ON FIRE | by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
Most of us have been taught that there are two basic principles when searching: search for life and search for fire. It’s easy for firefighters to focus on one tactic, especially when you have a report of a person trapped. Sometimes, when we focus on one thing, we have the chance to miss another. Many times, when we search, we operate in harm’s way; that’s why it’s important to continually size up your surroundings.
- Civilian Rescue: The Reason We Exist
- We Go to Fires to Search
- Tactical Supervision for Known Rescues
- Making the Case for Search on the Modern Fireground
Sounding the Floor
We all know that the first thing we do when stepping off a ladder onto a roof is to sound it with a tool to check its stability. We even sound it as we proceed, checking its stability. Yet, when we enter a structure, we seldom do it. Why not? Firefighters are encountering more lightweight structural components that, when subjected to direct flame impingement, will collapse faster than traditional lumber. Unfortunately, we’ve lost firefighters falling through floors when they entered structures.
Sounding the floor may also tell us the type of floor we’re crawling on. Tile adds weight and increases the collapse potential on old joists.
Another thing to think about is an inspection hole—are we able to drive the point of the halligan into the floor to get a read of conditions below us? Studies show that if the smoke (thermal layer) is down to floor level, the fire may be below us. Once you remove the tool, you should be able to get a read of the conditions below you with the thermal imaging camera (TIC). As you move throughout your search, don’t be afraid to perform these tactics again.
Tripod vs. All Fours
There’s nothing more upsetting to watch than a firefighter crawling around like a dog during search training. It’s even more disappointing to watch two firefighters following each other, especially when the first one stops and second one drives the crown of his helmet right into him. In flashover training, we’re reminded that the black fuel overhead isn’t just smoke—it’s fire. We must be aware of the orange flames that can suddenly erupt overhead, but how do we see that while we’re crawling and dangling our head downward? Sure, we’ll stop every now and then, take a breath, and hold it while looking and listening, but then we’ll drop our heads and continue our search.
Firefighters should search more upright, in a one-knee-up/one-knee-down position, just like when we’re advancing a hoseline. We can glide easier across the floor while probing with a tool. Plus, we have the ability to easily watch over our heads and pick up the TIC to view our surroundings. Another benefit is we’re using our hands to feel the walls for a room’s doorway, feel furniture for victims, and locate windows for a mean of egress or ventilation.
Tools
If you’re searching, you should have a TIC and a tool. The tool can be used for a tie-off point if you need to bail out a window using your personal escape device or breach a wall into an area of refuge. Don’t be afraid to drag a six-foot hook with you. If a room has fire blowing into the hallway, you can use the hook to pull the room’s door closed.
You may also encounter door frames with no doors or doors that are almost burned through. Popping off a closet or another room’s door to place over the opening or burned door can isolate the fire longer while you continue your search and confine the fire.
When you’re operating on the floor above the fire, don’t be afraid to use your tool to pop off the baseboard molding to see if you have fire extension in the walls. If you’re operating on the top floor, you can use a hook to check conditions in the attic or cockloft, too. The earlier we find out, the better we’ll be!
Searching with the halligan also provides us with an additional safety measure. If we have the pike and adz on the ground in a “teepee” position, we can have our hand on the bar just in front of the forks. As we glide across the floor with the tool sliding along, if the adz end falls into a burned-out hole in the floor or over a step, the tool drops downward, pinning our hand to the floor. When it does that, we know there’s a hazard in front of us and we’ll have to proceed more cautiously.
It’s better to pop off closet doors to cover holes in the floors or cover other doors that are burning. Leaving room doors on may create an area of refuge if we suddenly find ourselves cut off by the fire.
Bedrooms
Whether you believe in vent-enter-search or not, we have to focus on the bedrooms. Recent research shows that more people are found there or in the vicinity of the point of origin than in other areas. Throwing ladders and getting into these rooms may be our quickest means of entry. Too often, we’re waiting on the hoseline to knock down the fire on the first floor before we can make the stairs. Meanwhile, if we’d just thrown a ladder to the second floor of a private dwelling, we could have made a “grab” that much quicker.
When you’re searching these rooms, get up on the bed and feel with your hands. Small children can be wrapped up in the blankets if they’re not hiding under the bed or in the closets. Crawling around a king-size bed doesn’t allow a thorough search of the bed if you have short arms. When you get to the end of a bed, make sure you raise your arm or tool to feel for a bunk bed; today, these beds come in nontraditional bunk styles.
When we search, we should be focused on more than one thing. We should revamp our training to teach firefighters to search for everything as they proceed. The life they save may be their own.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 37-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 International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos.
