By Michael N. Ciampo
As we pulled out of the firehouse at 0700 hours, the dispatcher informed us that numerous phone calls were coming in for a fire in a store. We tried to picture the street in our minds: There were many older “taxpayers” (a one- or two-story building housing anywhere from one to many stores; the second floor could be office, retail, or apartments, and normally the building has a large, undivided common cockloft/attic space) at the location. A quick verbal reminder to the crew in the back to open up all the roll-down gates on our arrival was answered with “Got it!” Remember, when you pull up to a storefront with all of its roll-down gates pulled down and secured, you may have difficulty locating the fire because of the smoke issuing from many of its occupancies (this also goes for a taxpayer fire with no gates). It may also be difficult to locate the store’s main entrance door and perform horizontal ventilation, and it will take a few saws to speed up the forcible entry process.
On arrival, we were met with heavy smoke issuing from numerous occupancies, but lucky for us there was a little fire showing from behind a gate in one of the center stores. Immediately, the sound of the saw could be heard and the sparks began flying. At this particular taxpayer, all the roll-down gates were the manual lifting type, and all that was needed was to cut the padlocks and pull the thru-pins (a pin that goes through the channel rail and into the gate; the padlock attaches to the head of the pin, and it is locked onto a receiver on the channel rail). Judging by counting the canopies, there were six stores in the row; the first two trucks were opening up all of them.
Engine crews stretched a 21⁄2-inch hoseline for the commercial occupancy. Since the fire was showing along the store ceiling, the decision was made to attack it first with thoughts of locating the main body of fire toward the rear. The engine got water and bled its line, the truck vented the storefront windows, and the engine hit the visible fire. As the first truck member with a hook entered the occupancy, he went toward the side of the store where the fire was and immediately checked the conditions above by making a few inspection holes in the ceiling. Luckily, there wasn’t a suspended or drop ceiling. If there is one, attempt to pull it down from outside the storefront window or from inside the doorframe. That way, if it drops in a large section, it will not bury or pin any firefighters beneath it.
At any type of smoke investigation or fire in a commercial occupancy, immediately check above you when you get inside. You can see if the fire has already extended into the cockloft, see any smoke conditions present above, and size up the structural members. Also, when responding to something as simple as an odor of light ballast within a store with a drop ceiling, simply slide a ceiling panel over and check the conditions above.
As the hoseline advanced, the member with the hook still made inspections holes in the ceiling as they moved forward. It’s always important when making these holes that they allow visibility into the space above; remove any insulation to fully see into these areas. Yes, you can use the thermal imaging camera (TIC) to do the same thing, but there have been times at fires when the battery has died or the camera pointed upward and hit a mirror or glass ceiling and got no indications of fire above.
As the cockloft was being checked for extension, the irons firefighter took his halligan tool and slammed its point into the floor. He then pried the tool out of the hole, allowing the members to size up the smoke and fire conditions below them. Luckily, there were none at this point. Performing this tactic early and throughout the operation will inform the companies of the cellar conditions before they penetrate too deeply into the store without realizing what’s going on beneath them. You can also use the TIC to scan these holes for the conditions below and to indicate what type of floor is in the structure. If the tool bounces off the floor, it can indicate that you may be operating on concrete, tile, slate, or terrazzo. In some older buildings, the floors may have sagged and building materials may have been placed over them to make them level, which increases the weight load on the structural members. If these overloaded members are being compromised by fire, they could be subject to an early collapse.
As the engine used the reach of the stream to knock down the fire rolling across the ceiling, the TIC picked up the source of the flames: The fire was burning through the common wall and extending into this store in a utility chase. The engine then extinguished the remaining fire in the chase, and the truck opened up the wall and continued to search, finding no other fire or extension. The companies operating next door found the store where the fire originated. They had a heavy fire load toward the middle to rear of the store and were calling for a backup handline to assist in extinguishment.
Unfortunately, at fires like this, it may be very difficult to locate the point of origin or which store is actually on fire. That’s why it’s very important to check all four sides/exposures of the fire—and also the other two sides: above and below you.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 25-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 Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. 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.
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