By Tom Brennan
Last month we were discussing safety on the fireground. And, as is always my goal, I try to show you how simple this job really is. It is just that sometimes political misdirection (for a load of reasons) and inept leadership—from top to middle to first line—tend to muck things up (more often lately).
We have been talking about the appalling safety record of our fire service in relation to the amount of work to which we actually responded. Therein lies the accurate data: the same number of injuries responding to fewer and fewer structure fires, which shows that our injury and death rates for firefighters are rising all the time. The sad note that got me started on this subject is that we are always resurrecting cadres of wizards to figure out our problem.
We said before that more than half of our fatalities are cardiovascular related. There, well-meaning experts can help us—if the impact of the injury is truly fire related. We certainly need physical maintenance in this job, and those to make it happen don’t have to actually be firefighters (it probably would help if they weren’t). But the rest of the record is truly in our ballpark.
So let’s return to structure fire and the tactical operations that can directly or indirectly cause injuries to our forces, keeping in mind that we must continue to maintain a timely, aggressive, successful, and efficient attack to accomplish our mission—the protection of life and then the environment and then property from fire and explosion and any other thing or event dangerous to life.
Hose. Hose-handling techniques are certainly among the most basic tactics on any interior attack at a structure fire. Last month we spoke of the problems with water supply. Now let’s talk about what you stretch and how you operate. (Keep in mind we are only talking of injury reduction here.)
I once had a lengthy and loud discussion with a firefighter from a southeastern community whose premise is that you can always stretch the preconnect, crosslay, etc. at almost all fires. (Note the problem with the words always and almost.) “As a matter of fact, we have 11/2-inch lightweight hose for high-rise office buildings, too.” Remember, for small-diameter hose to work, you must be able to move forward all the time! Otherwise, you need larger hose in the first place.
To make a point, I asked, “You arrive at a 20,000-square-foot supermarket at 2 a.m., and you have been smelling structure smoke for the entire response. The windows are cracked and hot looking and glowing, and the smoke condition dropping to the sidewalk is worsening. What would you stretch off the pumper?”
“Why, 21/2-inch hose,” he said.
High-rise office buildings represent a 20,000- to 40,000-square-foot open fire area on each floor. They are literally at least one or maybe two supermarkets fully involved hanging hundreds of feet in the air that you have to extinguish through a 36-inch door! What do you stretch? I told you this was a simple process.
Handline operation. We are still (after a half century) arguing about fog pattern nozzles and solid bore nozzles. Again, a simple process. If the firefight is interior and a search for life is being conducted, the use of wide-pattern, self-impinged, droplet-making streams will cause injuries. Re-member the real rescue—the one you have to remove fastest—is stuck behind the fire, where the nozzle (or other pressure) will push the fire to. If your search tactic is that aggressive, the victim you are entering the rear of the fire to find will not survive, and maybe neither will you. From this position, any use of a hose stream without coordination will cause injuries to those searching behind (the rear) of the fire.
Steam burns. If most of the water from the nozzle reaches the seat of the fire intact, less steam is generated! Simple again. The use of nozzles dialed to wide pattern inside fire buildings during interior firefighting operations causes injuries. Period. Sure, they make the nozzle team really comfortable, but who said the nozzle team has a right to be comfortable?
Search and its relationship to enhancing safety. What do you search for? Almost always answer, “To rescue life!” Nice, but how many people did you rescue last year with all the searches you were assigned to? Hmmm. So why search? Because it has more objectives than human life removal. Most of the objectives are intended to enhance the safety of the fireground. The first objective is, Where is the fire? The second is, Can it hurt anyone? The third is, What is the fire doing? And the fourth is, Where is it now and where is it probably going next?
All these data—properly targeted as an objective and communicated to all—will do a lot to enhance safety on the fireground. The best safety tactic is always put the fire out! With the fire constantly located and monitored, handlines move faster and to targets easier. Additional lines are stretched for extinguishment and prevention earlier and prevent surprises and entrapment. And certainly knowing the answer to those four questions will help you locate and remove the victims you are looking for more quickly and with less stress.
TOM BRENNAN has more than 35 years of fire service experience. His career spans more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was the editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and currently is a technical editor. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995). He was the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award. Brennan is featured in the video Brennan and Bruno Un-plugged (Fire Engineering/FDIC, 1999). He is a regular contributor to Firenuggets.com.
