When single-family homes are renovated to accommodate multiple families, the result is often unexpected, confusing floor plans that may require firefighters to use search rope bags in addition to thermal imaging cameras (TICs). Similarly, large office suites with work station cubicles create maze-like conditions where a TIC may not find the way out before a firefighter’s air supply is depleted. Additionally, the activation of just one sprinkler head can rapidly change conditions from light smoke to near zero visibility. Flowing sprinklers tend to push smoke to the floor due to their downdraft and cooling effect.
- Restored Buildings: 13 Assumptions
- Searching Off a Hoseline–A Necessary Risk?
- Training Minutes: Search Rope Management
- Rope-Assisted Search Procedures in Large-Area Structures
When conducting search operations in single-family homes, firefighters who are not on a hoseline can usually navigate in limited visibility by orientating themselves with walls, use of a TIC, and by their expectations of how floor plans are configured. For example, when entering a typical ranch-style home through a front door, firefighters would expect to be in a living room or a foyer that opens to the living room, and, if it is a two-story home, to the stairs leading to the second-floor bedrooms. In single-story ranch-style homes, a left-hand or right-hand search will bring firefighters either to a hallway leading to bedrooms or to the kitchen and utility room. Additionally, if the home has an attached garage, firefighters would expect to find the kitchen and utility room on the same side of the house as a garage.
Expect the Unexpected
Throughout the country, single-family homes are being either legally or illegally renovated to accommodate additional families. This may be new to firefighters in other areas, but Miami-Dade (FL) Firefighters (MDFR) are no stranger to additions, efficiencies, garages converted to residences, and homes that have been divided, creating maze-like conditions. It is not uncommon to find walls that have been constructed to divide the home into multiple occupancies. Renovations can result in narrow hallways that lead to dead ends or into another occupancy and doors that lead to nowhere.
When firefighters don’t have a clear view of their path of escape, they should either be on a hoseline or use a search rope.
A Search Rope Is Essential
When floor plans are complicated, one member of the search team should secure the end of a search rope to a substantial object outside the fire building and play it out as they search. The team member with the rope should remain in visual or voice contact with the other members. If the team wants to reverse their direction of travel, wind the rope back on its bag. A rope bag is also essential when operating in office suites with cubicle work stations.
Training Video: Residential Basic Search
Rapidly Deteriorating Conditions
Visibility can rapidly change for the worse when a fire finds another source of fuel. This resulted in the death of six firefighters who were operating in a cold storage warehouse in Worchester, Massachusetts. Additionally, the activation of a sprinkler head can rapidly change a slight haze to zero visibility due to the downdraft of the flowing sprinkler head and its cooling effect that cause smoke to lose its buoyancy.
BILL GUSTIN is a 49-year veteran of the fire service and a captain with Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Rescue. He began his fire service career in the Chicago area and is a lead instructor in his department’s Officer Development Program. He teaches tactics and company officer training programs throughout North America. He is a technical editor and an advisory board member of Fire Engineering and FDIC International.
