ON FIRE | by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
When firefighters arrive on a scene and hear, “Start a line,” over the radio, their adrenaline begins to flow and they know it’s time to go to work. As an officer, sometimes calling for a hoseline is a bunt, especially when you arrive on the scene and have fire blowing out two windows. Yet, there will be plenty of instances that scream “Start a line,” only for you to find out that there’s about two cents of fire or, worse, none at all.
Over the course of your firefighting career, you will certainly be baffled, miffed, or fooled by the clues the conditions on arrival give you. If you don’t believe it, just wait—it’s bound to happen. As a precaution, it’s always fine to call for a hoseline; just don’t be surprised if it doesn’t get charged.
Incident 1
Walking up the old wooden stairs in a three-story row frame, the members were told to space out on the stairwell because the stair treads were leaning badly. The last thing we needed now was a stair collapse. During the climb, the odor of smoke began to seep into our noses, and we all had different opinions on what it smelled like.
Arriving at the top-floor landing in a medium smoke condition, we checked the apartment door. It was locked. Because of the smoke and reports of an elderly tenant inside, we decided to force the door. As the wooden door quickly failed, we found heavy black smoke from floor to ceiling. We used the thermal imaging camera to scan the interior, but nothing was evident.
One of the members encouraged me to call for a line. However, there wasn’t any heat temperature on the camera. Even standing to the side of the door and placing an ungloved hand into the upper smoke layers didn’t indicate heat in the smoke. Plus, it just didn’t smell or taste like we had a fire inside the apartment. Yet, there was another clue coming from the apartment that gave us an indication of what may be happening: Small droplets of black soot could be seen floating in the air as the smoke exited the apartment.
Having experienced this situation before, we knew the droplets were an immediate indication that we should start making our way to the kitchen to check for the source of the smoke. Sure, plastic appliances such as televisions, microwaves, stereos, and cable boxes can produce the same results, but since most fires start in the kitchen, that seemed like a logical spot to start our search efforts for the seat of the fire.
Prior to entering the apartment, we notified the chief of the conditions and had the engine company start a dry line as an additional measure of safety to the top floor. After donning our face pieces and entering the apartment, we split up to do a quicker and more proactive search, especially with reports of an elderly adult inside. Searching the kitchen immediately provided an explanation for the hanging globs of plastic floating in the air. Plastic containers had melted in the bottom broiler portion of the oven. They were now a giant glob of melted residue that didn’t even appear to be emitting a flame. We shut off the oven, carried the broiler tray outside, and washed it down.
Incident 2
Getting off the elevator two floors below the reported smoke in the hallway at a high-rise multiple dwelling, we had a funny taste that had us all contemplating the smell. As we proceeded up the stairs, we double checked the compactor chute to see if we’d find a rubbish fire. Nothing was found there, and we glanced at the floor below on our upward climb and found nothing there also.
Reaching the reported floor and opening the stairwell door, we were met with a moderate smoke condition in the entire long public hallway. Splitting the team in two, we began to pry on the upper portion of the apartment doors to flex them and see if we could get a “whiff” or spot smoke seeping through the crack. As we got near the last two apartments, the odor was more prevalent. Holding a flashlight up to the door frame, we could spot the soot stains on one of the door frames.
After forcing this door, we were again met with dangling raindrops floating in the air, but this time there was no familiar taste of plastic in the air. Once again, we didn’t have any measurable heat inside the apartment and the smoke wasn’t showing any signs of heat.
Entering the apartment, we began our search and entered the kitchen. Here we found a pot of melted baby bottle nipples on the stovetop. We quickly removed the pot from the burner and soaked it in the kitchen sink. At the same time, the parents and infant were located during our search efforts in a rear bedroom at the opposite end of the apartment.
Incident 3
Group homes for the disabled can be found in many neighborhoods. Responses to these locations are often for an automatic fire alarm, often caused by careless cooking. When arriving at the scene and seeing the caregivers with the residents outside of the building, we should be on high alert. When they approach you with information, they’re usually pretty adamant about what they believe is going on.
Having a reported smell of burning plastic in a common area had members checking the furniture and cable box while others searched nearby areas. We focused on the common kitchen area, where the smell was strongest. We checked the oven, microwave, refrigerator, and garbage can (people like to get rid of the evidence), and everything was okay. The dishwasher door panel said “drying” and it was open. A small amount of smoke and droplets exited the machine. Down on the heating coil, we found a small, melted plastic utensil—the source of the odor as well as the droplets.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 37-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 International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos.
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