Tips on Pulling Ceilings To Make Job Effective
DEPARTMENTS
The Volunteers Corner
One of the more arduous tasks—and one of the most important—at interior building fires is pulling ceilings. There isn’t anything that you can do to make the job easier, but there are some things to consider to make the job thorough.
Fire in concealed spaces—and that’s what pulling ceilings ia all about—is a real and immediate problem at many building fires. It is a problem that exists in the single story home as well as the high-rise commercial building.
Hesitation in making the decision to open up is the reason why fire in ceilings and other concealed spaces progresses beyond where it should be allowed to go. Lured by the desire to save excessive structural damage, we may wind up buying excessive fire damage.
Pull that ceiling: At the slightest indication of fire in the ceiling, start opening up. When conditions and experience tell you that only a small area is involved in fire, start pulling ceiling in the hot area and keep on pulling ceiling until you uncover the entire area containing any trace of fire.
Although a hose line must be in the room when you open up a ceiling or any other concealed space, the hose stream should not be used until all the ceiling that has to be pulled has been pulled. This maintains maximum visibility in the room while the ceiling is being opened up. It also maintains the thermal balance in the room so that the highest heat remains with the smoke at the highest area in the room—another advantage for fire fighters in the room. Remember, the better the working conditions, the better the job will be done—both in opening up the ceiling and extinguishing the fire.
Wait until you have completed pulling the ceiling before applying a hose stream. Fire generally does not travel fast enough during the opening up process to make it a problem. If you wait until the ceiling pulling has been completed, usually a brief application of a fog stream will knock down all flame of any size. When there are wood beams present, there is likely to be spots with minor flame here and there, but they won’t be going anywhere. Often some of these minor flames go out by themselves while you are applying a small amount of water from a partially opened nozzle to others.
Protect yourselves: For safety, start pulling ceiling in the area farthest from the door to the room. If fire should flash downward, you will have intact ceiling overhead as you retreat to the doorway.
When conditions indicate that fire is throughout the ceiling in a room, start pulling ceiling at the side of the room farthest from the door and work back toward your means of escape. Again, a charged hose line must be at hand to control the unexpected.
Whenever possible, depending on the size of the room and manpower, at least two fire fighters should be assigned to pulling a ceiling. However, they should be able to work far enough apart so that they don’t get in each other’s way. Both those pulling ceilings and the officer in charge also must keep a close watch on where ceiling material is falling to avoid any injuries to personnel.
Backdraft possibility: You don’t hear much about it, but there is always the possibility of a backdraft when opening up a ceiling. That is one reason why the roof should be opened up first when a ceiling immediately under a roof has to be pulled at a serious fire involvement. Another reason is that when you open up a ceiling to inspect a space distant from the visible fire area, it is likely that fire will be pulled toward the opening. This is why the roof is opened first at structures such as shopping malls and other buildings containing a number of stores or other compartments. If the roof is first opened over the heavily involved store, then opening up ceilings two stores away on either side for inspection will not be likely to pull fire toward the opening. Of course, the fire may already be there, but that’s another problem.
High-rise buildings have suspended ceilings and the possibility of a backdraft exists in these areas when there is heavy fire present. Also, fire in the suspended ceiling space can drop down through air return vents.
To determine conditions behind the ceiling, knock out a panel before you get too far into the hallway or room off the enclosed stairway. Make sure you can make a safe retreat to the stairway if necessary.
Fortunately, suspended ceilings in highrises are easy to open up because most of them use some form of a suspended metal grid that holds the ceiling tile. They are easily dislodged with a tool, pike pole, or anything else that will reach the tile.
Although codes call for the tile to be held in place by clips or grid channels and tongue and groove in the tile itself to resist lifting as fire gases build up a slight pressure in a compartment, don’t expect the suspended ceiling system to be intact. Various mechanics need access to the area above the ceiling to repair or alter electrical wiring, plumbing, phone wires and duct work. Expect loose tile to fall when light hose streams are used and expect all tile to break up under heavy streams. It’s good to know this when you’re working in heavy smoke. Also, solid streams can be used to knock out tile when necessary.
