BY BILL GUSTIN
One of the most difficult, dangerous, and miserable fire operations involves residences whose occupants live in “pack-rat” conditions. This is the dwelling that is literally packed floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with old clothes, furniture, and often stacks of newspapers dating back to the 1940s. The fire documented in these photos is a classic example of the difficulties and dangers firefighters encounter within a home whose occupant is generally elderly, eccentric, or mentally ill and hoards just about everything that comes into his possession.
Pack-rat housekeeping severely hampers fire attack and search and rescue because contents block doors and prevent them from opening more than a few inches. Pack-rat conditions also obstruct, with storage, firefighters’ access routes and exit paths. It can be extremely difficult or even impossible for firefighters wearing protective clothing and SCBA to pass between “aisles” of closely piled or stacked materials.
Unfortunately, these conditions directly contributed to the death of one of the home’s occupants, who was known in the community for picking through trash and bringing home everything—broken televisions, clothing, and other discarded household items.
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Photo 1. Firefighters had to remove the front door because contents obstructed its inward swing. Inward swinging doors, typically found in private dwellings, can also be blocked by unconscious or deceased fire victims who succumb to smoke before they can operate one or more double-deadbolt locks (which require a key). Firefighters must train and become proficient in “taking” an inward swinging door on the hinge side when its swing is obstructed. This is fairly easy to accomplish with a halligan and an ax when the door is set in a wood jamb. Metal doors set in a steel jamb can be extremely difficult to force by manual means. Consider using a rotary saw to cut the steel hinges, provided that the doors open wide enough for the saw blade, or use a hydraulic forcible entry tool between the hinge side of the door and its jamb.
Don’t hesitate to remove a screen door that may partially close on a hoseline and stop its advance. Most screen doors are lightweight enough to remove without tools. Simply open the door, grasp the top of the latch end, and exert a sharp, downward pull. This will tear the door and hinges from the frame.
A ladder is usually the fastest and most direct way to vent, enter, and search second-floor bedrooms. Ladders raised at this fire became the only way to reach the second-floor bedrooms because contents blocked interior search teams from reaching them.
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Photos 2, 3. As conditions deteriorate, hoselines are operated from ladders into the second-floor windows. This is now a defensive, exterior attack. All interior personnel must be withdrawn from the interior of the structure. As the fire continues to burn, structural members will weaken. Also consider the weight of the contents. The floors are already loaded far beyond their designed strength. As the stacks and piles of contents absorb water, the increased weight makes floor collapse a real possibility.
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Photo 4. This shows excellent positioning of a ladder for operating a hoseline: on the upwind side of the window and with the tip close to the top of the window. Position ladders with their intended purpose in mind. Here the ladder is positioned properly for exterior operation of a hoseline. If, however, the ladder’s purpose was to enter the window for search and rescue, it would be positioned in the center of the window with the tip at or slightly below the windowsill so that it does not obstruct the window opening.
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Photo 4 also demonstrates good nozzle selection and operating techniques. The solid-bore nozzle is most appropriate because it delivers a compact and powerful stream capable of penetrating contents more effectively than a fog nozzle. Also, directing the stream into the overhead from a position low in the window allows the water to penetrate farther into the room. This technique can also apply water to contents burning out of the direct range of a stream. Water directed at the ceiling breaks into a coarse spray that falls on burning inaccessible contents.
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Photo 5. Firefighters are gaining control, but this fire is far from extinguished. Before transitioning from a defensive exterior operation to an interior-overhaul operation, conduct a thorough benefit vs. risk analysis and a careful evaluation of structural stability. Create openings so that accumulated water on the floors can drain, but make sure you do it in proper sequence. First, drain the first floor into the basement and then drain the second floor. If you drain the second floor before the first floor, the weight on an already flooded first floor would in-crease and could precipitate a collapse.
Thoroughly ventilate the structure, and use SCBA throughout the overhaul operation. Fires in stacks of newspapers, upholstered furniture, and piles of clothing tend to smolder and burn deep into these materials. These fires burn “dirty,” producing extremely heavy smoke and toxic levels of carbon monoxide. Soaking or hydraulically overhauling large amounts of smoldering material inside a structure is not recommended because it is unlikely that water will saturate and completely extinguish fire smoldering deep within piles or stacks, and extensive water application can result in absorption and dangerous overloading of the floors.
Deep-seated fires in smoldering contents are best handled by removing them to the outside, where they can be pulled apart and thoroughly soaked. This is much easier said than done, and any firefighter who has worked a job like this knows that these firefighters are in for a long, difficult task.
Expect and plan for an extended personnel-intensive operation. Provide for early and frequent rotation of personnel. Are arrangements in place to get heavy equipment to the scene? Additionally, don’t expect to pile all the smoldering contents outside a house when it has little or no yard. Can your department request construction dumpsters from the sanitation department or an outside contractor?
Most of the smoldering contents will have to be removed to the outside by many hands working in a “human chain.” As smoldering materials are disturbed, they can burst into flame and severely burn firefighters who have removed their turnout coats. During overhaul, make sure that all personnel are within range of a hose stream in case of a flareup.
Perhaps the nastiest part of overhauling a pack-rat house is dealing with cockroaches and other disgusting vermin. This is a big problem especially for departments located in a warm, humid climate. Pulling apart a stack of clothing or newspapers can send these critters crawling all over looking for another dark place to hide—including any opening in a firefighter’s turnout clothing. I have learned from old veterans to wrap duct tape or elastic bands around the legs of my bunker pants, tape collars and wrists, and not bring turnouts back into the fire station until they have been thoroughly checked for stowaways.
Be prepared to have to deal with a lot of animals that, unfortunately, are being kept in deplorable conditions. Recently, one of our engine companies was infested with fleas after responding to an EMS run for an elderly woman who had 20 to 30 cats living inside her house. Can you rely on your animal care and control agency?
It can be very difficult to correct dangerous pack-rat conditions inside a private residence. One of our fundamental freedoms is the right to private property—in other words, a man’s home is his castle. That’s fine until his castle catches fire and firefighters must operator in an unsafe structure that is unfit for habitation.
Any fire department can encounter pack-rat housekeeping in any level of social or economic status. You should develop a strategy for handling a fire under such conditions; have arrangements in place for heavy equipment, dumpsters, and debris removal; and plan for a very difficult, time-consuming operation.
Photos by Adam Alberti.
BILL GUSTIN is a captain with Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue and lead instructor in his department’s officer training program. He began his 29-year fire service career in the Chicago area and teaches fire-training programs in Florida and other states. He is a marine firefighting instructor and has taught fire tactics to ship crews and firefighters in the Caribbean countries. He also teaches forcible entry tactics to fire department and SWAT teams of local and federal law enforcement agencies. Gustin is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
