Estimating the Stretch

BY DANNY MORAN

A wise man once said, “Stretching and advancing the initial attack line is the most fundamental and important task an engine company has to perform.” That wise man was the late Fire Department of New York Lieutenant Andrew A. Fredericks. This lesson from our past still holds true today and should never be forgotten. As firefighters, it is our nature to be proactive when it comes to many areas of our lives. We can come up with a predetermined plan for just about anything and then be ready with a backup plan. The same must hold true for stretching and advancing hoselines, especially the initial attack line. How and where the line is stretched will make or break the battle against a growing fire.

One aspect of our lives when it comes to firefighting that is always consistent is the use of the preconnected hoseline. Preconnects sure do see a lot of fire, don’t they? But what happens when that predetermined length of hose comes up short of where it needs to be? Are you ready with a plan to rapidly extend the line, or do you already know ahead of time that this fire is beyond the reach of your preconnect? Remember, a fire in an enclosed compartment has the potential to double in size every 30 seconds. Therefore, we cannot afford mistakes such as misjudging hose lengths and allowing the fire to intensify. By getting out in your first-due territory and preplanning with the members of your fire station, you will “know before you go.”

NEW BUILDINGS, NEW MINDSET

Although the figures vary throughout the country, it’s a fair bet that 60 to 70 percent of the time, most of us are responding to some sort of medical emergency. The number of structure fire responses has decreased over the past 40 years. Firefighters from the 1970s through the 1990s fought a lot of fire, garnering a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill directly attributable to the sheer number of fire-related incidents of their generation. It is imperative that we listen to and learn from these firefighters’ real life experiences before they take their knowledge into retirement.

A current trend in today’s fire service is to seek knowledge and learn skills through a lot of training. Remember, statistics prove that although the annual number of structure fires has significantly decreased, the firefighter death rate at structure fires has not dropped much at all, so firefighters should always strive to be students of the profession no matter how much time they have on the job. Complacency opens the door for a multitude of problems. Don’t let it sneak into your firehouse. Two of the most important things I’ve learned in my career are (1) Don’t accept complacency, and (2) the initial attack line’s stretch and advance are important. Fredericks emphasized that for the engine company, the initial stretch is a fundamental and crucial task.

In my first-due territory, as in many areas across the country, old rundown buildings are coming down and making way for new residential structures, often garden apartment complexes. As they go up, we need to consider the stretching and advancing of initial attack lines. If we become complacent and rely on the preconnected hosebed for just about any fire, we will eventually stretch short and possibly set up our companies for failure. New buildings demand new tactics, and more often we are seeing buildings that require a longer stretch, beyond that of preconnects. Today’s firefighters need to always think about how they will stretch and advance hose across large courtyards and to the upper levels of multiple-family dwellings.

To cut down on cost, many of the new apartment complexes are low-rise buildings that are not equipped with a standpipe. A three-story multiple-family dwelling with no standpipe set around a large courtyard can present many challenges to an unprepared first-arriving engine company. Where is the fire, and how are we going to access the fire room? What hose are we going to deploy? Do we need appliances or our high-rise packs? Do we need to set up a portable standpipe? Prepare yourself for these and other out-of-the-ordinary stretches, because as the old adage says, “As the first line goes, so does the fire.” At a recent training event, I heard someone say, “You could be a very knowledgeable officer, but if your crew cannot stretch a line, you have failed.” This is absolutely true. Prepare and train on stretches beyond the preconnect.

PROACTIVE VS. REACTIVE

The proactive firefighter, or most likely fire officer, who makes a decision to stretch the initial attack line already knows how much hose will be needed. That’s because he is constantly estimating the stretch on every out-of-the-ordinary residence, garden apartment building, commercial warehouse, and high-rise building in the first-due territory. We can do this while out in our response district or while clearing an emergency medical service (EMS) run. As my engine company is clearing a medical run, we always talk about where we just were, saying, “Did you notice this? Did you notice that?” A more common question nowadays is, “Do you think we could manage a fire here effectively with our preconnects?” As with many areas of the country, garden apartment complexes and low-rise, multiple-family dwellings with no standpipe are becoming common. The bread-and-butter operation of “stretching on a dwelling” now requires a little more thought about the preconnect.

Being proactive and knowing the answer to that question at 2 p.m. while clearing a medical run will make your engine company look like professionals at 2 a.m. when there’s smoke showing and people are trapped, requiring your company’s best performance.

Professional firefighters always provide the best service available to their citizens. To be professional, we must be proactive, not reactive. Playing catch-up in the above 2 a.m. scenario is a recipe for disaster for your citizens and your company. Getting the initial attack line stretched and advanced to the seat of the fire as quickly and as efficiently as possible should be the basic goal of an engine company; once water is applied to the fire, our problems will dissipate.

I speak for everyone when I say, “I don’t want my engine company ending up on an Internet video looking as if we were unprepared.” At every incident, a cell phone is ready to record your actions, so be ready to perform as you want people to see you.

ESTIMATING THE STRETCH

Know before you go means two things. First, know where you are stretching hose. At a recent incident, we arrived at what appeared to be a single-family dwelling with heavy smoke showing from a side door and a front window. The front window just happened to be right next to the front door. Instead of stretching the line straight to the front door, the disciplined nozzle firefighter waited for direction as to where to stretch the line.

Deciding to mentally slow down and wait for a good size-up before stretching the hoseline paid off. This single-family dwelling was illegally partitioned inside, and the fire was not accessible through the front door. We were not aware of the illegal partition until the crews entered the dwelling.

During size-up, it is very important not to have tunnel vision. Arriving personnel-in particular, the first-arriving company officer-must see the whole picture of what is happening. In this case, with smoke seen at the front door, it is very easy to assume the front door will be the point of entry. However, a disciplined engine company will not commit hose on the fireground until the exact location of the fire is known.

At this fire scene, a resident was outside, waving at the first-due engine company from the side door of the dwelling. He informed the company officer (me) that the only way to get to the fire was through the side door. He stated that there was a wall separating the structure into two dwellings.

If the resident had not been outside to give us this information, the following clues to the fire’s location were visible:

-The front and a side door were both open. The front door only had light, wispy smoke issuing from the upper part of the doorway. The side door, however, had dark smoke down to the ground billowing out under pressure.

-An air-conditioning unit was mounted in a window just to the left of the front door, indicating a dividing wall may possibly be by the front door.

-A double mailbox was mounted right at the front door. Properly placing the initial attack line through the side door ensured a successful firefight.

Imagine how frustrating it would be if you rushed the initial stretch and then the backup line put out your fire.

Second, know how much hose you will need. At another recent incident, crews performed well at a two-story, single-family dwelling set far back from the street. The 200-foot preconnect was stretched to the front door of the residence, and the alert crews realized they did not have at least 50 feet of hose at the front door. It would not have been enough to access the whole residence. Instead of pulling a backup hoseline, the crew called to bring the high-rise hose bundles to the front door and rapidly extended the line. By adding one 75-foot bundle of hose to the operation, the first- and second-arriving crews ensured that the initial attack line was stretched to the proper location and was sufficient to access all areas of the residence.

Remember, the first line is always first. Once the initial stretch is complete and the hoseline is advancing, we can then get a backup line into position. The key to engine company success is staying disciplined to the task of getting the first line in place and quickly and efficiently flowing water. As part of a preplanned fire attack, there are different methods to estimate whether your preconnect will make the stretch or come up short. One way to estimate the distance is to walk from the apparatus to the building counting your steps. Unless your hoseline will be laid out in a direct line from the apparatus to the building, this method will most likely be inaccurate and could cause you to stretch short. Remember, obstacles and corners can take up part of the stretch; you must consider them.

Another way to estimate the stretch is to measure the distance. A measuring wheel will give you an exact distance, since with it you can accurately measure the distance to go around obstacles, around corners, and up or down stairs. One proven way to estimate the stretch is to pull the line and lay it out. A proactive engine company will be able to see exactly how its hoseline will play out around obstacles, corners, stairs, and so forth. Although this is a foolproof method of estimating the stretch, it does come with its own pitfalls. Unless you are out of service while conducting this preplan, you may have to pack up in a hurry to catch another run. It also means that a standard engine company of an officer, a driver, and a firefighter are always stretching and packing hose just to see if the preconnect will make the stretch. This can quickly become labor-intensive for the crew and lead to a disinterest in such preplanning and training.

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