“How We Have Always Done It”
How many times have we all heard or spoken those words in our career? It is a statement that we have used offensively or defensively in any given situation when we find ourselves unable to answer the bell after being figuratively knocked down by whomever the challenger is. Instead of using our experiences, aka memories, we pull out the trusty 7 iron, shank a few in the water, and tin cup ourselves out of the tournament. Let me preface this by saying that I am not attacking the traditions of the American fire service; rather, this is an honest peek underneath the hood of the strategy and tactics used across the country today. I also am speaking my opinion, and my words do not reflect the stance of my employer, nor am I secretly referring to any firefighter, firehouse, or battalion in Wichita, Kansas.
I have been fortunate in life to grow up before the Internet/cell phones/social media. Fortunately, that technology exploded onto the scene while I was open-minded enough to embrace it and fully immerse myself in the never-ending thirst for knowledge.
So, here I am, day in and day out, addicted to my cell phone and cursing Steve Jobs for ever putting in the Screen Time feature. For all the negative things that the Internet and social media have rained down on humanity, one thing that they did was allow us to connect in a way never before imagined. If there is a fire anywhere in the world, a platform exists that allows us to view it. Not only that, but we are blessed to have so many “keyboard incident commanders” ready to comment about whatever went wrong at that particular fire. Most often, it is some sort of perceived safety violation, some tactic they aren’t skilled enough to do, so it must be unsafe and everything in between.
So, now that we have this tremendous resource at our fingertips, surely all fire departments, fire chiefs, operations chiefs, training chiefs, firehouses, company officers, and firefighters are using this to develop the absolutely best possible strategy and tactics to fight fires. Right? Well, do I have some shocking news for you: They aren’t, because, well, you probably guessed it, “That’s the way we have always done it.”
Recently, I have seen headlines in the news where fire departments are being sued for civilian fire fatalities. One headline on CNN read, “Mother seeks further investigation into death of sons who died after firefighters failed to properly search burning home.” (https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/05/us/michigan-mother-flint-fire-department-investigation/index.html)
Now, every fire department in the country has folks who are merely employees of the fire department and have never been fit for the job a day in their employment—fire employees, if you will. Were these the folks assigned to search at that fire? Maybe. Do victims get missed on rapid primary searches by the best in the business? Yes. Does it mean they didn’t care, train hard enough, master the basics, or maintain peak physical fitness? No.
The fireground is dynamic, and you cannot put static rules on that environment, but the one thing we should agree on is that the only reason we exist as firefighters is to search and save lives. So, where are we missing the mark? How is it that with all this data at our fingertips, there are still departments and chiefs out there who refuse to look at game plans being executed daily that are far superior to their own antiquated approach? If you have that stubborn and closed-minded approach leading your department, don’t be surprised when an attorney comes calling next time you fail to use a widely accepted industry best practice. It’s happening.
I have watched my own department, at the expense of friendships, promotions, and so on, constantly adapt our standard operating procedures (SOPs) based on what we are seeing on our own fireground and learning from the wins/losses of the rest of the country. Many of my mentors never got to sit and enjoy the shade of the tree that they planted. But they knew that to bring the citizens of Wichita the best possible outcome when they had a fire, the arduous task of changing “How we have always done it” was undertaken. Out were fog nozzles, preconnects, engines in front of the residence, trucks cross-staffed with pickups and only used for defensive fires, staging in your rig, first-due engine boss taking command, mama duck baby duck search, and spaghetti hose stretches, just to name a few. In were industry best practices we picked up from other departments or just our own old-school tactics, which, under the guise of safety, were shown the door. Remember, nothing is new in the fire service, just fancy new acronyms.
My first fire chief in Wichita, Ron Blackwell, was a prime example of this. He spent an entire career in ICT before accepting a fire chief job back East. He shared many of the experiences he had out there, and I always appreciated the insight. When he returned to Wichita, this time as chief, do you think he immediately reverted to the way he had always done it? Of course not. Using all the experiences he had along the way, he led us by way of industry best practice. Now, don’t confuse this with micromanagement; that’s not what he did. During my meeting with him when I made lieutenant, I vividly remember him telling me that his fireground policies were broad in nature to allow me to think and make the best possible decision without fear of punishment. What a concept!
In another example, searching without a hoseline or the boat anchor, as some call it, isn’t the boogeyman certain administrations will lead you to believe. The fearmongering needs to stop. Safety is not achieved through SOPs, tactical worksheets, acronyms, check boxes, or any other static approach to the dynamic fireground. It is achieved through knowledge, skill, training, and experience. A wise, old-school firefighter always told me, “Safety is a relative term; what is safe for my crew to do might not be safe for yours.” So, uncouple the part of your brain that suggests that because you aren’t comfortable with vertical ventilation, vent-enter-search, and searches without a hoseline, somehow it’s dangerous for the rest of us.
So, how do we fix this? It’s time to start holding departments accountable for civilian fatalities when they could have been saved by use of a different strategy or tactic. Outside of a rural fire department with no staffing, if all your efforts are still focused on extinguishment and not putting the first line in place to protect the search, you are doing it wrong. Seconds save lives.
I pose the following questions to major metropolitan departments:
- Are you hiring based on optics instead of those most qualified for the job? Doing so directly correlates to loss of human life.
- Are you still not doing physical fitness testing during your hiring process? The interview should reflect the job.
- Are you not allowing crews to pull ceiling to access fire in the attic? How is that helping the civilian choking to death on the ground while you have no visibility?
- Do you still have Fire Attack and Search assigned as a combination assignment? Who is accountable to ensure all areas got searched?
- Are you still not letting crews search without a hoseline? This is inconceivable.
- Are you still having search crews enter the front door every time and do a right-hand wall search while physically hanging onto each other? That’s ridiculous.
- Are you not using vertical ventilation as an option? That’s antiquated.
- Are you flowing water through the window when your job is not to extinguish but to confine the fire for a search? You aren’t a firefighter.
We must stop lying to ourselves when a civilian dies and scrutinize internally our practices to ensure we are doing everything we can to save lives. I still mess something up at every fire I go to, but I don’t lie to myself—just look to learn from that mistake.
If any of the above questions made you angry and you automatically assumed I was talking directly about your department or crew, maybe you should take an honest look at what others around the country are doing and see how your current strategy measures up.
Stephen Runyan
Captain
Wichita (KS) Fire Department
