By Michael N. Ciampo
Responding to a report of an electrical fire in an apartment on the second floor of a six-story multiple dwelling is nothing out of the ordinary. Normally, we’ll find a burnt-up electrical cord or an overloaded wall outlet that’s melted and burnt. In such cases, quickly shut off the circuit breakers to cut power to the outlet. You will deenergize it to prevent sparking, arcing, and heat transfer to the structural elements and to make it safe to open up the wall and outlet. This will prevent firefighters from receiving an electrical shock while using metal tools. With the thermal imaging camera, you can get a quick read of what’s occurring behind the finished wall. Years ago, we would run our bare hands up the wall, checking for heat extension, and use our eyes to spot any paint beginning to peel. The thermal imaging camera is a fantastic tool for helping us check for extension at these fires, but we still must use sound firefighting procedures to make sure the fire isn’t hidden behind the wall.
As we got into the back bedroom of the apartment, the smell of a melting electrical socket was now becoming fainter, and we noticed a new smell: burning cloth. Pulling the bed away from the wall, we saw the arcing outlet had very small flames coming from around the edges of its wall cover plate. In addition, the mattress began to burn with a little more intensity; we called for a hoseline to be on the safe side. The mattress only had a small spot burn. Members extinguished it with the pressurized water can and cut it open with a knife to ensure the fire wasn’t already deep seated. The circuit breakers were in the process of being shut off, but there was a slight delay because the box couldn’t be located—it was covered by a picture frame. Plus, with all the clutter in this small bedroom, it was difficult to stand the mattress up and out of the way to access the outlet.
Scanning the wall with the camera upward from the outlet on fire as the furniture was being moved only revealed a slight temperature increase and nothing to show that the fire was extending behind the wall. A firefighter used his ungloved hand from a higher elevation on the wall and down to the outlet, not noticing any significant changes either. Now that the power was off and there was access to the wall outlet, a firefighter punched his tool into the wall about three feet above the outlet; flames immediately erupted, and we learned new information. The wall, thought to be made of lath and plaster, was gypsum on furring strips over the plaster walls. The small void space in between the walls was probably the main reason the firefighter and the camera detected no heat.
Realizing the urgency of the fire extending, the second-due truck quickly went to the third floor. A quick radio communication was transmitted to the engine company to speed up the hoseline stretch. While the engine stretched the line, the truck punched small holes in the wall bays to allow the water extinguisher’s nozzle to be inserted and water expelled up the bays. The walls weren’t opened up completely for fear of giving the fire more air and increasing its intensity without a charged hoseline in place. Plus, the plaster allowed the water to stay within the bays, extinguishing some of the burning lath. (Remember, sometimes when it’s necessary to open up a large section of these walls, strike the plaster with the flat side of a tool; large chunks may fall off, allowing the hose stream to penetrate the burning lath and wall bay. Plus, hidden fire can run along the lath, so always open up the bays past the last burnt one.) Members made additional inspection holes in the ceiling to check if the fire was also running across the ceiling joist bays.
As the engine got its line in place, members completely removed the window by using the release tabs on the sashes. Fire was now in control of four bays and extending upward to the other floors in the steampipe riser bay. Realizing that the second-due truck had extension on three, we left one firefighter with the engine on the second floor and made a quick dash up to the fourth floor. As we got into the back bedroom, we had to move another bed; the firefighter went to pierce his tool low into the wall when he heard a loud shout of “Stop!” He pulled up and looked at us pointing to the top of the wall. We already knew it was extending near the base from the floor below, but we wanted to see if it was already past this floor. When he punched a few holes in the bays toward the top of the wall, only light smoke issued out of the holes. Poking more at waist level revealed the same thing. When we pulled the baseboards, we found no fire was extending. Meanwhile, the engine had moved the line to the third floor and extinguished the fire; extensive overhauling then took place.
When checking for extension, firefighters might be inclined to make their initial holes near the base of the wall or pull the baseboard to see if fire is extending. We normally do this when we’ve finished our primary search for life and are checking for the fire’s extension on the floor above. However, when we’re chasing an extending fire in a void space in a wall, we need to get ahead of it and quickly find out where it’s going so we can get a hoseline and pike poles to all the places that need them. Remember, when you’re sent upstairs, start opening up at the top. You can work down if the fire is not already by you!
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 26-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.
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