By Michael N. Ciampo
There seems to be SOME controversy about whether to enter a vacant structure on fire or stand outside and dump water through a window to extinguish the fire. There are pros (to rescue squatters, children playing, or people stealing copper inside) and cons (it has been vacant for years, has been exposed to the elements, and has previous fire damage) to entering, but it is most important to remember that no two fires are exactly alike. Sizing up what you have will determine what tactical steps you take. After all, even if you drop your tank water into the building and extinguish the fire, you may still have to go inside and perform some type of search or overhaul to limit extension or a rekindle as long as the building hasn’t collapsed. If it has collapsed, you may have to keep a company on scene while the building is razed to make sure no bodies are discovered in the rubble.
Our job as the fire department is to extinguish a fire to prevent it from extending to additional structures, cutting down on property losses, and to save lives-even of people who entered these structures illegally. So it may be advantageous for us to enter a vacant structure on fire to perform what we swore to protect.
Arriving second due at a vacant three-story wood-frame duplex, we heard the first-due officer inform the chief they had an odor of wood burning but no visible fire. Immediately, we thought it was in the walls or cockloft, hidden, and could light up at any moment or once it got some air. As the second-due truck, we were directed to recheck the first unit for any possible signs of fire as the first due checked the other unit. Sizing it up, we could see it was sitting up off the roadway on bedrock, about 20 steep steps up to the front door, with a short porch roof, plywood or curtains in some windows, and appearing vacant. Stretching a handline and bringing up portable ladders would be difficult. We contemplated throwing some ladders across the open doors of the tower ladder’s bucket and booming them up to this elevation.
Making our way through the first floor, checking each room and closet for any signs of fire or paint blistering, we noticed that the place was in shambles. Old car parts, broken furniture, bags of rotting garbage, and rolls of carpet were a few of the obstacles we had to transverse and smell. We also opened the door under the main stairway looking for the basement stairs; none were found. We punched a hole through the wall in case the stairs were closed off, but none existed. A size-up of the outside revealed there was no basement because it sat on the bedrock.
Meanwhile, the first due’s aerial ladder had positioned to the roof, and the roof firefighter reported that fire was venting around the skylight on the other unit from where we were working. Prior to heading upstairs, we punched a few holes in the plaster and lath stairwell wall that the units shared. We wanted to check that the fire wasn’t below and traveling upward.
Finding nothing, we proceeded to the second floor and made more inspection holes in numerous bays. There was no fire, but the smoke condition was getting heavier. Instead of just charging upstairs to the third floor, we decided to check all the rooms on this floor so we wouldn’t get caught above.
As we searched this floor, we noticed signs that squatters and their dogs were living here. Mattresses were scattered on the floors in a few rooms, many with a mound of blankets resembling a covered body. We yelled “Fire Department,” but when that didn’t result in any movement, we pulled back the blankets with a hook. We found a large kitchen knife, a cache of needles, and liquor bottles. Meanwhile, we had to dodge human and canine feces on the floor as we made inspection holes and scanned them with the thermal imaging camera. Driving the butt end of the hook through the plaster and lath was quicker and easier than trying to jamb the hook’s head through.
Finding nothing on this floor, we proceeded to the top floor and punched through the ceiling at the landing. We didn’t find fire, but we found drywall. There was no skylight visible in the ceiling either, so one member moved around the railing to the opposite end of the stairwell and drove a hook upward, exposing a covered-up skylight. Immediately, we opened up the returns (the small, boxed-out wall spaces between the top of the ceiling and bottom of the skylight) to check for any fire extension in the cockloft. There was no extension.
Members began checking each room along the adjoining wall. Unfortunately, the member who reached the bathroom on the top floor was greeted with a stench as he opened the door to punch a hole in the ceiling and perform a search. As luck would have it, the plumbing wasn’t working in the building, but that didn’t stop the squatters from squatting! Remember when searching vacant buildings: Never search the tub with your arm; use a tool!
Now and then, this job can be very rewarding and downright stinky. Be prepared for both, especially in these structures. You NEVER know what you will encounter!
For related video, go to http://bcove.me/9enbd27p
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 28-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.
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