Assessment Center Strategy and Tactics: Ladder Company Operations

BY MICHAEL TERPAK

A preceding article, “Assessment Center Strategy and Tactics: Engine Company Operations” (Fire Engineering, July 2008), listed and identified the task-based responsibilities for an engine company assessment. The following covers ladder company tasks. Each area listed below provides a number of measurable steps that the candidate may need to address and discuss in a promotional exercise. From the simple tasks that firefighters normally take for granted in their day-to-day operations to the more complex, test candidates need to be prepared to address all areas.

LADDER COMPANY RESPONSIBILITIES

Task-based responsibilities within an assessment center for the ladder company officer will focus around 10 primary responsibilities (Acronym: AL-VES-SCOUP):

1. Apparatus Placement
2. Ladders
3. Ventilation
4. Forcible Entry
5. Search
6. Salvage
7. In Coordination with…
8. Overhaul
9. Utilities
10. Provide a Progress Report to Command

APPARATUS PLACEMENT

Apparatus placement responsibilities for the ladder company will focus on a number of size-up factors that will be presented in the exercise text, in the diagrams/simulations, or both. The most notable factors include such things as the building type, height, and square footage; the accessibility of the front and possibly sides of the building; the occupant life hazard; and the location of the fire. Seem like a lot? It isn’t!

For example, if there is a fire on a lower floor in an occupied multiple dwelling, the first-arriving ladder must attempt a position in front of the fire building to provide immediate access to the roof for ventilation of the building’s interior stair. This is a critical requirement in a building of this type.

In another example, consider a similar type structure where an occupant is trapped in an upper-floor window and needs immediate rescue.

In yet another, depending on the size of the building and the accessibility of the front and surrounding sides, the first- and possibly the second-arriving ladder company, may have the opportunity to place their apparatus turntables on the building’s corners (A/B or A/D corner) so that they can reach multiple sides for either rescue, roof access, exposure protection, or master stream operations.

The point is that ladder company placement is critical. For an assessment exercise, ladder companies must be placed to maximize their scrub area (reach potential) for any potential objective. Performance dimensions that measure your technical knowledge, adaptability, and initiative will be enhanced with this approach (photos 1, 2).

(1) Ladder placed for roof access. (Photos by author.)

 

(2) Ladder placed for exposure protection.

 

LADDERS

With the above paragraph in mind, laddering the fire building is a critical task of an arriving ladder company that is often measured in an assessment exercise. Technical scores can focus around ground or aerial ladder selection, their placement, and the ladder’s intended objective. From the type, size, placement, and the intended objective, all potential officers will need to be able to determine whether to ladder the building for rescue, for ventilation, or to provide an additional means of egress for interior members.

VENTILATION

Measuring ventilation knowledge within a ladder company officer’s responsibilities will often focus around the type of vent, its location, the vent technique used, and the timing of the vent with the engine company’s movement and direction.

A commonly used exercise to test a candidate’s ability in this area is to assign the candidate as a vent group or roof division supervisor and ask him to explain the steps necessary for an effective and safe ventilation operation for a structure fire. Taking the requirements further, the assessment board may also require the candidate to diagram the intended cuts on a blackboard as he explains each step.

The vent technique used in this potential exercise will obviously be based on the building type and design, as well as the fire’s location within the building. To give you an example of how that may be presented, review the following sample question.

Sample exercise: You respond to a report of a fire on the top floor of a three-story residential wood frame. The building, built in 1930, measures approximately 20 × 30 feet and is at the end of a row of six similarly attached structures. As the ladder company officer assigned to oversee roof operations, diagram and explain for the assessment board how you would proceed with vertical ventilation operations (photo 3).

(3) Exercise photo as viewed from the A side.

Before you review the following answer key and diagram (Figure 1), try to do this exercise on your own on a blackboard or a piece of drawing paper and give a narrative describing your actions and objectives. The only way to become comfortable with an oral assessment exercise is to practice—many times!

Figure 1. Roof Ventilation Exercise Diagram

What follows is a suggested guide to the answer and diagram. The answer key is in an outline form to show needed content. It is critical to remember when answering an oral assessment question to use proper grammar and demonstrate organization, clarity, and confidence in your response. It is difficult to provide a detailed narrative response in writing, but the following will at the very least help organize the candidate’s thoughts and emphasize what that person will need to concentrate on regarding oral communications.

To start this process, I always advise students to start with an introductory statement/heading that introduces organization and clarity into the response.

Sample answer key: Regarding question 1 and my responsibilities as the officer assigned to oversee roof operations, I would first …

• Gain access to the building’s roof through the safest and quickest means available (be specific and state how).
  Student/scenario note: In regard to roof access, note that roof access could be from the aerial ladder, ground ladder, fire escape (if present), or attached building. With the latter, do NOT use the adjoining building to gain access to the roof of the buildings in the exercise described. If you decide to use an adjoining building (far from the best choice in this exercise), use a building that is a little more remote. Specifically, use the B1 or B2 exposure building. With a top-floor fire in a row of attached frames, the top-floor scuttle hatch area of the closest attached exposure could quickly become untenable, trapping firefighters attempting access to the roof. More specifically, if you accessed the roof via the B exposure, you would be marked negatively.
• Ensure the stability of the roof before entering.
• Establish at least two means of escape from the roof.
• Remove all natural ventilation openings in the fire building and adjoining exposure.
• If applicable, determine and report any concerns regarding the roof deck support system.
• Determine the location to make the primary ventilation hole. In this exercise, it should seem obvious; however, on a less obvious exercise, indicate that using a thermal imaging camera can help.
• Plan the cut, and inform all members.
• Consider roof rafter run, top-floor room layout, and the anticipated fire travel with the plan.
• For enhanced safety, establish a “guide firefighter” with the “saw firefighter.”
• Keep the wind at back.
• Do not step on cuts or the projected opening.
• Cut roof deck; minimum hole size should be 4 × 4 feet.
• Instruct members to precut opening to enlarge/expand the primary ventilation hole.
• Cut and pull the opening.
• Push down the ceiling.
• Enlarge the hole as needed from precut sections.
• Report observations and progress to Command and Fire Attack.
• Ensure that all operations are coordinated with Fire Attack and Command.
• Determine the need for a trench/strip-cutting operation through the use of inspection/examination holes in the roof deck as well as opening/removing any return walls in the adjoining buildings’ scuttle or skylight openings (photo 4).

(4) The return walls within this particular scuttle opening are brown.

• If inspection holes, visual observations, and reports from the interior crew indicate fire is traveling horizontally, establish the location of the trench.
• The placement of the trench/strip should be at least 20 to 25 feet from the primary ventilation hole. The distance intent is to allow enough time to cut, pull, and push the trench. The trench/strip should be three to four feet wide from the front to rear walls of the structure.
• The trench should also be precut (cross-cut) every four feet to assist with the speed in pulling the opening.
• It is important that the primary ventilation hole be cut, pulled, and pushed before pulling the trench.
• State that the primary ventilation hole is the offensive opening; the trench is the defensive opening.
• View rear and side, and report fire conditions, trapped or jumped occupants, exposure concerns, and accessibility options.
• Other creditable responses noted by the assessor.

Does the above answer/diagram seem a little lengthy? It isn’t! Remember, this is an oral assessment exercise. The time used to present your response will seem like it is flying by. When presenting your response, you must be aware of your time. Time management is important, especially when presenting with a drawing/diagram. Your oral presentation must be coordinated and timed with your drawing as you illustrate the necessary steps. This is the type of assessment exercise where practice really pays off.

FORCIBLE ENTRY, SEARCH, SALVAGE, OVERHAUL

Forcible entry, search, salvage, and overhaul responsibilities for the ladder company officer in an assessment center will focus on the candidate’s ability to recognize the need for the task and describe how to carry it out.

Within the forcible entry responsibilities, a fireground scenario can involve a commercial building that has a late-night, early-morning incident. A potential assessment question could require the candidate to address the tools needed to gain entry, identify how the tools would be used, and describe how this task would be coordinated with other operations.

Search responsibilities within an assessment exercise will most notably focus on the technique required for an efficient and safe operation. For example, fire officers must direct their firefighters to search a warehouse and factory occupancy differently, compared with assigning firefighters to search a private or multiple dwelling. The building’s size, square footage, and layout are some of the factors that will influence the candidate’s responses.

Assessment questions that focus on salvage and overhaul will test the candidate’s ability to plan early, identify his knowledge with procedures and equipment and use, and show how the tasks would be coordinated with other fireground operations.

COORDINATION

Just as with the engine company’s list of responsibilities, the ladder company must also coordinate its efforts with the advancing engine company. This is a crucial consideration for any company officer. Its importance is emphasized in an assessment center scenario when a fire involves a lower floor of a building. Committing firefighters to search the floors above the fire is a calculated risk that must be coordinated with the stretch of the initially placed hoselines. Committing your firefighters to conduct a search above the fire and not mentioning any type of coordination with a nearby hoseline will result in a poor score by assessors.

UTILITY CONTROL

Utility control is a task often assumed to be one of the responsibilities of the ladder company. To eliminate confusion and a missed opportunity, we always advise students to state that they would “control all utilities within the building, specifically the gas, electric, and the water.” Now it is without doubt that if specific information within a scenario identifies the need to prioritize one utility over another, you should. However, to begin thinking like a test taker and eliminate a possibly missed answer/opportunity, you should address all utilities.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Finally, just as we did with the engine company, we need to stress the importance of providing Command with progress reports. It has often been said in the fire service that the eyes and ears of the chief officers belong to the ladder company. From their assignments, tasks, and overall operations, they are often in the best position to relay specific information about the incident. As with any emergency incident, the information that is relayed from the companies to the incident commander helps in the decision-making process.

• • •

Oral assessment exercises that are designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities of fire officers in a company officer position will require a comprehensive response. Having an organized approach is the first step in scoring well on your promotional exam.

MICHAEL TERPAK, a member of the fire service for 32 years, has spent the past 28 years with the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department, where he is a deputy chief and citywide tour commander. Throughout his career, he has worked in the city’s Lafayette and Greenville areas with Engines 10 and 17, Ladder 12, and Rescue 1; as chief of the city’s 2nd Battalion; and as the former chief in charge of the city’s Training Division. Terpak lectures extensively around the country on fire/rescue and related topics and is the founder of Promotional Prep, a New Jersey-based consulting firm designed to prepare firefighters and fire officers studying for promotional exams. Terpak, who also has a B.S. degree in fire safety administration from the City University of New Jersey, is the author of Fireground Size-Up (Fire Engineering, 2002) and the Assessment Center, Strategy and Tactics (Fire Engineering, 2008).