Row frame fire.
photo by Bab Aftanas
At a Jersey City, NJ, fire, departments experienced the frustration of a fast spreading fire in a converted row frame. These structures are best fought through thorough pre-plan drills, rapid command decisions, and fast moving, aggressive interior handlines coupled with extremely effective, innovative, and exhaustive venting techniques.
Here, however, firefighters were confronted with a wellinvolved occupied structure upon arrival. Strategy and tactics, although rapid, were basic for this type structure. A common hall extending through the walls of three structures on each floor provided the additional catalyst needed to create an uncontrollable, external firefighting situation. A fourth alarm was necessary to bring this structural fire under control.
