Working in Unison

BY MICHAEL N. CIAMPO

OUR RESPONSE AREA HAS many special hazards, one a semiunderground expressway connected to a major bridge and an interstate highway. We perform semiannual inspections of the expressway’s hydrants (located in between cutouts in the concrete divider or on top of the outside barrier walls) and dry standpipe backup systems (from street level to the roadway below) and the bridge’s fire pump room and horizontal standpipe system with the agency responsible for their upkeep.

Responding to a reported auto fire on the expressway is nothing out of the ordinary. Normally, we’ll find a fully involved auto or just an overheated vehicle and the traffic backed up as we try to squeeze the apparatus through the congestion. With sirens blaring, we had hopes of the cars moving to each side of the roadway, getting as close to the concrete dividers as possible so we could proceed. Passing them was difficult with inches to spare; seeing a hydrant was hard because of the cars next to the dividers; and with acrid smoke billowing out of the end of the tunnel’s overpass, it was impossible to spot a hydrant marker sign on the wall. Even though the police were on scene and the road was shut down, we still positioned the truck behind the engine to block the roadway for scene safety.

Departing the cab with self-contained breathing apparatus and our tools, we proceeded forward to assist the engine with stretching the handline and got our first glimpse of the burning vehicle: a fully involved RV camper, with the panelized ceiling of the expressway melting and falling down from the flames impinging on it. Immediately over the radio we heard, “Watch out for the propane” and “Use the reach of the stream!” Size-up told us this wasn’t a typical vehicle fire, and the possibility of a BLEVE (boiling-liquid, expanding-vapor explosion) and ceiling collapse were major concerns. Plus, we saw no occupants in the vicinity of the fire and feared they may still be in the vehicle.

While the handline was being stretched, one member of the truck was trying to locate the propane tank with the thermal imaging camera while two other members searched the vicinity for the vehicle’s occupants. They had to use caution because numerous small explosions were taking place inside the vehicle. In addition, the other members were assisting the engine in locating and securing a water supply. Looking backward, there wasn’t a hydrant in sight, and trying to stretch a supply line through a maze of cars was going to be a feat in itself; as luck would have it, the next closest hydrant was just past the burning vehicle. One of our initial thoughts was to use the apparatus-mounted monitor pipe and the handline to quickly knock down the fire and cool the propane tank, but we knew that would eat up 500 gallons of water quickly without a water supply.

As the handline got water, a missile of some sort went flying by the hoseline team, even though they were 75 feet back from the side of the vehicle. Once they got water, the nozzle firefighter quickly hit the tires to cool them down and decrease the odds of their exploding and sending hot rubber shrapnel in all directions. The RV’s roof was already burned through, so directing the stream off the ceiling of the vehicle wasn’t an option. However, because of the melting ceiling of the expressway and flames licking up at the lightweight metal framing, the handline was quickly directed up there to cool down the steel and hopefully avert a collapse, prevent any unseen extension, and allow the water to cascade downward onto the vehicle.

Next, the line was directed at the bulk of the fire inside the vehicle. Meanwhile, the camera was still being used to locate the propane tank, but since the fiberglass sides of the RV were burning, melting, and falling down, it was difficult to pinpoint the tank’s location. On this vehicle, there wasn’t a storage box for the tanks on the back bumper and there were no identification markers/stickers on the side of the vehicle indicating the shutoff or tank location.

As the members were stretching a supply line and our tank was nearing depletion, the bridge agency’s engine arrived on scene, and all available members helped them stretch a handline for extinguishment. Since they run shorthanded, some of the truck members had to act as backup firefighters on their handline.

As the bulk of the fire was knocked down, our engine then proceeded past the RV and was able to secure a hydrant and resume knocking down the hot spots and hydraulic overhaul of the vehicle’s contents.

The distinct smell of propane still lingered on the scene, and our main concern was locating, shutting down, and cooling the propane tank. Initially a tank was located inside the remains of the vehicle’s living compartment, which supplied the refrigerator and stove; it was shut down. Then we forced open all the melted compartments on the outside of the vehicle. Finally, we found the shutoff recessed in a compartment on the driver’s side. We then removed the remaining vehicle siding with a reciprocating saw, allowing us to cool the tank with a handline.

Working in unison with outside agencies allows you to work with a common goal of diffusing situations to which you both respond. Like many incidents on the expressway, this is one we’ll never forget.

● MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 28-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 Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.