BY MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
As we pulled out of quarters in the tower ladder, the dispatcher informed us that 911 was receiving numerous calls reporting “fire out the windows.” Our response was aggressive but safe, since we were the second-due truck. As we came within a few blocks of the building, we could see a column of black smoke, and everyone on the rig knew we were “going to work.” As we approached the scene, we found the first-due aerial ladder positioned on the long side of the A wing of an H-type building where fire was blowing out two windows on the fourth floor. [Buildings are often referred to as the shape in which they are constructed. Some common shapes are H, E, L, U, and double H. When an incident commander (IC) reports a fire in a specific wing, he will start from the left and label the wings A, B, C, and so on. The area between the wings is called the throat and is referred to as “the throat between the A & B wing.”]
Entering the block, we noticed that the aerial ladder was just being raisedeither for an immediate rescue, to provide firefighters with access to the fire apartment, to provide roof access, or in preparation for venting the fire apartment’s windows once the engine company got water in the hoseline. We also noticed by the amount of smoke issuing from the windows on both sides of the building that the fire apartment wrapped around the corner of the building. A common procedure to follow for tower ladder positioning at fires in H-type structures is to position the turntable of the apparatus in line with the throat of the building. This allows the boom to have access into the throat, enabling a few things to occur: If the fire was rapidly extending and operations went to a defensive operation, the tower ladder’s stream may be able to knock down the fire prior to its spreading across the throat and into the other wing. It also allows access to numerous floors, apartments, and windows in the throat and on the front exposures, increasing a tower ladder’s overall scrub area (the area accessible by the bucket).
While we were surveying and sizing up both sides of the A wing during the approach, two tenants suddenly appeared at a window on the floor above the fire. (A common tactic to follow when approaching the fire building with an aerial or tower ladder apparatus is to slow down and size up the building’s frontage, shape, size, and conditions. Placement of the apparatus may be dictated by these factors and by the length of the aerial or boom of the apparatus. Other obstacles that could also hamper placement include wires, trees, signs, and parked cars.) The two tenants were waving and screaming frantically as smoke issued over their heads. Unfortunately, they were located three windows to the left of the front fire escape.
The officer and chauffeur quickly decided to position the apparatus at this corner of the building to provide quick access for victim removal and to allow the boom to cover both sides of the fire apartment and building. The outside vent firefighter quickly assisted the chauffeur in the placement of the truck’s outriggers between the parked cars and then operated the bucket to remove the panicked tenants.
The bucket reached the victims; after ensuring that no one else was in the apartment, the outside vent firefighter notified his officer. The civilians were brought down to the ground and turned over to EMS for evaluation.
Note: If you have to rescue or remove multiple victims from a building, you may not have to bring them completely to the ground. The tower ladder can remove them to a safe exposure, another fire escape on another wing or another building, or a roof of an exposure.
The outside vent firefighter went back into the bucket to assist with horizontal ventilation of the fire apartment once the engine company began the fire attack. After the fire and while still on-scene, the company held an informal critique on the overall operations. One of the members who was studying for an upcoming promotional examination questioned the positioning of the tower ladder at this H-type building.
Some of the senior members brought out specific points that alter the “standard positioning” for this building fire.
Life: The main concern was the two victims. Although not in imminent danger but in severe panic, they required the outside team’s immediate focus.
Scrub area: With the tower ladder positioned on the corner of the A wing, it provided access to numerous floors and windows on two sides of the building for ventilation, rescue, and egress.
Fire escape: If the tower ladder were positioned in line with the throat, the boom could not reach the victims in the windows on the opposite side of the fire escape. The fire escape’s physical position and the angle of the boom’s approach do not allow the bucket to position next to the building for safe victim removal.
Street conditions:This street’s width allowed for another tower ladder to have access and cover the throat if it responded in from the opposite direction. (Once you realize this, notify the IC of the situation. Other responding units should not block access to the throat in case the original unit repositions or another tower arrives on the scene.)
Fire apartment: These H-type buildings often have large apartments that front on two sides of the structure. Fires out of reach of portable ladders may have to be covered by two ladder apparatus.
After our informal critique, a senior member said, “Being book smart is great; just remember to learn the street smarts, too!”
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 23-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 Portable Ladder H.O.T. program and an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering. 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.
