ROOF OPERATIONS, PART 2
BY TOM BRENNAN
We continue with the discussion of roof operations–situations with which we should be familiar and which, if ignored or improperly accomplished, can result in firefighter injuries and additional fire loss.
We are still assigned vertical ventilation from last time and are on the roof of a fire that is not on the top floor (remember: no saw this time and no immediate cuts).
Cornices are the decorations that hang out from the plane of the façade of the building–built in the “old days.” They are usually triangular open spaces from building wall to building wall that abut the one on the ad-joining buildings and are separated by flimsy material. They are the cause of the “false” multiple alarm. Top-floor fires cause them to be easily charged, and from the street it can look as though two, three, or four buildings are involved on arrival. Asphalt panic!
Only the roof team can know for sure if the cornice is indeed hiding extended fire. This space needs to be examined early–both to resolve the panic situation in the command post below and to reach the cornice before the fire makes too dangerous to be near.
Once the roof is cut and opened, move the saw to this area and examine/ventilate it. And do it without having the assembly bear any of your weight. Cut an upside down triangle big enough so you can see into it and large enough to vent the condition. The triangle is upside down because it is an easier and safer cut and because the heat sink is in the vertex of the cornice. This is the last area reached by the fire. since it is protected by some of the front fire wall.
If the cornice has been giving false indications of extension to the exposures, conditions will reverse immediately after you remove the triangular hatch you just made. And if fire has extended to the cornice, there will be no further doubt.
The lines are being stretched, and your portable radio has been screaming for water at the second-floor rear of this four-story dwelling for a long time. What do you do first?
Your choices (as the book lists them): Check conditions in the rear and sides of the exterior–fire location and victims in distress; open the scuttle cover; break off the ventilator stacks; open/break the skylight; report your location; await orders. Hmmm.
In this case, you break the skylight immediately (again, if you work for me). It is the single best thing you can do on the roof to immediately im-prove conditions for firefighters and victims below. Skylights were included in dwellings to provide daylight to stair-cases. They were money savers for the owners, who were mandated by law to illuminate the stair enclosures 24 hours a day–first by gas and then by Mr. Edison`s little invention.
“What about the firefighters on the staircases and the glass and U and U and U?” you ask. You have already waited too long. Break out a pane of glass, and then fracture the glass dustcover below. The “tinkle” will warn the awaiting firefighters below of your gift that is definitely coming down next, and they have the obligation to “hug the stairwall” and get out of the way. Next, “take” all the other panes and the entire dustcover, and probe for a probable screen below that. And then move to your next objective.
Check for the conditions on the exterior of the building, on the sides no one else can see from the street. Many of you think that because there may be victims in distress, you need to do that first. Nonsense. If you don`t find anyone, you just wasted a lot of time. If you do find someone, you will never get to finish the ventilation that will allow the interior forces to get to them and remove them from the inside of the building or to put out the fire and remove the hazard to them. Besides, other than talk with them, what can you do immediately?
Most of the time, you will be able to locate the fire floor only by the window conditions below. If the windows to the fire apartment (below the top floor–the second, third, and fourth floors in this case) appear to need venting, can you do anything? Sure, get out your 25 feet of rope (remember?), tie it to the halligan, and use the combination of rope and halligan to reach down and crash in the windows of the floor you want to vent. I would notify the fire floor that you are attempting to horizontally vent the fire floor first, however, just in case one of the “brothers” is about to open that window from the inside.
Scuttle is next (first, if there is no skylight). You may have to cut an illegal roof tar seal before you can pry open the cover. In high-crime areas, the scuttle may be chain-locked to the top rungs on the scuttle ladder below. But you have to get it open and out of the way. That is why your tool selection for roof operations must be just that–selective: a hook and halligan, for example, if you plan to use a fire escape; an ax and halligan for routine operations; and a hook, a halligan, and the saw for top-floor jobs. In this case, however, the ax blade will score the roof tar and be available to chop out a portion of the hatch cover to free the lock device. No one said it was easy! n
n 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 (FDNY) 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 is the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.
