“ULTIMATE FIREFIGHTING”

BY GARY E. SEIDEL

Firefighters are different from most workers in the United States in that there’s a much greater chance that firefighters may not return home from work at the end of the workday or that they may suffer some injury that may forever change their lives.

The community watches as we climb ladders; drag fire hoses inside burning buildings; cut ventilation holes on rooftops; rescue persons trapped inside burning buildings; perform trench, confined space, and swiftwater rescues; conduct vehicle extrications, and perform a myriad of other tasks.

What the community does not see is firefighters crawling on their stomachs down a treacherous hallway filled with black, toxic smoke, knowing that the ceiling may fall, the floor may collapse, or the room may explosively ignite; materials sloughing down on firefighters during a trench rescue; the atmosphere exploding in a confined space rescue; or a firefighter getting pinned on an obstacle during a swiftwater rescue.

Firefighters get the opportunity to share in the joy of saving another person’s life. We enjoy being able to successfully rescue someone who is trapped; better yet, we take pride in preventing an injury or fatality through education programs. We realize that we are responding to an incident because a person is in trouble or potentially will be in trouble.

We take our training very seriously. We know our job and its hazards. We are prepared to face any obstacle. We firefighters are ordinary people who are loyal to our profession. And, as firefighters, we need to train. As the Los Angeles City Fire Department motto states: “We need to train as though our life depends on it ellipse because it does.”

TRAINING TO MINIMIZE RISKS
How do you assess risk? In our department, we evaluated every type of incident to which we might be called in relation to the level of risk it presents and the frequency at which it occurs. We found that the incidents fell into four categories:

• Low risk/low-frequency: overcrowding, automatic alarms;
• Low-risk high-frequency: medical calls;
• High-risk/low-frequency: specialized rescues; and
• High-risk/high-frequency: bread-and-butter fires.

We then focused on the high-risk and infrequently encountered incidents, because these are the incidents at which most firefighters are injured or killed. Training, education, and preplanning were concentrated in these areas. We distinguished between discretionary time and nondiscretionary time. Discretionary time allows us to think before we act. Nondiscretionary time means that we must act based on the exigent circumstances; in other words, we must rely on our previous training, judgment, and abilities.

Every incident-regardless of its nature-is unique, and all incidents pose potentially extreme, exigent, and dangerous situations.

As members of the fire service, you recognize all this, and you want to be on point.

BEING “ON POINT”
Several years ago, I read a newspaper article in which a commanding officer paid tribute to two officers who died in the line of duty. This article was titled On Point.

What does it mean to walk the point? Firefighters/emergency responders have expectations before selecting this profession. We know the risks associated with our profession and base our actions on the calculated risks, to arrive at what is called “Professional Acceptance.” This entails multiplying the hazards by the vulnerabilities and subtracting the mitigation efforts we employ to reduce the risk (Hazards 2 Vulnerabilities 1 Mitigation = Risks). In other words, we are aware of the associated and calculated risks, we are trained to meet these risks, and we are willing to accept the risks associated with our career.

The author of the On Point article noted that a soldier in Vietnam followed and accepted three rules:

1. Young soldiers die.
2. Someone must be on point.
3. Yes, young soldiers die.

The careers of a firefighter and a soldier are very much alike. The military squad’s mission is to recon the area, locate the enemy’s movements, and report back the findings. Also, the mission of both is to stay alive. Sometimes, a soldier on point gets spotted first. When this happens, hopefully he will have the time to take cover before being shot at. His tasks while on point are to take cover, communicate his situation, and get out or return fire.

Firefighters are also on point 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. When the alarm sounds, we are not sure what we will be facing. We know the area, the type of alarm to which we are responding, the resources with which we are responding, and current conditions. What we don’t often know is what we will face once we arrive or what conditions may change to affect our safety and operations.

The company officer’s role is communication, a 360° effort that includes collaborating with all agencies and the civilians with whom we come in contact; internal and external communication through training; and the ability to demonstrate that we can walk the talk and be on point.

There are other parallels between the fire service and the military. Their basis for existence is the presence of a real or perceived enemy. The enemies of the fire service, of course, are heat, smoke, and fire. To synergistically mitigate fire requires that we have a sound knowledge of those enemies so we can make a safe, coordinated, and effective attack and effectively control the incident.

There is also a distinction between the fire service and the military. At “Hamburger Hill” in Vietnam, military commanders evaluated calculated risk vs. acceptable losses. In the fire service, fireground commanders evaluate calculated risks at every fire and do not accept losses. Therefore, we must ensure that command and control measures are in place to prevent harming our own.

PROBLEMS COMMON TO CATASTROPHIES
In reviewing the major catastrophic emergencies to which the fire service has responded over the past five years, we have found the same problems in each. They were communications, accountability, and transfer of command. So, we must enhance our accountability system to ensure firefighter safety and communicate more efficiently on the fireground. This does not necessarily mean more tactical channels; it means more disciplined fireground communications. We must also have a good understanding of the situation and the resources assigned when conducting a transfer of command.

FIREGROUND SURVIVAL
Interior firefighting is the trademark of the fire service. Firefighters are always thinking of ways to perform their duties in an aggressive, effective, and safe manner. When your duties call for a fire attack, ensure that your efforts are well coordinated and that support measures-ventilation, forcible entry/egress, and utility control-are in place so that the holistic firefighting effort is done safely. The goal is to achieve the maximum at minimum risk. This is the philosophy of “fighting fire smartly.”

All personnel, from the incident commander to the probationary firefighter, must think about interior fire attack strategies, tactics, and methods. Fireground survival begins with training, preparation, and prefire planning. Begin by establishing standardized objectives for the types of mission to which you respond. Apply your knowledge and skills as part of a team. Develop and maintain proficiency with tools and equipment. Learn about the construction methods, the hazards, and the fire codes that apply to the structures in your jurisdiction. Consider the structures’ ages and occupancy types. Study the principles of fire behavior, especially in structures. You will see that your survival may depend on a complete knowledge of your protective equipment, tools, apparatus, and inventory. Therefore, you must take seriously your morning precheck of equipment and apparatus.

When the alarm sounds, begin to make your own mental size-up. Break it down into weather conditions, the existing prefire plan of the location to which you are responding, the incident assignment, and the department’s standard operating procedures/guidelines. Study the map to determine the location, size, and capabilities of the closest fire hydrant. Consider the method of laying the line: single engine; two-piece engine; alley lay; forward, reverse, or freeway lay; and one line or two lines. How are you going to deal with an extremely long lay?

All members must make their own mental size-up. Look at the smoke. That’s the fire talking to you. Consider the type of occupancy, its construction features, and its age; exposures; forcible entry; utilities; smoke/fire conditions; trapped victim(s); resources needed and where they will be placed; and what the fire might be doing in 10 minutes.

Again, be constantly alert and aware of any changing conditions on the fireground. Stay together. Watch out for each other. Look for traps. Only then can you initiate and successfully carry out sound fireground tactics and operations. Actions, position, and timing are keys to safety on the fireground. Slow down, and look. Make sure you truly see what you are looking at. Identify the situation, define it, and then act.

Note to commanding officers: If the crews cannot safely move over the fire to ventilate while engaged in roof operations or are unable to advance handlines to the seat of the fire, back them off to a defensible position and then continue to communicate to the incident commander your observations, the conditions, and the needs in your area of operation. The strategy, tactics, and operational timing must fit the situation and needs. Ask yourself, Are the probable gains worth the possible risks?

In choosing the line, select the size based on your anticipated gallons-per-minute flow rate. Do you have enough personnel for the size of line(s) selected? Have a reason for the line and the nozzle you select. Do you need the line for reach and penetration? Do you need mobility? Do you need a combination of multiple lines? Remember the following for nozzle selection: A straight or smooth-bore tip is good for search, penetration, knocking down ceilings, and breaking out windows. A spray/fog nozzle is good for heat absorption and personnel protection.

How you approach the seat of the fire will depend on the factors noted above, such as occupancy type, structural hazards, smoke and fire conditions, building placards, forcible entry and egress, as well as line and nozzle selection.

As you advance your line(s), ensure that your crew is properly using its personal protective equipment, SCBAs, PASS devices, flashlights, and drop bags and that the members are using their pike poles to penetrate hidden spaces for fire. Ensure that there is effective communication with the outside, the roof, and the IC. You are best protected when you avoid situations in which you will need your protective equipment to save your life.

LCES
The fire service has been using U.S. Forest Service Chief Paul Gleason’s acronym LCES for wildland firefighting for the past several years. This acronym covers four critical actions that constitute the basis for any fireground operation:

• Lookout: Designate a person(s) who can see what the fire is doing in relation to the operating firefighters.
• Communication: Ensure that there are immediate communications between all members operating on the fireground.
• Escape routes: Make sure the firefighters operating on the fireground can get to a safety zone in a safe and timely manner.
• Safety zone: Identify an area of safe refuge in which the firefighters do not need special protection to survive.

The acronym has since been modified to LLCCEESS:

• Lookout. Everyone on the fireground is responsible for maintaining awareness; this applies also to “Lookout.” That means you should look up, down, and all around to analyze current conditions, location, and operations.
• Location. This applies to the spot you select for initiating your operations. Responding companies will make it the focal point for operations. Therefore, select the location wisely; it will set the stage for the incident’s successful outcome.
• Communications. Communicating with members at an incident is always best when done face to face. The radio may be used when every firefighter has a radio and the radio is on the right tactical channel. Other methods of communicating include making signals on hoselines or lifelines and using an emergency signal.
• Conditions. Constantly analyze fireground operations from the perspective of risk vs. gain. Transitioning from an offensive to a defensive attack and back to an offensive requires knowledge of the conditions and control of the resources. All too often, the only life hazard present at an incident is firefighters’ lives. This is where rapid intervention procedures and operations are vital.
• Escape routes. Escape routes apply to entry and egress routes. Select access points that will provide a sufficiently sized escape route, especially when multiple companies are working through the same opening. Light up these openings so that members will be able to see as they exit.
• Equipment. Use all of your personal protective safety equipment. This is not a recommendation-it is a requirement.
• Safety zones. A safety zone is an area that does not require protection such as hoselines or SCBAs for members’ survival. Typically, at a structure fire, this is on the exterior, also away from potential collapse zones. A safety zone is not located above a fire.
• Structural integrity. Structural integrity applies to the selection of safety zones, fire conditions, escape routes, lookouts, and the fire’s location.

Fireground survival depends on the entire team. We need to use all of our experiences and senses and think about when it’s time to get out. Consider the length of time the fire was burning before you arrived and the time it took to get your lines in place to make an effective fire attack. Again, we need to watch, look, listen, and feel-then we can draw on all of our experience to act.

SPECIFIC APPLICATIONS
Thermal Burns

Thermal burns represent one of the greatest risks on the fireground. We learned in rookie school that burns could occur one of four ways: through conduction, convection, radiation, or direct contact with heat sources.

So, how do we alleviate these risks? We provide personal protective clothing and make sure it is used properly, train our firefighters to stay low in buildings so they don’t stand up and expose themselves to the thermal layer, and see to it that firefighters coordinate their fire attack so they are not exposed to superheated steam. Also, we train our firefighters to recognize the conditions of rollover above them when they are advancing into the burning structure and the signs of other dangerous conditions such as flashover, backdraft, a flammable liquid gas release, and a potential structural collapse.

Deputy Chief (ret.) Vincent Dunn of the Fire Department of New York has taught us that a firefighter caught in a flashover just five feet inside the room will be exposed to temperatures of 1,000°F to 2,000°F and direct flame impingement for at least two seconds. During this time, the facepiece components will melt and portions of the firefighting protective clothing will ignite and burn before the firefighter could escape, provided that the firefighter can find the exit and will not be blinded by flame, smoke, or pain.

Tests have indicated that being exposed to a temperature of 111°F can cause second-degree burns. At 131°F, second-degree burns will occur after an exposure of 20 seconds. At 158°F, second-degree burns will occur after a one-second exposure. Tests further show that severe full thickness burns can occur when unprotected skin is exposed to 280°F to 312°F.

This means that we must ensure that all of our personal protective clothing is used properly. Improved safety equipment has helped to reduce the number of firefighter injuries annually. However, this equipment also has made it possible for firefighters to be exposed to increasingly higher temperatures for longer periods of time.

Structural Collapse
In some serious structure fires, we can say that the building makes the problem. A fire inside a building presents risks that include the following:

• The building itself may burn.
• The contents of the building may burn.
• Occupants may be trapped and thus injured or killed.
• The building layout can complicate the fire attack.
• Part of the building or the entire structure may collapse.
• Firefighters may be injured or killed.

Buildings are designed to withstand the external forces of gravity, wind, and rain; the dead load of structural components; and the live loads of people, stock, and furnishings. Beams, trusses, walls, and columns are the primary structural elements that carry these loads throughout the building and transfer them to the ground. Some materials may be good in compression and others in tension, but the characteristics of all materials change when subjected to the high temperatures of a fire. Bricks soften; concrete spalls and disintegrates; and steel elongates, twists, and fails. Wood that is burning loses its strength and also adds fuel to the fire.

A building on fire is a building under demolition. Any failure of continuity may lead to partial or total collapse. Therefore, we must evaluate and establish potential collapse zones. Failure to recognize an impending collapse can prove deadly. The construction features that present the greatest danger of collapse are the following: any type of truss, unreinforced masonry, cantilever, and unprotected steel. When involved in a fire, these types of construction can fail rapidly and without warning.

Being concerned only about the overall stability of a building and looking on a partial collapse as insignificant can be dangerous. First of all, a partial collapse is important to those firefighters under it and those above it. If you are caught in a collapse, the least of your concerns will be whether it is a total or a partial collapse. Fight fires smart: Know the building before the fire, and continually look for structural involvement when fighting the fire. In this way, you will be expecting the unexpected.

WHAT TO DO IF EVERYTHING GOES WRONG
At some point in your career, you will respond to a fire where the unexpected happens and you will be forced to use all of your training and experience to save a civilian’s life, a fellow firefighter’s life, or your own life. When that occurs, remember the following:

• Use extreme self-control. Do not panic. Keep thinking.
• Communicate your situation, location, and actions taken to escape so rescue teams can be properly directed.
• Stick together. Maintain a will to survive, and do not give up.
• Buddy breathe. Follow the hoseline, a lifeline, or the walls-whatever it takes to get out.
• Use whatever information you or your partner may know about the building to help you escape.
• You may be forced to stick with your nozzle and fight fire to save your life. Activate your PASS device, and use the radio to report emergency traffic.
• When you get out, conduct company accountability and personnel accountability checks.

Command officers will need to critique the fire while on the scene to extract the true lessons learned. An in-depth critique should also be conducted back at quarters after all of the facts have been gathered.

Be proud of your performance. Just as important, however, is to admit and correct your mistakes. Remember, it may save your life or the life of your partner at the next incident.

BE THE BEST
Chief Jeff Johnson, Tualatin Valley (OR) Fire and Rescue District, tells this story. At a meeting with a major chief executive officer, the officer told him that citizens have a choice in the products they buy, the money they wish to spend on the product, and the source from whom to buy the product. However, the officer said, when they need the services of the fire department, they do not have a choice in which fire service responds. “So,” Chief Johnson asks, “How dare you be anything but the best?”

U.S. Secretary of State General Colin Powell, retired chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, states that “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” He is referring to the need to change and be the best. He does not accept organizational stupidity or incompetence.

As firefighters, we are constantly subjected to dangerous conditions and situations. Each member must become proficient in recognizing and dealing with these dangers. To perform our duty, we must not fear these conditions; we must respect and understand them. There is no room for complacency or ignorance on the fireground

Since you are the best, then

• May the road rise to meet you (preplanning)
• May the sun shine brightly upon your face (PPE, education, training)
• May the wind be always at your back (proper tactics and basics)
• And until we meet again (implementing safety and accountability)
• May the Lord keep you in the palms of his hands (yes, there is luck in this profession!).

This article was written before the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It is dedicated to all those professionals who responded to the call that fateful day. We all have lost true friends who unselfishly gave their lives in an effort to save the lives of numerous civilians and coworkers. Fire Department of New York, we will never forget; you are the heroes of the fire service.

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GARY E. SEIDEL is an assistant chief with the Los Angeles (CA) Fire Department, where he has served for 23 years. He is a task force leader for FEMA US&R CATF 1 and an instructor and content developer for the National Fire Academy. Seidel is also a member of the FDIC Advisory Board.