You Can Raise Ladders With Reduced Manpower
The Volunteers Corner
It’s ideal to have five or six men to raise a 50-foot ladder or three men to raise a 35-foot ladder, but what happens when these numbers of men are not available on the fireground?
The answer, of course, is that you still raise ladders. You have to modify drillground evolutions to raise ladders with fewer men than is desirable. You also have to raise ladders safely, although more laboriously, with fewer men. Driving a fire apparatus to a fire and raising a ladder on the fireground have one thing in common-safety. Neither is of any use at a fire if it is involved in an accident.
The numbers of men drill manuals designate for raising ladders of various lengths were determined through experience and in each case, the number is a logical requirement—not a luxury. So how can we work with fewer men to control a ladder while it is being raised? Obviously, the use of fewer men means that each man has to assume a heavier work load and with the longer ladders, the increased work load can strain the margin of safety.
Building can aid safety: To increase the safety margin and ease the work load, the fire building can be made part of the ladder crew. Part of the building is right where you are going to raise the ladder and it can be used to share some of the work of stabilizing the ladder as it is raised.
First of all, the building foundation wall can be used to replace the butt man—or both butt men in a six-man pole ladder raise. The ladder must be placed at right angles to the foundation and with the climbing side of the ladder on the ground. The butt is then pushed against the foundation so that the foundation is used as a replacement for the butt man, helping to stabilize the ladder as it is raised.
The second way a building can be made useful in raising a ladder shorthanded is by using it as a stabilizer for the ladder when it is vertical. As the butt is kept against the foundation, the ladder is raised until the beams touch the building wall. It doesn’t matter if the beams rest against a windowsill or even a cornice or other protuberance instead of the flat surface of the wall. Pressing the ladder against the wall or projection will easily hold it in a stable position.
Extending the ladder: Now that the ladder is vertical-or almost vertical if the beams are against a wall protuberance—one man grasps a convenient rung, lifts the ladder slightly and pulls the butt out from the foundation about a foot. The objective is to place the butt so that when the beams are pulled away from the building to a vertical position, they will be a few inches away from the wall. Now if the ladder shows any indication of slipping out of control, it can easily and quickly be slapped against the wall so that control is regained.
With this safety procedure available, one or two beam men can hold the ladder vertical while the fly is extended to the desired height. The ladder tip should now be above the roof or slightly higher than its desired final position at a window. With the extension of the fly. completed, the ladder crew rests the beams against the building and then moves the butt out from the building to give the ladder the proper climbing angle.
If the ladder being raised is a pole ladder, the poles are now set in the proper position.
Sloping ground alongside the foundation will make the job of raising a ladder shorthanded more difficult, so try to select a spot where the ground is as level as possible. Where sloping ground is a real problem, look for an inside corner where an ell joins the main portion of the building. Then you will have two walls to limit movement of the vertical ladder.
Combination use of ladder: When a gable roof has a sharp pitch, sometimes it is possible to reach the ridge by placing an extended 40 to 50-foot ladder so that the fly rests on the roof, eliminating the need for a man to carry a roof ladder when he could be bringing tools or hose to the building. The climbing angle may be somewhat flat, but if the roof pitch is steep enough, the ladder will be safe to climb.
By making the building part of the ladder-raising evolution, you should be able to safely raise 28 to 50-foot ladders with one to three fewer men than the drill manuals designate as a full crew. Whether a department is paid or volunteer, there are times all too frequently when a full crew for raising a ladder is only a memory.
Handling the conventional 24-foot extension ladder carried on pumpers is no problem for one man. A convenient way to carry this ladder is with the rungs vertical to the ground and what is now the “bottom” beam resting on your shoulder. If the balance of the ladder is a few inches back of your shoulder, you can balance the ladder easily on your shoulder by grasping a rung forward of your shoulder. If the ladder is properly positioned, the weight of your arm will be all that is needed to keep the ladder balanced on your shoulder.
When you reach the spot where the ladder is to be raised, pull down on the rung and let the spur of the bottom beam touch the ground. As you push the ladder up to a vertical position, put your knee and part of your thigh behind the ladder so you can hold the ladder vertical as you extend the fly. Place one foot on the bottom rung to weigh the butt as you lower the ladder t J the building.
It’s nice to have full ladder crews, but ladders have to be raised even when you don’t.
