FIREGROUND SIZE-UP
BY BOB PRESSLER
Proper size-up for a fireground operation starts before the initial alarm. Prefire planning, a fire prevention bureau that reviews plans before construction for fire department input, and just being aware of what transpires in our individual response areas all contribute to proper size-up.
For an individual alarm, the size-up begins on fire department notification. All responding personnel should draw on their memory banks in an effort to match the dispatcher`s description of the reported incident with what they can remember about that address or area. (Is this a residential area or the downtown commercial district?) Information relayed from your dispatchers may also help. When the incident is reported to be “across from”` or “adjacent to” or the dispatcher informs you of “numerous calls,” the probability of having a working fire increases.
En route to the scene, the traditional 13 points of size-up should be addressed. Weather, time of day, and apparatus and manpower should all be addressed before seeing the fire building.
Weather conditions may affect our operations in several ways. Wet roads slow our response, and snow blanketing the area may slow all facets of our operation. Hot, humid weather also will have a negative impact on our operations and require more frequent relief of operating forces.
Time of day may affect our responses, as in the case of rush-hour traffic or even school-bus stops. It also impacts our tactics for search and rescue. Fires occurring late at night or during the early morning hours make it more probable that people may not be able to escape the smoke and flames.
Apparatus and manpower vary from department to department, but a minimum initial response to a reported building fire should be established and a request for additional resources should be initiated if this minimum is not met.
As you arrive on location, this is the scene that greets you: Street conditions are favorable, with no obstructions such as parked cars, overhead wires, and trees to block apparatus placement. The presence of many police officers, civilians, and an advanced fire condition indicate there was a delay in the alarm.
Construction of the fire building appears to be brick and joist. The building is three stories high (height) and has an overall size of 60 feet by 60 feet (area). The newer look of the brick may suggest a brick veneer or a newer building that may contain lightweight trusses. The size and use of the building would not make the IC suspect any auxiliary appliances such as sprinklers or standpipe systems that might help in the attack. A look at the three sides of the building visible from the front–sides 1, 2, and 4–reveals no serious external exposures. Side 3 will have to be checked for problems. Personnel on the roof may do it, or you could send a member of one of the first-arriving companies to check the rear. Interior exposures consist of the third floor and adjacent areas.
The victim lying on the sidewalk right under the front window and a second victim just to the right of the building indicate that this was an occupied building, most likely a large private dwelling or a small multiple dwelling (occupancy). The heavy smoke coupled with the time of day, in this case 0830 hours, indicates a serious life hazard. A quick review of your first-alarm response is required, and an immediate call for more help must be made if your resources may not be able to handle the tasks at hand.
The main body of fire appears to be located on the second floor, but the smoke condition on the third floor suggests extension problems. (location and extent of fire). A check of the nearest hydrants indicate that water supply will be no problem. The first handline is quickly stretched and put into operation. Portable ladders are raised to provide access to the third floor. Ladder companies prepare to search the areas adjacent to and above the fire areas, where possible, and to assist the engine company with its advance. Members proceed to the roof to perform vertical ventilation.
The 13 points of size-up have been covered, and the fire suppression operation is now underway. As long as all points have been covered, the temptation is to sit back and watch the operation. But, proper size-up of an operation is an ongoing process. Each step in the plan needs to be constantly reexamined to see if that particular step is still being properly addressed.
As entrance is made to the fire floor and the fire is knocked down, it is determined that this fire building is comprised of three apartments. There is an apartment on the lower level, on the opposite side of the entrance from the garage. The upper floors of the building contain two duplex apartments, one on either side of the main entrance. The stairways connecting the second and third floors are contained within the individual apartments. The fire is in the apartment on the right side and has spread vertically to the upper level.
Heavy fire vents from the upper level of the duplex apartment as the tower ladder crew performs horizontal ventilation of the adjacent apartment. Crews on the roof have performed vertical ventilation of the fire apartment by cutting and pulling two ventilation holes. Because of the heavy fire conditions in the fire apartment, access to the upper level of the apartment was delayed. As the fire conditions worsened, the IC decided to use the tower ladder stream to darken down the heavy fire on the third floor. Operating personnel were withdrawn from the roof area, and the operating forces on the interior were warned before the heavy-caliber stream was put into operation. The fire was rapidly darkened down, and the tower ladder stream was shut down and the interior search was continued. The wall between the apartments was breached to provide access to the third floor so a search could be performed. During this search and the subsequent body recovery, a localized collapse of the floor decking occurred. One firefighter rode the collapse down to the second floor but was not injured in the fall.
As part of the ongoing size-up, certain aspects continue to affect the operation. The life hazard remains even after all civilians have been accounted for. All firefighters operating on the fireground constitute a life hazard.
The construction of the building does not change; but the fire affects different types of construction in different ways, and this affects operation time within a given structure.
In an ongoing operation, as more personnel and equipment are committed and additional handlines or master streams are put into use, the need for apparatus and manpower and management of water supply will increase. This may also affect street conditions around the fire area.
If the fire escalates, exposures that once were remote from the fire may become a consideration.
Until the fire is declared under control, the size-up should be constantly reviewed and updated. n
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n BOB PRESSLER, a 22-year veteran of the fire service, is a firefighter with Rescue Company No. 3 of the City of New York (NY) Fire Department. He created and produced the video Peaked-Roof Ventilation for the Fire Engineering video series “Bread and Butter” Operations. Pressler has an associate`s degree in fire protection engineering from Oklahoma State University, is a frequent instructor on a wide range of fire service topics, is an advisory board member of Fire Engineering, and is a member of a volunteer department.
