BY BOB PRESSLER
Operations on the fire-ground, especially for the truck company, start with apparatus placement. Of course, the placement of the ladder company apparatus depends on the engine company’s properly spotting the apparatus. Even if the engine uses preconnected handlines for most initial attacks, the chauffeur must ensure that room is left in front of the fire building for the ladder truck. If no ladder truck is assigned on the initial response, the first-arriving officer should try to take into account an area where the truck may have to set up if and when one arrives.
Proper spotting of the apparatus depends on the type of aerial device the department uses. Mid-mounted ladder trucks, whether tiller or straight apparatus, should be spotted differently than rear-mount ladders. Tower ladders have several spotting requirements of their own. One of the common spotting problems today involves rear-mounted apparatus. Chauffeurs commonly spot aerial apparatus by sight from the cab. With mid-mounted apparatus, the driver would commonly look out the side windows until the desired target would leave his vision. This would put the objective about even with the turntable. With the cab parallel or even nosed in toward the curb, this method works well for mid-mounts. But the rear-mounted apparatus creates several problems.
REAR-MOUNTED APPARATUS
The use of an aerial device, even when properly spotted, should not take the place of ground ladders. For fires in one-story buildings, it is generally quicker to use a portable ladder for access. One firefighter can pull a straight ladder and place it against the building long before the aerial can be placed. Once the ground ladder is in place, we are usually talking about a 10- to 15-foot climb. A firefighter can quickly ascend this distance carrying a saw and hand tools. Using the aerial ladder is not a bad thing, but proper spotting helps. In photo 1, the aerial has been pulled into position at this fire in a large one-story commercial building. But by nosing into position, the turntable is a long distance from the objective. The ladder has been raised to the lower one-story setback, a distance in height of maybe nine feet. But the climb on the aerial, at a poor angle, is probably in the area of 70 feet. Pulling nose-in to the objective will add 40 to 50 feet to the climb-the length of the apparatus. To help solve this problem, the operator can get the turntable closer by swinging the cab in toward the objective as the apparatus approaches and then turning back out toward the center of the street. This will put the turntable closer to the curb.
Now by no means does this mean that you should leave the aerial ladder in the bed when operating at the scene of a fire in a one-story building. There are still several advantages to using an aerial at lower levels. At taxpayer fires, personnel operating on a smoky rooftop will be able to see the aerial ladder extending out over the roof more quickly than a ground ladder that is only showing above the parapet. An aerial may also be easier to use if firefighters are trying to move an unconscious or semiconscious victim down to ground level (see Fire Focus, Fire Engineering, March 2000). Other points to keep in mind when spotting any aerial devices are any overhead obstructions. These include trees, signs, highways, and elevated trains.
OVERHEAD OBSTRUCTIONS
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This Bronx, New York, fire presented several operational problems for the responding companies. The fire building is a two-story, wood-frame building with overall dimensions of approximately 25 feet wide by 40 feet deep. Arriving companies found heavy fire showing from the second-floor front of the building. Exposures are on the numbers 2 and 4 sides. On the exposure 1 side, or front of the building, the elevated train line presented exposure and spotting hazards.
This fire building, although shown here in an urban setting, is a relatively common type of building across the country. Built as a one- or two-family dwelling, it can be found almost anywhere. In New York City, the response to a report of a fire in a building like this will generate a three-engine, two-truck, and battalion chief response, with a staffing level of approximately 32. (Engines ride with an officer and four firefighters or an officer and five; trucks run with an officer and five and the chief and aide.) Once a working fire is confirmed, additional companies respond. These include an additional engine and truck company, a heavy rescue, a squad company, an additional battalion chief, and the deputy-quite a complement of personnel. This allows the Fire Department of New York to do several tasks at once. The companies will stretch several handlines, ladder the building, perform searches, ventilate the building, address the utilities, and perform several other tasks all at once because the staffing allows it.
Now, let’s take this fire to a smaller town with limited personnel and apparatus. The response to the fire goes from 32 firefighters to maybe eight. Two engines and a truck company make up the initial response, with three on the first engine and truck and only two on the second engine. The jobs remain the same but must be done in sequential order. The first task at almost all fires is to get water on the fire. In most cases, if water is put on the fire, things start to improve. Departments that respond with reduced personnel generally use preconnects for their first attack line. This is usually a 13/4-inch handline; for most fires, including this one, this is sufficient. The engine operator must spot the apparatus so that the truck can have the front of the fire building. The elevated train makes for some operational difficulties. To properly spot the apparatus, the jobs that it will perform must be determined. This fire involves a flat-roof, wood-frame building with a heavy fire condition on the top floor. With only three personnel on the ladder company, their options are limited. Certain things are definite. The front street-level door and the apartment door on the second floor must be forced to allow the engine to advance into the fire area. Searches must also be done as soon as conditions permit. One firefighter may be assigned to work with the engine company to perform these tasks. The firefighter will be working remote from his own company but will be paired up with members of the first-due engine.
But also at this fire, vertical ventilation is extremely important. If the top of the building is not opened, fire, heat, and smoke will bank down throughout the top floor. This will make conditions on the top floor untenable for any trapped civilians as well as companies trying to advance. So spotting the apparatus for roof access is a priority. A ground ladder could be used, but only two firefighters are available to raise it, and both will be needed on the roof with several tools. The chauffeur is able to spot the apparatus so that roof access is possible. Two firefighters head for the roof to do several things. (Note: Although it is always desirable to leave a member at the turntable, staffing levels do not always allow this. At a fire in this type of building with this staffing level, it is my opinion that it is better to have “two” firefighters working together at the roof level than to leave one at the turntable and one operating alone on the roof.)
Once at roof level, the firefighters should try to provide some immediate relief for the top floor by opening any natural roof coverings, including skylights and scuttle covers. As this is being finished, one of the two firefighters must get to the rear of the roof. From this position, the firefighter should check for several things: Are any civilians trapped at the rear of the fire building? Is smoke or flame showing? Is there any access to the rear of the fire building? This information should be relayed to the incident commander. If a trapped occupant is discovered at the rear of the fire building, then all effort must be put into rescuing that trapped civilian.
The next step for the firefighters on the roof is to remove the back windows on the top floor. This will improve conditions on the top floor and help the advancing firefighters. The last task is to provide additional ventilation by opening up holes in the roof to ventilate and to check for extension into the cockloft.
Not all overhead obstructions are in place as we arrive on the fireground. Occasionally, we operate in such a manner that we manufacture problems. This commonly occurs when we are operating at fires in large one-story commercial buildings. These include warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and even taxpayers or strip malls. At many of these fires, the first operation of the tower ladder is to access the roof area. The use of a tower ladder is especially helpful when one firefighter is assembling tools to take to the roof. By using the “elevator” instead of climbing a ladder, this firefighter can bring up a wide variety of hand and power tools as well as a life-saving rope. When two firefighters make up the first team heading toward the roof, one firefighter may chose to use a portable ladder to quickly get to the roof to start initial operations while the second firefighter loads the basket with the remaining tools.
As conditions deteriorate or operations are completed, it is also easier to load all the tools and several people into the basket to return them to the street. It is at these lower work areas that care must be taken to observe where we are operating. Bringing victims or returning firefighters to street level usually is not too much of a problem because we normally swing the bucket away from the fire building. The problems usually arise when a large-caliber stream must be delivered into the first or lower floor. Tower ladders have the ability to drop the basket down to street level. Some can do this in a relatively small space. One 75-foot tower ladder used in New York City needs only 25 feet of clearance at a 90-degree angle to the apparatus to place the basket on the ground. Newer apparatus, especially three-section tower ladders in the 100-foot range, need a much larger area to bring the basket down, reportedly in the 50- to 60-foot range.
Once the bucket is down on street level, we are now in danger from the building itself. Collapse of any part of the fire building may bring debris down onto the bucket. Collapsing buildings have sheared buckets completely away from the boom. Parapets present another serious hazard, especially to taxpayers. They are frequently found at the front of strip malls and have been known to fall without warning. These brick walls weigh several thousand pounds; if a piece of one lands in the basket, firefighters in that basket will be seriously injured. Always try to operate from outside the collapse zone. For most buildings, the collapse zone should be at least the same distance from the structure as the building is high. For a one-story taxpayer that has a parapet that extends to a height of 14 feet, the bucket must try to stay at least this distance from the fire building. A quick rule-of-thumb is to try to stay away from the sidewalk area. In most commercial areas, the sidewalks are relatively wide and will afford a quick point of reference for safe operations.
