All too often, we see videos of major fires on the television news or in training films showing firefighters perched atop aerials directing streams. On occasion, we hear of firefighters being injured while operating at the top of an aerial while flowing water. Some departments have stopped this practice for safety reasons. Others have not.
Woody Hayes, former head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, once noted that “three things can happen with a forward pass and two of them are bad!” Such is the logic behind this month’s question. Having firefighters flow water from the top of an aerial does not present very good safety odds to my way of thinking. Other than for the obvious plus of “looking good” perched high atop a 100-foot stick with cameras clicking, I can only come up with one advantage to placing a firefighter atop a ladder flowing water-that is, to better direct the stream. In a nutshell, you’re either hitting fire or you’re not! Either way, you should realize your effectiveness in a few minutes or so. If, God forbid, you’re overshooting the building and hitting crews with the stream, they’ll let you know soon enough.
The “bad stuff” that can happen far outweighs the good: broken couplings, burst lines, and ladder brackets all can injure or kill firefighters. There is a great clip in the National Fire Academy’s firefighters safety and survival tape Division of Danger in which a firefighter is injured when a coupling breaks while he is directing a stream from atop an aerial.
If the waterway and nozzle are not the culprits, the aerial (or the operator) can be the cause of injury. Many toes, feet, hands, and arms have been broken while the ladder was extending or retracting with the firefighter on the tip. Slips and falls from the ladder have occurred as well. Finally, failure of the aerial and failure to set or improperly setting the jacks have all contributed to firefighter injuries and deaths.
John (Skip) Coleman, deputy chief of operations, Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue; author of Incident Management for the Street-Smart Fire Officer (Fire Engineering, 1997); editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering; and member of the FDIC Educational Committee.
Question: Does your department have a policy directed at firefighters’ operating at the top of an aerial while flowing water?
Ronald Hiraki, assistant chief of administration, Seattle (WA)
Fire Department
Response: Our department does not have a written policy that prohibits incident commanders (ICs) from assigning a person to the top of the aerial ladder for directing water streams, nor do we have a policy that directs or outlines when the incident commander may deploy a firefighter at the top of an aerial ladder for water stream operations. Chief officers within the operations division have discussed this situation and recognize that there are risks in placing members in these positions. ICs are trained in the use of standard risk assessment models and use them to guide their decision making. The chief officers of the operations division have agreed that, given the risks and the necessity of completing risk assessments, a member should not be placed in such a position without a clearly articulated reason.
During the past few years, the Seattle Fire Department has been purchasing aerial ladder trucks with preplumbed waterways and remote-controlled monitor nozzles. Additionally, the new generation of ladder trucks has aerial ladders of stout construction. This is an important step in reducing risk to firefighters in aerial operations. As the aerial ladder fleet is replaced, the department will continue to make modernization a priority. However, the department faces challenges in following this plan because many of our fire stations are historic buildings. Some stations do not have the height clearance necessary for modern aerial ladder trucks with the preplumbed waterways. These stations have historic and architectural restrictions applicable to renovating them, limiting our options for ladder trucks.
By using standard risk assessment models and replacing our fleet with modern aerial ladder trucks equipped with preplumbed waterways and remote-controlled monitor nozzles, the Seattle Fire Department is taking steps to reduce the number of occasions when firefighters will flow water from the top of aerial ladders. These new types of ladder trucks have been well received by our members. The department and its members are moving forward by taking advantage of existing technology and practicing forethought to improve the safety of firefighters while accomplishing our mission.
Joe Floyd, chief,
Columbia (SC) Fire Department
Response: Our department has not adopted an official policy saying that firefighters should not be positioned on top of aerial ladders directing master streams. We do, however, keep safety in mind at all incidents.
The department has three front-line aerial ladders and one platform apparatus. We also have two aerial ladders in reserve. Two of the front-line ladders have controls that can operate master stream nozzles from ground level and do not require that a firefighter be perched on top of the ladder. The aerial platform normally operates with firefighters in the bucket to control the direction of the fire stream.
The other front-line aerial ladder must have a firefighter on top to direct and position the stream. Once this is done, he can come down until the stream’s position must be changed. Our two reserve ladders are equipped with rope and guide lines to manually control the master stream from the ground. We do not allow firefighters to be atop the two reserve ladders while flowing water.
All firefighters desiring to operate aerial apparatus are required to go through an extensive course. Each firefighter must pass the course and become certified on each apparatus before being allowed to operate it at an emergency scene. One part of the course focuses heavily on stress conditions that may involve an aerial ladder, including nozzle reaction on elevated streams. Below is a list of aerial ladder safety precautions our Training Bureau teaches:
- The aerial ladder is only as good or as safe as the operator.
- Never permit personnel to climb an aerial until the operator indicates that the ladder is set for climbing and the flies are locked in.
- Avoid moving the ladder while personnel are on it; this places a serious live load on the ladder and may also result in injuries if personnel are caught in moving parts.
- Never elevate or lower a ladder while personnel are climbing.
- Do not use a leg lock on an aerial ladder. Use a life belt.
- Always consider the stability of any structure supporting the ladder. Also, note dangerous cornices or other objects that might endanger personnel on the ladder.
- The top of the aerial ladder and rungs should be well lighted for night work. In addition, stripes or solid color reflecting material should be at the tip for ease in spotting.
- Avoid forcefully extending the end of the ladder against the structure.
- Do not attempt to use the tip of the ladder to force open doors or vents or for similar tasks. Do not use the ladder as a battering ram in ventilation; this might cause failure in a later emergency.
- Never allow an aerial ladder to be used for stunting of any sort. It is not a circus rig!
- Use ground jacks with ground plates at all times when operating the aerial ladder.
- Use deliberate motions and smooth application of power when operating the ladder. Jerky or erratic application of power is dangerous.
- Perform one operation at a time-raise, rotate, lower-to just above the desired location and extend in, shooting for windows or roof level. Operating more than one control at a time slows the operation.
- Always make certain that the truck is properly set for ladder operation before leaving the cab. See that the brakes are set and the PTO is engaged.
- Never use the ladder for pulling down walls or structural members. The ladder is not constructed for this purpose. If necessary, secure a line to the object to be moved by using the ladder in a cantilever position, make certain the ladder truck is in a safe location where it will not be struck by debris, and then use a winch or other proper source of power for demolition.
- Never willingly or intentionally abuse an aerial by careless handling, overloading, or using it for a purpose for which it was not designed.
- Limit the number of personnel permitted on the ladder and on each section of the ladder in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications.
- Always observe the inclinometer for the safe angle of operation and safe loading.
- Take special care when working around electrical wires. In case of contact with live wires, do not allow personnel on the ground to touch the truck; they may provide an electrical path to the ground. It is best to remain on the truck until the power is cut; however, if you must get off the truck, jump clear of it.
- Keep spectators off the truck during operations. Operating a ladder involves moving machinery; this is no place for spectators.
- Always have the operator remain close to the truck. If the aerial is in operation, the operator should remain on the turntable. The reasons for this are to protect the people using the ladder, prevent destruction of the ladder if flames suddenly burst out around the ladder, prevent unauthorized movement of ladder controls, and enable the operator to override platform controls in an emergency.
- Exercise great care when the ladder is coated with ice, which may cause excessive wear on ladder components. If using a ladder in freezing temperatures, periodically extend and retract the sections to keep them free of ice buildup.
- When using the ladder pipe, do not expose personnel at the top of the ladder to flame and heavy smoke.
- Exercise extreme caution and reduce the load when operating in strong gusty winds.
- Distribute the weight on the ladder by keeping personnel at least 10 feet apart.
- Make sure that the ladder locks are off and the section is extended to free the pawls before applying power to lower the ladder. Many ladders have been seriously damaged because this precaution was not heeded.
- Take special precautions in securing the vehicle and in placing the ladder when operating on steep hills. It is safest for the ladder to be extended uphill.
- After personnel have climbed an aerial ladder onto or into a building, never move the ladder on orders from anyone until the firefighters are down or you personally know that they are aware that you are going to move the ladder and that they have another safe avenue down.
- After every use and periodically, inspect cables, pulleys, rails, and rungs for wear and tightness.
Tom Brennan, 20-year veteran,
Fire Department of New York;
chief (retired), Waterbury (CT) Fire Department
Response: To post an answer from my perspective, first, I must say that it was not a policy in FDNY to put a firefighter on the end of an aerial flowing water from the portable ladder pipe at the tip of the top sliding section. The nozzle assembly was clamped on and the hose was supplied, secured with hose straps, and fed from a portable siamese fitting located on the street at the base of the unit.
The nozzle was controlled in a strict up-and-down motion by means of halyards (ropes) clipped on the swivel at the tip and an extension arm from the base of the stream straightener. The manufacturers seemed to be making more sense than we are this time. This assembly in FDNY was set up and flowing water in under two minutes.
Then came the tower ladders, and everything changed. I am sure it is not the purpose of this forum to go into the value of tower ladders and the added value of having firefighters operating this aggressive stream from the bucket. Suffice it to say that they are mentioned here and are a truly different perspective.
Back to the aerial devices. The sad thing is that operation of these units is based on the newspapers. Reporters and photographers appear only at the big ones. The early operations show aerial streams high above the structure pouring water down into the hole in the top of the standing structure. Here the nation seemed to place a firefighter at the tip of the aerial. The American fire service adopted this as the norm (a mistake).
Putting a firefighter at the tip of an aerial ladder stream is the dumbest, most injury-prone, controllable situation we have in the tactical arsenal in structural firefighting in a defensive strategy. Dumb! Nozzles come apart from poor maintenance, firefighters fall for failing to carry ladder belts with them, ladders fail because of lack of shear-stress and load-carrying capacity at reduced angles at maximum extension. Explosions and fire ball eruptions and boiling-liquid, expanding-vapor explosions (BLEVEs) have caught these poor brothers at the most severe exposure of a “piece of junk” on fire-over the fire.
As a matter of fact, it is dumb firefighting and not as effective as it could be as an aggressive defensive tactic. Why? Because the human being is there exposed, and firefighters have a lower melting temperature than the aerial ladder!
Now for my policy. As a firefighter, there was never a firefighter at the tip, for all the reasons given above, unless there was a fouled rope or some other situation to fix. When I was a member of my hometown volunteer fire department, that policy was put into the operating practices for aerial devices. That policy was also established when I was a deputy chief of training in Suffolk County, New York, as the official policy of the training center for the county’s 110 fire departments.
And while serving as editor of Fire Engineering magazine from 1983 to 1990, I never published any photograph that showed a member of the fire service perched on the tip of a ladder flowing water! We still see it in our service: Ladders continue to fail with members on them; portable ladder pipes continue to come apart under stress, striking a member in some vulnerable body part; and more.
The additional question should be, “Why is the firefighter there in the first place?” Usually, you get some asinine answers beginning with, “For pinpoint accuracy!” For that, there is always the answer, “You should have thought of that about one-half hour ago!”
With all the dialogue, written matter, and directions toward firefighter safety in recent decades, this is the one practice that never makes sense. There is no positive risk analysis for this operation whatsoever!
In some cases, we are hamstringing our firefighters by trying to put safety into every unsafe act ever reported and safety policy into a basically risk-oriented job. But, in this case, a strong and universal “Let’s never do this!” makes too much sense.
Frank C. Schaper, chief,
St. Charles (MO) Fire Department
Response: The St. Louis Fire Department pioneered the “Total Quint Concept” in 1987. We purchased 15 55-foot Tele-squirts, 15 75-foot LTIs, and three 110-foot LTIs. One aerial basket was already in the inventory.
When we first got the apparatus, everyday was a learning experience. But in due time, we figured out how to use this equipment in the most efficient and safest manner. One thing became obvious pretty early in the program: There was no need to put a firefighter on the end of the ladder when using the aerial pipe. With controls for the automatic nozzle located on the pump panel and rear step, the need to place a firefighter at the end of the ladder was eliminated. More and more fire departments are finding this to be true. The key is having the right equipment-that is, aerial apparatus with prepiped waterways and automatic nozzles installed.
With this new equipment, there is no need to have a firefighter wearing an SCBA taking a beating at the end of the ladder. The automatic nozzles on these aerials can be moved into the smoke and closer to the fire from a safe position on the ground. The nozzles can be adjusted from straight stream to fog from the safe position of the pump panel. Most new tips go up and down, back and forth. Some can flow water 90 degrees to either side of center of the ladder. Fires are brought under control faster and safer using this new technology.
I worked on and with the old type of aerials in the ’70s and ’80s, so I know what it takes to put them in service and to operate them. They are labor-intensive with their three-inch supply hose running up the center of the ladder, their triamese on the ground, the hose clamp, and their old straight tip aerial pipe that had to be clamped on the end of the aerial ladder. I wouldn’t buy one of those systems today for anything. Yet, departments still do. You’ll see them in the action photos of all the trade journals. A brand new aerial ladder with 1970s technology. That is ridiculous. In most cases, there is absolutely no reason to place a firefighter on the end of an aerial-unless, of course, you’re using the technology of the 1970s.
John Salka, battalion chief,
Fire Department of New York
Response: The Fire Department of New York training manual includes many basic firefighting evolutions. One of those evolutions, 21-21A, is titled “Metal Aerial as a Water Tower.” This evolution describes in detail the steps that need to be taken to set up and operate a ladder pipe from an aerial ladder. When being used, the stream’s vertical movement is controlled by two halyards (ropes) attached to the pipe at the end of the ladder. We do not put a firefighter on the ladder to control the vertical direction of the stream. The horizontal direction, of course, is controlled at the turntable.
My personal opinion is that there is no reason for a firefighter to ever be at the end of that ladder. The fact that we have resorted to using the ladder pipe usually means we have gone to an outside operation and the building is severely, if not totally, destroyed. Why would we want to endanger the life of a firefighter during a defensive operation?
There are several dangers to consider here. First, we could have a ladder failure. This can be caused by water hammer or a sudden loss of water. We could also have an explosion, a collapse, or another event that could unexpectedly expose the firefighter on the ladder to fire. We could have an equipment failure at the top of the ladder that could injure the firefighter and render the pipe useless. Any of these events could cause a tragedy. Whether a tragedy occurs or not, the fire building is probably going to be a parking lot anyway.
Terry Vavra, battalion chief,
Lisle-Woodridge (IL) Fire District
Response: Having firefighters on aerial apparatus during ladder-pipe operations certainly raises the issue of risk. Our firefighters are generally not permitted to operate on an aerial ladder during elevated stream operations. However, the incident commander can determine that there is a reason for the firefighter to be on the aerial ladder.
For some departments, such a reason might be the type of apparatus. Perhaps the department does not have the proper apparatus or equipment to maneuver the ladder pipe from the turntable or the ground. Also, the firefighter may be on the ladder to gain an overview of the fireground. Obviously, this is not an optimal location; however, from a strategic perspective, this is an excellent vantage point from which to survey the incident’s progress. From the ladder, you can determine if the stream is reaching its intended target and monitor the fire’s progress and building conditions. Often, elevated streams are seen missing their mark.
Regardless, the issue comes back to one of safety. Aerial apparatus should be tested annually in accordance with applicable National Fire Protection Association standards and manufacturers’ guidelines to ensure that they are in safe and proper working condition. All department members must understand the capabilities of the aerial apparatus so that safety limitations are not exceeded. If the driver/operator and the firefighter(s) function within the apparatus’ proper working capabilities and the risks/benefits are weighed, it can be acceptable to allow a firefighter to operate on the ladder on limited occasions under the previously described circumstances.
If the firefighter is properly attached and there is an overwhelming need to have a firefighter in that position to help ensure the operation’s successful outcome, the assignment may be permitted. Otherwise, there is no reason to have a firefighter needlessly exposed to the potential hazards of staffing an elevated stream device on an aerial ladder.
Bob Oliphant, lieutenant,
Kalamazoo (MI) Department of Public Safety
Response: Our department does not have a specific policy related to personnel operating at the top of an aerial ladder while it is flowing water. I agree that it is potentially hazardous, but I do not think the practice should be totally eliminated. Sometimes the only way to ensure that the stream is going where you want it to go is to put someone on the tip of the ladder. Once the stream has
been adjusted, the person should come down. Like everything else on the fireground, we must constantly assess whether the degree of risk outweighs any potential benefit.
Leigh Hollins, battalion chief,
Cedar Hammock and Southern
Manatee Fire Districts, Florida
Response: We no longer have any aerials with a ladder pipe or an aerial with a riser under the ladder supplying a permanently mounted nozzle. Both of our aerials have buckets. One is a 90-foot articulating boom aerial platform; the other is a tower ladder. This type of equipment presents no problems with firefighters being in the bucket while flowing water.
However, concerning firefighters operating on a straight-stick ladder while water is flowing, I think it is unnecessary in virtually all cases and should be avoided.
Larry Anderson, deputy chief,
Dallas (TX) Fire Department
Response: The Dallas Fire Department does not have a hard-and-fast policy regarding firefighters’ directing master streams from the top of aerial ladders. At every working (smoke showing) fire, an additional battalion chief is dispatched to function as the dedicated incident safety officer (ISO). It is the ISO’s responsibility to confer with the incident commander and obtain the action plan for that particular incident. After being briefed on the action plan, the ISO gives the IC a risk assessment, which would include an assessment of firefighters’ being at the tip of the aerials. In all cases, the IC is ultimately responsible for all aspects of the incident, including safety; the ultimate decision rests with him.
A blanket ruling regarding certain tactics can often hamstring an IC. We try to avoid that. Having another chief officer available with whom to confer on safety matters and having that other set of eyes are valuable for any IC. The ISO can alter, suspend, or halt any operation he deems to be imminently dangerous. That action must be communicated immediately to the IC so adjustments can be made.
The Battalion Chief Incident Safety Officer Program has yielded several benefits that have improved our emphasis on fireground safety. We currently have more than 90 certified ISOs in our department; all battalion chiefs and their backups are certified. Any ISO knows that the IC operating at any particular incident could very possibly be the ISO at the next incident and that the ISO at this first incident could be the IC at the next one. This encourages communication and cooperation that sometimes are not present when one or two officers are designated ISOs at all the incidents. Fireground safety is everyone’s responsibility; legislating every possible occurrence not only creates tomes of regulations but sometimes just doesn’t make sense.
Garry Morris, assistant chief,
Phoenix (AZ) Fire Department
Response: For many years, the Phoenix Fire Department has been concerned about the safety of firefighters operating off a stick style of ladder apparatus while operating master streams.
For a firefighter, operating a master stream above a fire is uncomfortable at best and a safety risk at worst. The firefighter is exposed to all the hazards of a fire-radiant heat, smoke, and so on. In a sense, he’s sitting above a chimney.
This was clearly illustrated during a fire in a neighboring city. A three-story apartment building under construction collapsed during fire operations. The expanding fireball completely enveloped the firefighter operating a master stream atop a ladder for nearly 20 seconds. This was followed by continuous high radiated heat as she retreated down the ladder. Fortunately, the firefighter was wearing full protective clothing and SCBA and had her facepiece on. She survived with minor injuries even though her protective clothing was severely damaged.
Operating at the end of a ladder offers little protection, as is illustrated above. As a result of this and other experiences, we restrict the positioning of firefighters at these elevated positions.
To minimize this kind of exposure, all our ladder apparatus now have remote-control master stream devices. eliminating the need for firefighters to be on ladders at elevated positions. To further reduce risk to firefighters, we have recently expanded our fleet of platform ladders. Presently, eight of our 12 ladder companies are platform-style apparatus.
Platforms provide many benefits. First, a firefighter in the basket can direct his own destiny with controls located in the basket, whereas a firefighter atop a ladder must rely on the operator down at the truck to reposition him. Platform apparatus also provide a more comfortable workstation for a firefighter. Furthermore, the platform basket provides a shield from fire exposure and can be sprinkler protected. From a firefighting perspective, platform apparatus typically can flow greater volumes of water, often while operating two separate master streams, and can conveniently carry two firefighters, whereas a ladder can’t achieve this.
From the perspective of rescue and firefighting, many firefighters believe that platform apparatus are superior to the stick ladder apparatus in many ways. The safety features and firefighting capability described above are but two examples.
As for rescue operations at elevation, there are even more safety reasons to use platforms over ladder apparatus. Generally, victims will be in one of three conditions: unconscious, conscious and panicked, or conscious and reasonable.
Removing a heavy, unconscious victim out of a window onto a ladder is a risky operation. The victim could be accidentally dropped, or a firefighter could fall. Moving this heavy load 75 feet down a ladder is a slow process, presenting the continuous risk of a fall or injury to firefighters.
Rescuing a panicked victim who is likely to leap onto the ladder and run or tumble down the ladder places the victim and firefighter at risk of falling or being knocked off the ladder. Even if the victim is calm, we’re asking him to do something he has never done before. At best, it is a clumsy process of “escorting” the victim down the ladder. And in all these examples, getting victims to the ground remains a slow process.
Platform apparatus substantially reduce the above-described risk. Moving a victim out a window and onto a platform is clearly safer. Two or more unconscious victims can be removed simultaneously. There is no climbing down a ladder. A platform can lower a victim (or victims) to the ground and return for additional rescues before a single victim can be worked down a ladder. A platform is also more versatile and safer for other nonfire types of elevated rescue, such as in the case of an electrocution victim hanging on a pole.
The platform has some disadvantages as well: The cost is greater; these units are heavier; and they generally require more maintenance. They are also less maneuverable than tillered ladder trucks.
