By Michael N. Ciampo
As we pulled out of quar-ters in the early morning hours, the dispatcher notified us of numerous phone calls reporting “smoke on the 21st and 22nd floors.” As we responded, the talk inside the apparatus was, “Maybe this will be a compactor fire, food on the stove, or rubbish in the stairwell, which this address is famous for.” Arriving at the irregularly shaped (recessed center core of the structure) high-rise residential building, we couldn’t see anything looking up toward the upper floors. A quick scan with the apparatus spotlight also revealed nothing. Remember to proceed to the front of the structure looking up; try to size up the building’s size, shape, floors, and construction. Note other features such as the fire escape locations, windows with smoke or fire showing, visibly spotting the hallways through the windows, outside balconies or decks, utility wires and satellite dishes, security bars or gates on windows, and any other usual characteristics.
We proceeded toward the building. The chauffeur spotted a problem in the fourth-floor window. Suddenly, there was a victim waving a towel, with his body pressed up against the child bars (small interlocking slide bars installed into the window frame that prevent a child from falling out the window when it is open) with smoke pushing out over his head. Immediately, there was a radio transmission made about the situation and a quick verbal command to the chauffeur that the apparatus should attempt to reach the victim in the window. In addition, because of the recess of the building, it wasn’t known if the tower ladder would reach the victim. So the chauffeur was ordered to communicate with the second-due truck, a 100-foot aerial, to position its ladder as a backup means of rescue.
While the outside rescue attempts were in full swing, the interior teams began their tactics. On reaching the stairwell, one member was detailed to the floor below to gain access to the apartment directly under the fire apartment to get a floor layout. So many times apartments aligned above or below each other have the same layout of rooms, walls, and partitions, but that may not always be the case. In some instances, alterations may have been made or the apartment may be a duplex (two-floor) or triplex (three-floor) apartment. At the window, the member communicated with the outside forces and lined himself up with the trapped occupant above; this allowed him to know the layout and how to get to the victim.
The roof firefighter was on his way to the floor above with his tools and the life-saving rope for another means of rescue. Luckily, the hallway had moderate visibility, and forcible entry team members could see with their masks on to force open the apartment door. While they forced the door, the officer assigned specific duties to the members to effect the rescue. The “can” firefighter and officer would locate the fire and attempt to control it by using the pressurized water extinguisher or shutting the door to the burning room if possible. If the room didn’t have a door or if it was already burning through or compromised, they could pop a door off another room with a hand tool and place it over the door frame to block and control the extending fire. Remember, if you need a door, one of the quickest solutions is to place your tool in between the door frame and door just below the top hinge and then quickly pull the door shut on the tool; the screws should pop, releasing the hinge. Next, drop down to the lower hinge and perform the same technique. It’s always better to start high and finish low so you’re working in lower heat levels and out of the superheated gases and smoke.
The forcible entry firefighter was assigned to locate the victim using the information received from the reconnaissance of the floor below. Once he reached the victim, he informed his officer that he was in control of a severely panicked civilian and that removal was his best option. By this time, the thermal imaging camera picked up the fire’s location and the water can was being used to control the fire, awaiting the hoseline’s advance. The victim was safely removed from the apartment, and the interior team finished the rest of the primary search of the apartment while the engine company extinguished the fire.
On completion of the fire operations, the units went over their tactics. They discussed the following points:
- Life is always the first concern, and victim rescue was the first priority. The truck was attempting a three-sided approach of an exterior apparatus ladder rescue, positioning members on the floor above for a life-saving rope rescue and an interior search for the victim. In this particular occupancy, breaching the side walls of concrete block to reach the victim may have taken too long. In other occupancies (row frames or townhouses) with lath and plaster or drywall, breaching walls may offer another avenue of rescue.
- You can never fully evaluate victims’ state of mind until you make contact with them. Try to calm victims down; watch for them pulling at your mask or being aggressive toward you. The conditions have them in a panic and survival mode, and it’s our job to evaluate this and decide whether to remove them or shelter them in place.
- Detailing a member to the floor below to get the apartment’s layout proved to be invaluable. Taking a minute at the start saved valuable time in the overall rescue operation. Also, if the window below has obstructions (gates or child bars), remove them to allow a fluid rope rescue operation.
While wrapping up, someone asked, “Who got up to the 21st and 22nd floors to check out the smoke on those floors?” Remember, two separate incidents can occur in buildings of this size; check out all reports of smoke on the various floors.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 24-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC “Truck Company: Essentials” H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.
