By Ted Nee
Simulations can be highly effective training tools, especially when it comes to fireground decision making.
In this month’s mid-rise apartment fire simulation, you are the company officer on Engine 1 and will be first due at the incident. You are in quarters when the following dispatch comes in: “Engine 1, Engine 2, Engine 3, Ladder 1, and Battalion 1 , respond to 5404 Mongomery Blvd at the Towers apartments. This will be in building “A,” as in Alpha.”
General Information
The address is in the Towers apartment complex that is a fire-resistive, mid-rise occupancy. There are dry standpipes in the North and South stairwells of Building “A”. The hallways and common areas are sprinklered but the apartments are not. As you approach eastbound on Montgomery Blvd, you can see smoke coming from an apartment balcony on the sixth floor side Alpha of this seven-story apartment building.
Start the mid-rise fire simulation video above. You will be prompted to pause the video and give a radio report at several key points.
The first radio transmission you will provide is a standard size-up report. This radio report should include the following elements:
- Arrival on scene
- Building area/size
- Building height (number of stories)
- Problem description
- Action being taken (assignments for the E-1 crew)
- Assume and name command
- Any resource needs
Formulate Conditions, Actions, Needs (C.A.N.) reports for the assigned units based on the visible conditions and information provide when prompted to do so.
Finally, have Battalion 1 give an assignment to Engine 3 using the TLO format based on the C.A.N. reports from the assigned units.
The most effective way to use the simulation is to get feedback regarding your performance (have an experienced officer or colleague critique your radio reports) and run through the simulation again, incorporating the feedback.
Ted Nee is a 36-year veteran of the fire and emergency services. He joined the Albuquerque (NM) Fire Department (AFD) in 1983. He retired from the AFD at the rank of deputy chief. After his service with the AFD Ted served as the lead command instructor and command training center coordinator for the Emergency Response Organization at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque for nine years. Ted is a Blue Card Command type IV and V Incident Commander and a Blue Card Command Instructor. Ted is currently teaching Fire Studio 6 Essentials and Advance Simulation Concepts workshops across North America. Ted is the co-author of the Fire Engineering DVD “Fire Dynamics” along with Dan Madrzykowski of the Underwriters Laboratories Firefighter Safety Institute and Lieutenant John Ceriello of the Fire Department of New York.
Ted will be presenting the workshop “Incident Simulation Design and Development” on Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at FDIC International.
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