By Ryan Tripp
Across the nation, fire departments have mission statements putting life before anything else. The life priority is the single most important task on fireground. Often, these mission statements are put on walls or the side of rigs. It is the department’s message to the public that they are there for them. However, are we treating this with the same seriousness that we proclaim to our citizens? Are we conducting ourselves according to our commitment to the priority of life? To make a grab, we must understand a few things. We must understand that we are there for them—we are not there to get dirty or to look cool. We are there to save a life. Along with that, we must understand the fireground, especially the flow path. To save a life and protect our lives as firefighters, we must understand how the flow path works.
Flow paths have been around since the horse-and-carriage days—indeed, likely long before—although it was not generally known by this name. It was often labeled as exhaust and/or ventilation hole, or clean oxygen feeding the fire. As many of us know, the last few years has seen much research into flow paths, with studies done to better understand what exactly happened with firefighter burn injuries and line-of-duty deaths (LODDs). There are many articles about flow paths and various fireground phenomena. This is where self-study is so vital to all firefighters. Fires are few and far between, and we may not get the experience we previously did. Company officers must teach their firefighters to size up not just the building itself but the flow path they observe.
Arriving on the scene, company officers must determine what priority they are in along with developing the strategy and tactics to accomplish their goals. If the company officer feels there are still live victims inside the building, then he or she must determine how to operate to save them. Along with setting up the incident and determining the strategy, the company officer must also size up the building and perform a 360° risk assessment. That assessment is looking for a few things such as immediate life hazards, building construction, and flow path. During that size-up, he or she must always know what actions must take place next.
Fire attack and search are two of the first assignments given out on a fire. Those assignments are vital to incident stabilization and to save a victim’s life. Those two assignments also are vital in understanding the flow path. The group supervisor of that assignment must determine what size line to pull and where to start the interior attack, and evaluate where the fire is at in relation to the time-temperature curve. That crew must enter the building and must operate at a safe, quick pace. Those firefighters on the hoseline must take note of what conditions they see and feel. Where is the neutral plane? What conditions does my smoke present? How far am I in the structure? All of those things are related to understanding the flow path. Firefighters must work in the flow path—that’s the only way to save life and property, being aggressive with an understanding of the science behind the fire.
For search crews working with the flow path, that understanding is just as crucial. When performing a search, firefighters are working against the clock. They are working to save a life before conditions deteriorate. Search crews must understand where the victim’s location might be and also what is the route of travel of the search group. But what if there is no hoseline in the building? What if, on arrival, multiple exhausts are found? Where do we start? This is where that understanding comes into play. Search groups must operate in the flow path quickly, many times independently from fire attack. They must not only evaluate what the fire is doing and where the victims are, but whether it is safe to enter. To perform a search quickly and efficiently, search crews must understand how to operate in the flow path. They must understand how to isolate the search area and what smoke conditions are present when entering. They must also evaluate where the fire is about the time-temperature curve.
Crews must understand the fireground and flow path to be successful in completing the mission at hand. The mission is not completing the operational task, but rather to save a life and save our own lives as well. We rarely consider our life as part of that mission statement, even though we say things like, “everyone goes home.” If we say them, we must mean it, just like those mssion statements on the rigs. This works by understanding whether all victims are out of the structure and the primary search is complete, and then understanding the flow path I am in, along with what the priority of the incident. In such an event, my incident priority isn’t to save lives, it’s to stabilize the incident, and I must understand the flow path I am working in. Company officers must recognize flow path triggers and fire dynamics to prevent near misses or LODDs.
Matching the flow path to your incident priorities is crucial for all officers. What is my incident doing? Are my crews operating in the flow path in alignment with the incident priorities? When those are not in alignment, we must be very cautious and understand the risk we are facing.
Operating in the flow path, again, is how we as firefighters will accomplish the goal. Ask yourself: When operating do we understand what we are doing? Are we accepting the risk we are facing? Pose these questions to your crews, look at those mission statements, and own what you say.
Ryan Tripp is a captain with Los Angeles County (CA) Fire Department, currently serving the city of East Los Angles at Fire Station 3. He has been with the department for 14 years and is the lead instructor for all live-fire training and company officer training.
