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Site Work
Preparation creates debris. The disposal method will vary with each jurisdiction and the materials. Wood-based products such as furniture and paneling that have been removed and broken up and reduced in size, as well as cabinetry can be figured into the fuel load. Household chemicals, pesticides, paint, solvents, and the like may require special disposal or possibly can be thrown in the garbage can. Asbestos tile, shingles, exterior siding, and other friable products may also need special attention, licensed personnel, and nontraditional removal and disposal. The local AHJ may or may not allow carpet, vinyl siding, synthetic-based furniture, wall and window treatments, and other debris to be consumed as fuel in the “burn down” process. However, NFPA 1403 does not permit it during the training process. You must do the research and ensure compliance for the sake of the department and the taxpayer.
If the debris can’t be used for fuel, what do you do with it during training? “Any debris creating or contributing to unsafe conditions shall be removed.” (NFPA 1403, 5.2.6, “Hazards”) Too often, a great number of personal effects are left behind. Rooms deemed to be unsafe for training could be used to stage the material, provided it does not add to the fuel load, does not cause excessive weight over a training area, and can be rendered inaccessible during the evolutions. Basements and attics have been known to be receptacles for the waste also. This has been problematic when, early in the training session, fire drops to the cellar or breaches a ceiling and ignites the contents in the basement or attic space.
Shingles, siding, soffit, and fascia can create debris on the exterior that can create slip, trip, puncture, cut, and fall hazards. If the owner chooses to recycle material, move it from the site or store it well away from the training area and water supply. Leftover brick, stone, or block from the unstable chimney may be allowed in the foundation, crawl space, or cellar in some jurisdictions to be left when the foundation is filled in. Other AHJs require total removal to approved landfills with other materials left over from the burn.
Depending on the location and condition of trees and landscaping, you may have to remove some portions to allow a safe egress from windows, doors, porches, or landings; they must not present an obstacle to the training crews. You can cut the foliage and move it well away from the building for disposal later, or you can place it in or around “out” buildings slated for demolition by fire. Keep in mind that while this is common practice in some places, some jurisdictions limit, prohibit, or require additional permits for burning what amounts to yard waste. Some landowners with the appropriate equipment have moved the material away for the training session and then pushed it in or around the house for consumption when the house is completely consumed by fire. Sometimes the landowner asks that a tree or an exposure be saved. You can accomplish this by directly applying water or Class A foam. Foam or not, verify and adhere to any AHJ/EPA runoff requirements.
If the tractor or backhoe is on site during the burn-down and you can do so safely, have a qualified operator punch in areas of the roof, side walls, or attic areas, which often allows for a cleaner burn. Maintain exposure protection lines and scene control. The weather or circumstances will dictate whether this is an option. We’ve all experienced a great deal of smoke affecting property downwind in training and in real life.
Occasionally, the precut ventilation holes do not produce a clean burn. Widening the opening with heavy equipment or opening up the lower areas so there is more combustion air on the windward side often will get the desired and natural result of a more rapid, clean burn. Note: The instructor in charge and safety officer have the final word. If this method of opening up the building or pushing in the walls with heavy equipment cannot be done in a safe manner, don’t allow it to happen.
The potential for more embers downwind must be accounted for and addressed by companies assisting in the training. Just because the interior training may have concluded doesn’t mean the session is over. Reinforce with departments and mutual-aid companies that they must assist in breaking down and returning to service after the scene is left safe.
Training Day: Not Quite
Although some factions in the fire service today would have us train in theater smoke, with computer simulators, and with videos, NFPA 1403 states in Section 1.2.2: “Live fire training is intended to provide the safest and best experience possible under both realistic and controlled circumstances.”
Fighting fire is inherently dangerous. As mentioned earlier, for training personnel to act safely when doing dangerous tasks requires fundamental knowledge of the skill sets noted in NFPA 1403, Section 4.3.1 (1) – (11) and Appendix A – A 4.3.1. referencing NFPA 1001 (1) 5.2.3 to (16) 5.5.4, which includes most topics noted in 4.3.1 as well as radio use, search and rescue, structural firefighting, scene illumination, and tool and fire hose care and maintenance.
Once you’ve handled the training issues prior to live burns, you need to have a plan for the evolutions for the burn day. The days of lighting off an acquired structure and making a 911 call to see how folks respond are over. Documented close calls and line-of-duty deaths have occurred when responders en route did not know they were traveling to a training call. A suburban department destroyed multiple sets of PPE and injured a firefighter because the responders thought they were going after real victims—risking a life to save a life.
Preburn planning and briefings are vital parts of the day’s training. The briefings must spell out the objectives of each evolution—describing all the features of the area to be burned, discussing all facets of the evolution, and verifying instructor and company assignments. All students must walk through the entire structure to be familiar with the layout and potential secondary exits. A large map or footprint of the building is a tremendous help in presenting the documented objectives for each drill by pointing out the path of hose travel, areas to be searched, location of the fire, and so on. This can be done freehand on white boards, drawn on a leftover piece of drywall from the building prep, or by having the site map and building footprint (required in some AHJ’s permit applications) enlarged.
Note: As I traveled for the state fire academy for more than three decades assisting with or directing live burns, I observed far too many wasted opportunities. The desire to run realistic fire evolutions with responding engine, truck, and squad companies performing initial attacks, primary searches, and immediate destructive ventilation or overhaul operations often resulted in no more than three or four students actually seeing live fire from the inside. The rest, sometimes as many as an additional 50 or 60 students, “humped” hose, moved ladders, or patiently watched from the outside seeing only smoke and the “high fives” the instructors gave the three students who actually got to apply water to a fire throughout the day.
Even worse, unrealistic or overstaffing of hose crews or search and rescue teams caused overcrowding in tight stairways or the overloading of the upper floors of structurally questionable buildings. Five- or six-staffed hose or search crews are well beyond the staffing levels of most departments I know. Discussion on acceptable staffing levels is a topic for another time. If the majority of the departments involved in the training exercise are able to staff only two people on a hoseline during the normal business week, train to that.
Remember, too, the fire is just a prop. It takes cognitive and psychomotor skills to know how to get the hose to the fire, recognize what’s going on, and provide the safest outcome for a very dangerous situation. Enhance the hose-handling skills, search and rescue techniques, and ladder proficiency to the drill ground before live burn day without fire in the mix. Capitalize on the fact that you can produce realistic live fire conditions and expose as many to that area of the drill as you can on the day of the burn when you have the luxury of an acquired structure.
Understanding the dynamics of fire and planning for the eventuality are musts as you put your objectives together. Taking into account the weather, the layout of the building, and the relative skill level of your students is part of the mix. Three to five simple objectives for each evolution allow rapid but safe turnaround between drills and will ensure that you will get as much value out of the structure as possible.
Understanding your staff of instructors is just as important. Though well-meaning and knowledgeable, their desire to provide students with value-added training at times will cause instructors to add just a little more to the drill than was planned. More often than not, they’re making a great point, but, nevertheless, it is freelancing and has no place in live fire training. Having a matrix or rotation established with clearly defined roles for the instructor to accomplish the documented objectives and the preentry briefing provides a vehicle to “nip in the bud” any drive to have instructors set their own objectives. As trainers, command, and company officers, we understand that “stuff happens” and the planned objectives to that point are the roadmap for the evolutions. When the ceiling comes down prematurely or an undiscovered camp stove propane cylinder or water pressure tank hidden in a wall violently decomposes, it’s time to take a detour, and the planned objectives are now moot. If, to that point, the instructors were executing the planned objectives, getting back on track or organizing a tactical withdrawal and accountability report, things will go much more smoothly.
Include an emergency or evacuation plan in the preentry briefing, and establish and demonstrate an audible evacuation signal. My recommendation is to include sirens with the air horns. The following experience led me to demonstrate the need for the sirens:
I was working in a small community. We decided that three long blasts of the air horns on the engine used for the primary attack lines would be the evacuation signal. Actively working our way to a well-involved fire in a walk-up attic in a large Victorian home, we left the structure without question when we heard three long blasts of the air horn with a longer than anticipated delay before we heard the blasts again. Thinking that the situation was serious, we continued to exit. Although it was not a part of the standard at the time, being a fairly progressive group of instructors, we reported to the “predetermined location for a roll call” since the evacuation had been signaled. When we appeared at the spot (as fire continued unabated in the attic), we were asked what we were doing. We asked why the evacuation signal was sounded and if everyone had gotten out safely. At that moment, the Illinois Central Gulf freight approaching the third railroad crossing in town initiated its federally required three blasts of the air horn. The remainder of that training day was spent chasing a single fire instead of providing multiple evolutions for a well-trained and motivated department.
It goes without saying that adequate water is needed for live burn training. Although NFPA 1142, Standard on Water Supplies for Suburban and Rural Firefighting, is the benchmark, common sense will get you most of the way there. Section 4.11.1 states: “The instructor in charge and safety officer will determine the rate and duration of water flow necessary for each individual live fire training evolution… to extinguish the training fire … backup lines…and protect exposures.”
Once you’ve figured the required fire flow for the aforementioned items, an additional 50 percent of that supply needs to be on hand for “unforeseen” circumstances.
Common sense and the standards dictate the need for backup hoselines in addition to the backup volume for the water supply to protect life and property. Whether because of the geographical layout of the site or the inability to see the “big picture,” having attack, backup, and ignition hoselines originating off the same engine has been commonplace. If the engine supplying both lines suddenly stops running, lives are in danger. Make sure the backup line is pumped from a separate source or engine to minimize the potential for the loss of fire attack water. If the secondary water supply is a quarter of a mile down the farmer’s lane because of vehicle access obstacles—well, you have to do what you have to do.
Anticipation of weather conditions may be a part of the water supply preparation. Consider prevailing winds, lay of the land for runoff, and leaking portable water tanks to keep pump operators out of the smoke and prevent “sticking” the engine or tenders/tankers up to their frames in soft ground. Makeshift hose bridges may be needed to channel water away from traffic routes designated for the water shuttle, replacement apparatus, or ambulances.
The instructor in charge must be concerned about the capabilities of his fellow instructors and the training background of the students. Determine beforehand if the pump operator knows what “net engine pressure” is and what the friction loss is in the hose laid out for the drill. Hydraulics classes should be a minimum if the department doesn’t have the luxury of having a pump operator certified by the appropriate training agency or according to the NFPA standard.
You must account for site control and security. Consider minimizing nonessential vehicles and their parking, providing adequate staging areas for essential traffic and parking for EMS or rehab resources, and appropriate ingress and egress from the site. When law enforcement and the press have been a part of the planning, designated areas for their vehicles should be a part of the plan.
These same areas we consider for parking and traffic also produce our biggest headaches for safety and site control. Keep from harm’s way visitors to the site such as press, law enforcement, relatives of the property owner, interested neighbors, and those who spotted the “header” miles away. Trained local fire police auxiliary members, fire or law enforcement Explorer or Cadet groups, or off-duty deputies may be great resources for this task.
If certain visitors are allowed near the burn building, they should be provided with, or required to wear, PPE appropriate to their involvement, and they should be escorted at all times.
Prior to the first drill, the instructor in charge and the safety officer should document a list of objectives for the day’s training. Number each drill in the preferred order, and develop a few more than you think there will be time for. As the objectives and drill order are being compiled, consider the potential weather, number of floors, building condition, and relative experience of the trainees.
Under present NFPA 1403 requirements, if the condition of the ceiling is degraded by the water running through the floor above, you may have to repair or reinforce a ceiling. By alternating the drills in such a way, you can work the first-floor room initially and then proceed to the room directly above.
Another option is to work in a room until there’s nothing left. Having trained in properties more than a hundred years old where a true craftsman installed the horse hair plaster, burning in a room three or four times before the space was compromised was not uncommon. Yet, in houses less than 10 years old, ceilings failed before the fire ever reached the door. Some AHJs will reassess a room, provide some minor repair, and come back to the room to drill again. Other jurisdictions will burn in a room once, completely “gut” the room, and then secure it so no additional training can be directed to that space. Both policies can be justified under the 2012 edition of NFPA 1403. A smaller class size would facilitate the intent of one policy while a larger number of students could safely be trained under the other. As you create the objectives for each drill, keep these things in mind and be prepared to shuffle the order of the drills as the day progresses to facilitate room repair or securing areas to keep crews out of the heat and smoke.
You can easily establish three to five measurable objectives using a bullet-point list, such as the following:
- The attack crew will advance a line to the second floor and suppress the fire in room marked #4.
- The backup line will stage at the bottom of the stairs and await an order to advance.
- The search crew will provide a primary search on the fire floor and overhaul if requested.
- The vent crew will await orders and open up the window from a ground ladder.
- The vent crew will provide a primary search on the first floor.
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