By Alexander Degnan
One situation that tends to rear its head at the absolute worst time is the short hose stretch. There are safeguards that can prevent this from happening—from “one to the door, one per floor” to “pulling two extra” after the line stops moving and even a pump operator’s waiting to break and hook up until called to charge the line. However, there are times when nothing less than foresight bordering on precognition will prevent a hoseline stretch from coming up short. This article focuses on the instances when the stretch is short and tactics for handling the situation: quickly recognizing that the stretch may be short (see it happening), relaying clear communication so that the second line will not be short (call that it happened), and quickly and efficiently adding a length or two to the attack line (adding lengths to the line).
In general, whenever it is feasible, do the following when estimating the hose stretch: Use traditional means to locate the seat of the fire before committing the line; allocate the “location” function to a ladder company that arrives with the engine; stage the line and recon with a guide rope; and ensure that you have a good estimate of where the seat of the fire is. These means are perhaps the best safeguards against a short stretch. Nevertheless, short stretches will happen, and being prepared to triage them is paramount.
See It Happening
The possibility of a short stretch is more likely within a certain “building type.”
Class 1 Protected High-Rises
These structures are relatively straightforward. If you are advancing off a standpipe pursuant to your department’s regulations, unless you choose the wrong stairwell or get turned around, you likely will not be short of hose. Without going into specifics, most code requirements are firefighting friendly regarding allowable distance from an apartment door to the exit/pipe access (a floor down, obviously). Some high-rise offices feature varying layouts per floor; this can result in a short stretch.
(1) Place the couplings of the hose length to be added alongside the nozzle of the short length. (Photos by author.)
(2) The member bringing the additional length of hose, having placed the couplings alongside the nozzle, should flake the center of the length backward, forming a loosely shaped “U.”
Class 2 Unprotected Steel Strip Mall Types and Class 3 Ordinary Taxpayers
They offer firefighters a relatively good look at the building size on arrival. Open areas dominate the showroom floors, the depth of the building is easily determined, and stretching short is not likely unless collapsed stock or aisles or some other unforeseen problem occurs. If it does occur, human error often is the culprit. In any case, a straight shot on a first-floor fire should not leave you and your team short. This, of course, is a bit of a simplification.
Class 3 Occupied Multiple Dwellings, Class 3 Rows, Class 5 Rows, and Class 5 Private Dwellings
We fight the majority of fires in these buildings (at least in Jersey City, New Jersey). Unfortunately, they have the highest chance of presenting a short stretch. You may think that because you go to more of these fires, you would experience this problem more often or—even the opposite—that short stretches should not happen because we go to more fires in these types of structures. Short stretches occur in these buildings more often because of a combination of features that are inherent in their nature—renovations you cannot anticipate, conditions within, and even access issues. For example, if you and your engine crew arrive at a two-story, row-frame fire with obvious signs that fire is in the rear, you will take the line to the front door and get after it. If the fire is in the middle of the row, you have no way of knowing if a large addition has been added to the rear of the building. If you encounter one, your line may be short. Depending on the size of the row, it may be costly to go all the way around to get a look. If this is the case, units arriving from other directions may be able to help you by transmitting the information over the radio.
Another possibility, if it can be done quickly, is to stage the line, get into the B or D exposure, proceed to the yard, and get a clear look at the rear of the fire building. In all cases, though, time is life. Protection of the interior stairwell and life is paramount, and you will get in and get water on the fire as soon as possible. Large, unattached frames can present the same problem—additions that you may not see on arrival, excessive twists and turns in older English Tudors, bump-outs, extensions, or even permanently closed-off areas.
Apartment buildings can feature deep foyers, strange stair layouts, remote standpipe access, illegal conditions (such as sealed-over doors to apartments), and deceptively deep buildings. What looks like an E type from the street may be a double E. These conditions can confound stretches.
Another problem in these types of buildings is how “tight” the stretch may be once you get in as a result of hoarders, narrow corridors, or even just the plethora of furniture and belongings required to house 12 people in a small three-bedroom apartment. (I have been in more than a few apartments and houses that offer only a narrow, winding space to walk amidst piles of “stuff.”) In the city, this is a real issue. As stated before, you can anticipate many, if not most, of these issues, but there will be times when the line gets hung up or is short and the attack cannot move forward without additional lengths. When responding to larger-scale fires, or even the seemingly routine, keep in mind that these types of structures can offer anything that may bring you up a little short.
Call That It Happened
If you have made it near, but not through, the seat of the fire at one of these types of fires, you have to communicate it to the outside quickly. These things happen, and no amount of sheer will against it happening will result in added feet to your attack line. Your job has to be ensuring that the line coming in behind you does not suffer the same fate. For example, if your line has been hooked up and charged, your team starts knocking down fire, and you get to a turn and find a hallway or an additional room that you know you cannot make it through, you will need to immediately communicate this issue: “Command from Engine 20: There’s an additional couple of rooms here, and we are short. Ensure that the backup line takes a couple of extra lengths.” That’s all. Simple.
If you know the company bringing in the backup line, reach out to them. A line going above will likely have to take more line than the team initially estimated as well. Ladder companies can be invaluable here in noting and communicating to attack crews any variances in layouts that will adversely affect completion of the attack.
Do not give up ground. The short hoseline has made it to a certain point. Hold that area, especially if salvation is coming by way of an additional line. By holding the fire area that your line may have been able to knock down, you are increasing the speed with which the additional line can get to you and mop up the attack. If the second line has to regain the area that you had taken and then proceed to finish the attack, time and effort will be wasted. I mention this for two reasons. One, if your crew has forced entry, located and knocked down some fire already, realized the hose is short, and communicated it back, your air supply may be at that point where it is running a little thin. Two, if you do, in fact, slip out for a change before the adequately stretched line gets in, ladder and rescue crews operating elsewhere will have no protection in the interim. This fire is not yet controlled, is not at postknockdown, and has not fully been beaten back. Stringent protection of egress and other team members is still in order, even if your line has not made it “all the way.” My suggestion is, if you are awaiting that additional line, take a minute to bear down, slow your breathing, and check your tank level. If you are “out of air,” you are out of the building, but make every effort to ensure you can hold on and hold the area until the second team gets in.
Adding Lengths to the Line
Like it or not, there are circumstances when you will have to add at least a length or two to the line—another team delayed, a larger operation, or even arriving and adding lengths to another team’s line. There are things to consider before undertaking this action: What is the status at the nozzle? How much of the fire has been knocked down? To which side do you add lengths? What caused the short stretch, and how do you go about fixing it?
If the attack team is not able to control any of the fire, regardless of what caused the short stretch, they need to back out to a refuge point, have the line shut down, and make additions at the pumper or safely at the refuge point. Unfortunately, the case is rarely this clear cut. At times, fallen stock, soaked furniture, and collapses can wreak havoc on a stretch. If this is the case and the team is in a spot where some of the fire has been controlled, adding lengths to the line at the back step could be fruitless. It may not be possible for the team to pull that extra line through an obstacle. Even if they could, it may be unduly punishing for a team that has been working hard. I have been to fires where the line was essentially buried; if that happens in conjunction with a short stretch, the length should be added at the nozzle.
(3) If you add a length to a break-apart nozzle, consider tying the bail with a piece of webbing or a strap to prevent it from accidentally closing.
(4) If you wrap the strap with which you tied the bail prior to recharging the line, it should stay tight.
First, verify that lengths need to be added. This may sound like a given, but trace the line back. If an obstacle, a twist, a turn, or a nonstructural collapse has impeded the line from advancing, triage that before you ask additional companies to “overstretch” or call for additional lengths. It is a serious matter to call that a stretch has come up short. Make sure that that is the case before you do so. Don’t try to solve a problem that does not exist.
Obviously, you cannot add lengths to the tip where the fire is still in control. The line cannot be shut down in that atmosphere. This is already a dangerous maneuver at a fire where proper execution may be needed to win the day. Adding a length within, or adjacent to, the immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) environment necessitates temporarily removing your best means of protection—water. When undertaking this task, have the line in the closest possible, but best protected, area for adding and flaking additional line. Such an area may be as simple as behind a controlled door or at a stairwell landing, a previously knocked-down area but back one room, or a refuge point. Good judgment will dictate where your team will be for the 30 or so seconds that the line will be shut down.
Each length to be added should be carried separately by a member who takes it off the apparatus and shoulder loads it. For example, if two lengths are needed, two members take one length each. The reason for this is that if the members are “tied” together by the line and the lead member trips over a small collapsed area, the second member will fall also. They are more likely to get tangled up; it is harder to walk in unison through the IDLH area, and visibility may be next to none. Members are in the building, and precontrol overhaul and knockdown have started. Remember, this is not the initial line or any line coming off the hosebed. You are triaging a problem that has already occurred. It is more of a personal preference than a steadfast rule, though.
On arrival at the hoseline, the member with an additional length takes a knee next to the officer and the nozzle member, grabs the length to be added near the center of the folds, and flakes it backward slightly the way the member came (photo 1). The opposite end of the line (the male end) should be right next to the person adding the length, who forms a loosely shaped, almost closed “U” with the female and male ends at the tip. This way, when the water to the short length is shut, the nozzle can be removed quickly; the length can be attached; and you can quickly remove the nozzle, attach the length, and affix the nozzle to the male end. The water flow can be restarted, and the operation can proceed. If adding two lengths, ideally, follow the same procedure (in a safe area), but instead of forming a “U,” form a “W” before calling for the shutdown of the short line (photo 2).
Break-apart nozzles can add to and alleviate the issue. On the one hand, you will not have to call for the short line to be shut down; simply close the bail. On the other hand, you will have to bring an additional nozzle and then open two nozzles in the ensuing advance. Also, you have to make sure that, in the coming stretch, the bail of the attack line’s previous termination point does not get “dragged” closed, kicked, or accidentally closed in another manner. If possible, you can back tie it to the hoseline in the open position with a piece of webbing (photos 3-4). If not, a member you cannot afford to lose may have to stay at that point. If that nozzle closes at a critical juncture, the result could be devastating. It is another consideration that needs to be addressed. Conditions will mostly dictate.
Briefly, once lengths are added at the tip and the advance commences, try to remember that your team has not gained any length from where the nozzle previously was back to the engine. I have seen people try to drag the line that was already short. Other members coming in to assist may not be sure of the side to which the length was added. Communicate it to them. Treat the short line to which you added lengths as you would a standpipe: Leave it alone and go from there.
When addressing these issues, discussing in generalities mirrors the changing nature of a fire. No two are the same. It remains important not to get tied into “one way” of dealing with the problem. Operating from best practices, we have to remain as malleable as the fire we face to solve the problem. The best way to avoid any of this is to take every step possible to avoid stretching short. Get a good look at that fire area if you can, anticipate obstacles, and do not let team members “short drop” the line on the way in (you need a full 50 feet at least right at the fire area). Have a ladder company that knows your district recon the location, be familiar with room layout, and conduct a window size-up—these are ways to help prevent coming up short.
ALEXANDER DEGNAN is a captain in Squad Co. 4 of the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department, where he has served since 2005. Squad 4 is an engine company assigned to the 4th Battalion and responds to fire assignments as an engine. When a “working fire” is transmitted anywhere else in the city, Squad 4 responds and is outfitted for additional truck work or additional engine work. In addition, Squad 4 members are trained to the level of the members of the rescue company and respond with the rescue company to technical jobs in the city. The two companies train, are housed, and work together.
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