you need to feel your ears burn so you do not get to deep. But this is a myth because every time you burn your ears and they heal up they lose feeling. So the next time you will be deeper yet, because you are deadening them every time you burn them.

The “Don’t shoot till you see the whites of their eyes” has long since went away. But we teach exactly that by saying do not open the nozzle till you see fire. The smoke we are passing through to get to that glow is a bullet just waiting for the right conditions to cap the primer. The intensity which it lights will also light fuel behind us there by causing more problems.  Better gear and thermal imaging now enables us to literally fly to the seat of the fire compared to the days of inching forward blindly by brail and feeling that heat at a slower pace. As Newton said “To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction”. So here is ours, you fly to the seat of the fire and the reaction is it burns your gear off or melts your mask. This is probably not what we are hoping to accomplish.

But we routinely drag our underlings in right up to the fire and open up. This works great in a concrete room, with pallets or hay, but not in room full of hydrocarbon based products with a means for the fire to travel. I have not been to too many residential fires where I found a stack of pallets or hay burning in the middle of the living room or bedroom, excluding acquired structures.

 What I have found is overly stuffed BTU producing rooms that produce extreme fire conditions when the conditions are right. There is a ton of articles with huge amounts of BTU production rates and Heat Rise Rates. All this data is extremely informative and relevant but it boils down to these few things. Attack with as much water as you can be effective with and you have trained with. If you do not train with 2 ½ inch line you are probably not going to have great results pulling 2 ½ on a large volume of fire. Eventually your experience/training might catch up but you will lose a few buildings before you get there and maybe a firefighter or two. I remember reading a report chastising the use of 2 ½ at a residential fire. The reason stated you couldn’t move 2 ½ and be effective. Really, whoever wrote this has not seen some of the firefighters that I have seen move a 2 ½. But I have seen those that cannot advance a 1 ½ either.

When our armed forces are faced with a target a little bigger than they want to deal with up close with a small force, they prep the target from a distance. We can do exactly that, it is called reach of stream! The problem evolving from how we are training in burn building is, flowing water while advancing the line is becoming a lost art form instead of a basic skill.

Awhile back some of my Mentors where blamed for why bad events where taking place. So I went back and looked at videos of those “horrible guys”. I did not see them going in without water or wading in till they just could not stand it anymore and jerking the bail open and hoping the fire went out. These guys worked in busy houses their whole career and never retired until they went to the house the last time. They fought fire aggressively and they were the solution not the problem. They all went home too, because many are all enjoying retirement. Their mentored firefighters are not killing people off at an alarming rate now either. There is too much “Let’s run in and get some of that” mentality instead of “Let’s push aggressively and get all of it”.

Engine companies have to be changing the conditions to better, not just sitting inside and letting conditions simply get worse around them. From the Incident Commanders position, if crews are in the building and conditions are worsening, the I.C. has no choice but to pull the crews out. Put yourself in the I.C boots, they have 2-3 lines capable of 200 G.P.M. each inside a burning structure and conditions are getting worse, you have to wonder. If an Incident Commander or Division officer that can actually see the fire calls me for a progress report at a single family structure, I take that as a clue we are not moving or being effective. The progress of an attacking hose line should be visible from the outside in most structures.

So where is the problem? Better gear, Thermal Imagers, radios in every firefighters coat and people are still getting in trouble and the fires are not going out. The problem is one of the smaller pieces of equipment on the fire ground, the nozzle handle. It is not being opened and the line is not being advanced while flowing. Reach of the stream is not being used. We teach sounding the floor with tools during search. Why not teach structural stability with the stream? A 1 ¾ hand line producing 200 G.P.M. is a 1666 pound a minute hammer. Use the stream and look for kill you structure damage when the stream hits. Think past the moment of the fire going out. When things are heated they expand, when cooled the contract. A heavily involved room has a lot of expanding going on that when you apply a sufficient G.P.M. fire stream you should be causing an immediate switch to things cooling and now contracting in an instant. This is not breaking news to you, I am sure, but when we have trained our Firefighters to always be right up and personal with the burning material in the burn building. So in the streets they get in the room before causing the reversal.

The fire is producing more BTUs than ever before so bigger flow hand lines are being carried by almost every department so what gives. All that flow is worthless if Firefighters do not react according to the situation they face. But how can you expect a firefighter to operate accordingly during an extreme fire event if they have never seen a extreme fire event or applied water during an extreme event. Now given the faster temperature rise of our hotter fires you certainly cannot expect a good outcome if they are scared to death because they have never felt significant heat beyond their own body heat in gear.

Does every live fire training need to be flashover hot, absolutely not. Do we need to put trainees into flashover chambers to operate no, that would get really expensive in gear and S.C.B.A. But a firefighter’s first encounter with Walmart heat should not be at a Walmart fire. It should be in a controlled environment. A Walmart fire is not referring to a fire in a Walmart store. This is a fire that makes you question why you did not go to work at Walmart instead of the hot, black nasty one; I think we may die environment you are currently in. Firefighters need to be trained in this environment enough to know that they can survive. How bad would the U.S. Navy Seals performance be if they trained at the neighborhood heated pool?  Long durations are not needed either. A little goes a long ways because when you encounter that heat you basically have 3 options. Flow water, ventilate if not already done, get out, or combination of the three. Trainees need that seasoned Instructor to say, “Okay when it feels like this, here are your options and if you do not exercise one of these, it will get much worse.” Will trainees get their needed experience at the Academy, no but they should be well trained enough that the Company Officer does not have to tackle them or kneel on them to maintain crew integrity.

Let No Man Say his training let him down. This is a very often repeated statement which is on many Fire Academy walls and in training material. So why when live fire instructors can routinely be heard to tell students, “This is not like the real thing” are we allowing their training to let them down? We often jump on the newest thing, because it is new it has got to be better. Did we try it under those real conditions or close to real? Probably not or that whole left for life and driving all that heat down on us and pity on anyone near but not under the might fog might not have been such a great savior. Attacking the gas is not the root of the problem

No one is going to the fires they used, not exactly breaking news. So where is the experience going to come, realistic training not make believe almost like a fire training.

Many will scream where the safety is if we burn hot. Where is the ability to keep the trainee safe from crawling into the fire and just burning their untrained selves up?

  • Staffed back up lines in place where they will make a difference. Staffed by Firefighters who will say uncle and open them to make a difference.
  • Facilities constructed to produce the desired result of producing a fire to flow water onto with barriers to keep the student out.
  • Burn rooms that have light debris that actually fly’s around producing some of the effect a 200 GPM stream makes happen. Remember the first time you hit sheetrock ceiling with water and it fell. That wasn’t seen in training was it? Probably got your attention though. Eventually you got used to it would have been nice if it was not such a big surprise. Or the fact that when we drive those streams against a solid wall it comes back on you. You can no longer see just from your own water. But you will not learn that in a two or three second blast from a nozzle.