This fire occurred at approximately 8:30 a.m. on February 13, 2023, in the 7200 blk. of Mondovi Lane, Jacksonville, Florida. Two elderly occupants were home at the time of the fire, which was first noticed by a 4-year-old neighbor who alerted his parents. One occupant was located in bed and quickly removed with a wheelchair. The other occupant was on the second floor, reportedly refusing to leave. Crews safely removed this individual as well.
- Training Minutes: Lightweight Wood Frame Construction
- Tactical Supervision for Known Rescues
- Dodson: THE ART OF READING SMOKE
- The Art of Reading Smoke: Understanding the Color
The structure was a two-story, lightweight wood single family duplex. It was connected to the Delta 1 exposure via the double garage. The fire appears to have started near the rear of the house and quickly extended into the first-floor attic/roof. Fire then quickly advanced to the second floor and second floor attic/roof via vertical and horizontal voids. Lightweight construction often creates open horizontal voids through floor and ceiling I-beam bays and truss voids.
Analysis
On arrival, we begin to recognize the four smoke attributes: volume, velocity, density, and color (VVDC). A moderate volume of light-colored smoke is evident on the Charlie side. A larger volume of dense smoke under pressure is evident from the second-floor roof. This smoke takes on multiple colors from black, gray, brown, and yellow. While this pressurized smoke would normally be black in color, it is likely being filtered, though the turbulence lets us know it has heat behind it. Brown colored smoke indicates raw wood burning, such as structural elements within the voids. The yellow smoke is of concern as this can be indicative of an impending backdraft or smoke explosion, which is plausible as smoke collects in voids close to and remote from the seat of fire.
The incident commander and crews are working quickly to clear the building and rescue occupants. The Incident commander is also maintaining an effective situational awareness by reading the building and the smoke. He clears crews off the second floor as conditions begin to deteriorate, and soon after orders an evacuation of the building to prepare for defensive operations.
Strategic/Tactical Considerations
The strategy logically begins as an offensive attack mode given reports of trapped occupants and available searchable areas. Interior crews find fire in a wall, and notice little smoke in the livable space, causing them to believe fire is in the voids. Later they identify fire on the Charlie side in the ceiling of the living and dining rooms.
Fire is advancing quickly into the voids from the first-floor roof to the second floor and roof. Multiple 1 ¾-inch handlines are put into operation. Another crew conducts vent-enter-isolate-search (VEIS) on the second floor, Alpha side as smoke conditions worsen. With all occupants rescued and accounted for, command orders the evacuation and prepares for a ladder pipe operation following accountability of all fire personnel.
Crews effectively and efficiently evacuate the structure and account. Exterior lines are put in operation to combat the fire now coming through the roof along the first floor, which is basically at the rear of the house.
As can be illustrated in the video, exterior hose streams attacking the roof fire can only sweep across the roof and be lobbed into the burning area. Much of the water can be seen missing its mark and overshooting the roof. This becomes ineffective and wastes water.
Through the work of the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), modern tactics like the eaves attack were born. Given the lightweight wood construction and use of vinyl soffits, which can be seen melting and falling out of place, hose streams can effectively be sprayed into the eaves to the underside of the roof sheathing. It is the underside of the sheathing and wood trusses that are burning. Spraying water into the eaves allows water to surface cool the sheathing and trusses, and map across from one side to the other. This is a much more effective and efficient method to extinguish fire in the attic space compared to lobbing water or sweeping across the roof. Piercing nozzles and distributor nozzles can also be highly effective. If the structural stability of the house was maintained, then the more traditional tactic of opening ceilings and applying water could be used.
Piercing Nozzle Tactic for Attic Fires
Even when the ladder pipe goes into operation, its best vantage point is getting water into the space where fire burned through the roof, but it too cannot get water onto the underside of the roof sheathing. Remember, roofs are intended to keep water out.
As firefighters evolve in our knowledge and understanding of modern fire dynamics and tactics, smoke reading, and building construction, we begin to better understand how the fire burns, anticipate its extension, and see how best to cut it off and stop it. Employing proven tactics where we can provide the advantage to efficiently gain fire control and put the fire out as quickly as possible.
1 ¾-inch handlines are capable of putting out a lot of fire, but don’t hesitate to put a 2 ½-inch line in service when attacking an attic fire from the eaves. This house has a first and second floor level roof. The additional reach, penetration, and increased water volume the 2 ½-inch provides will help blast water into the soffit, attic, and voids to make a significant difference.
Summary
This fire had the potential to go bad quickly. Credit is given to the fast work of the crews to search for and rescue occupants, and to command for maintaining effective situational awareness by reading the building and smoke, and effectively communicating with crews to gain and transmit essential information. Once the primary life safety goal was met, with deteriorating conditions, command evacuated the building and went to defensive operations.
Modern tactics are easily employed and make a huge difference when put into operation, but to apply them, one must first know and understand them and practice and apply them. Evolve yourselves and ensure your procedures evolve to account for modern tactics.
NICK J. SALAMEH is a 36 year veteran of the fire service. He was a Fire/Emergency Medical Services Captain II and previous Training Program Manager for the Arlington County (VA) Fire Department, where he served 31 years. He is a former Chair of the Northern Virginia Fire Departments Training Committee. Nick is also a contributor to Fire Engineering and Stop Believing Start Knowing (SBSK).
