BY BOB PRESSLER
The alarm comes in at 3:20 a.m. It is in a section of town that has undergone some construction recently. The dispatcher’s description doesn’t give much extra information: a report of a possible building fire, smoke in the area.
As the officer of the first-due truck company, you take a mental inventory. You think about the area to which you are responding, the “prevalent” building type found in that area, and who is working this shift. The time of day could be a problem. You most likely will encounter a lot of sleeping people, in a poor area where there are few smoke detectors with working batteries.
As you get closer to your destination, you see a column of smoke, darker than the night sky, rising into the air. The engine company turns into the block and has to slow down because of heavy smoke in the street. You follow the engine down the street until it slows in front of a 2 1/2-story frame house. Heavy smoke is showing from the front; a dark red glow is visible in the front window. No occupants are in front of the house to direct you in.
This scenario plays itself out many times a day across the country. Residential fires continue to be our nation’s biggest fire problem. How would your department react in this scenario? How are your operations influenced by the conditions showing on arrival? As the engine stretches the first line, what options does the truck have?
The first-due ladder company has several responsibilities, including forcible entry, search and rescue, laddering, ventilation, controlling utilities, and salvage and overhaul. The truck officer, and the IC, if on-scene, must prioritize this list. What needs to be done first based on type of building, extent and location of fire, life hazard, occupancy, and water supply? Even though water supply is usually not considered a truck company function, a water supply or the lack of it may determine how the truck company operates.
TYPES OF SEARCH
Although some operations may require the truck to perform other tasks first, preservation of life is the truck’s main objective on the fireground. This might involve removing people visible on arrival by ladder from the fire building, bringing people down the interior stairs of an apartment house before opening the door to the fire apartment, or searching for trapped victims under high-heat and heavy-smoke conditions.
There are primary and secondary searches. Some people also refer to a third search, but most times this is just a continuation of the secondary search. By most definitions, a primary search is the rapid but thorough search of any accessible areas of a burning building or fire area. The key words are “rapid” and “thorough.”
A secondary search is conducted until all areas have been searched. Most times the secondary search is performed after the fire has been knocked down and brought under control. It is continually performed until all persons are accounted for or every square inch of building has been covered. If the fire building has collapsed, the secondary search is not complete until all debris is removed or the whereabouts of all occupants are verified.
In his article “Fire Department Response Times vs. Flashover” (Fire Engineering, February 1999), John R. Waters says: “At the outset of this project, I was attempting to determine what it would take to have the fire department make a difference in responding to a fire to save most of the 5,000 or so people dying in fires each year in this country. I found that, given the resources at hand, we probably can’t.”
After observing countless fire departments, I have concluded that responding fire departments conducting more aggressive searches can reduce the number of civilian casualties. Because of being understaffed and, in some cases, undertrained, most departments do not perform aggressive searches.
 Search on the fireground requires that all personnel be aware of fire conditions. As the fire spreads, our focus must change. (Photo by author.) |
Three types of primary searches are performed on the fireground, based on several factors: personnel available to perform the search, building type, fire location and extent, and personnel training levelsall will affect the ability to perform aggressive searches.
Passive Search
The first type of search is called a passive search or an “after the fire is out” search (see photo 1). This type of search is usually performed after the fire is extinguished, while walking through the burned-out home. Any victims you find are those you normally trip over. The level of training required to perform this type of search is minimal, and the search involves almost no risk to the operating forces. Unfortunately, the chance for survival for any trapped occupants is also minimal. Fortunately, this type of search is probably the least common.
Active Search
The active search can be performed in several ways. The most common method is to have searching members follow the first hoseline into the building. As the line moves into position, searching firefighters break off from the line and search areas remote from the main fire area. As they search rooms or areas, the searching firefighters fall back into position behind the engine company and advance toward the fire to search the next area (see photo 2).
In a variation of this search, searching firefighters follow the hand-line into the fire building until the engine firefighters have gone as far as they can and are ready to flow water. The search team starts at this area and then searches back toward the entrance. This is the preferred way of performing an active search. By penetrating as far as possible under the protection of the handline, the searchers have reached the most exposed areas, the ones adjacent to the fire itself. Victims in this area are usually in more danger than those in areas remote from the fire. If conditions worsen, and the engine is driven back, at least searching firefighters have covered the areas closest to the fire. If the searchers start at the front door and the engine runs into problems, searchers may not reach the areas adjacent to the main fire area. And if those areas become involved in fire, you will have to wait until the fire is knocked down to search them.
An active search is performed while conditions are still far from perfect (see photo 3). Smoke and steam cover most areas, and visibility is near zero. The search, to be effective, must be done mostly by feel. That means to be successful a firefighter should be on the floor. Searching should be done from a crawl, a duck walk, or a position as close to horizontal as possible. This is where the victims will be found, on the floor or on a piece of furniture. We very rarely find them standing in a corner waiting for us. Once they are overcome by smoke, gravity takes over. They collapse on the floor or bed, or they are overcome while in bed or on a couch, and we find them there.
Sweep the area in front and to the sides as you advance. You can use your arm, but using a tool will extend your reach. If you use a tool, be careful when swinging it; if it makes contact with a victim, it may cause further injuries and it sometimes is hard to determine exactly what you have come in contact with. This is especially important in the areas immediately adjacent to the fire areas, where visibility is the worst.
Another variety of an active search is one in which firefighters force open a door or window and, because of conditions or experience levels, do not actually enter the area in front of them. They probe with their outstretched hand or with a tool. When reaching in a window, they sweep the area under the window. The problem with this type of search arises when you make contact with a victim as you sweep the area under the window. Now, you must decide whether you should try to pull the victim up and out onto the ladder or porch or whether you should jump into the area and try to push out the victim. If conditions permit your entering into this area, it is far easier to push someone who is unconscious out a window than it is to pull him up and out.
Aggressive Search
The aggressive search, when performed properly, gives trapped civilians the best chance of survival. It also puts firefighters at the greatest risk. In the previously mentioned article on flashover, Waters referenced several articles that reported that survival in a room that has flashed over is almost impossible and that the time from ignition to flashover may be very short. This information was based on his conclusions about lowering the civilian fatality rate. What Waters’ article did not take into account were the conditions found in areas remote from the room that had flashed and the chance that someone may have survived in these rooms. People have survived in areas immediately adjacent to the main fire area and under terrible conditions. (See “Searching Without a Line: What Would You Do?” Mike Lombardo, Fire Engineering, May 1998.)
It is the fire department’s job to try to reach these areas as quickly as possible. As in other types of searches, a size-up should be performed, and it should take into account the location and extent of fire, the type of building, and any information about possibly trapped people. This information may be in the initial information provided by the dispatcher, from civilians on-scene, or from visible observations or conditions. Although a dispatcher’s report or bystanders’ information of people trapped does not guarantee that someone is actually there, the information must be considered and should be used in your size-up. If someone who has escaped the burning building informs you that other people are still inside, try to get information that is as specific as possible with regard to the trapped occupants’ last locations. Lastly, a house fire at 2:00 a.m. with cars in the driveway and no one waiting when you arrive should be an indication that people may still be in the house.
 Once you open a door or window, the fire will want to spread in that direction. (Photo by Ed Burke) |
One type of aggressive search is shown in photo 4. Firefighters from the first-arriving truck company at this early-morning fire start a search of this private dwelling. Heavy fire is showing from at least one window, and the smoke condition at the door is heavy. From the tools in the photograph and knowledge of Fire Department of New York tactics (shown here), this firefighter, probably assigned the water can, has stopped to don his facepiece while the other members of the interior team are already in the building. The can position is assigned a pressurized water extinguisher and a six-foot hook, seen here lying on the stoop. The other member of the forcible entry team is the irons man. The tool assignment for the irons position is the halligan and ax. The ax is lying alongside the house, and the firefighter assigned the “irons” is doing a rapid search carrying just the halligan. The officer is also most likely inside searching. The handline of the first-arriving engine company has not been stretched into place yet.
What are the hazards that need to be recognized as these firefighters start their search? There are several points to consider when searching under these conditions. Probably the most important point to remember when conducting any search, but especially an aggressive search, is that any opening you make to enter a building becomes a source for fresh air to enter and feed the fire. Once the new air supply is introduced, the fire will start to spread in that direction as it intensifies. Because of this, some truck companies make the water extinguisher an integral part of the interior teams’ tools. The water extinguisher, or can, can be used to limit the fire spread. By applying the stream to the overhead, they can slow the fire spread along the ceiling. If possible, close any doors between the main body of fire and the new air supply. Sometimes the can may be used to drive the fire back into the room or area of origin, and a second firefighter, using a hand tool, may be able to pull the door closed.
But even with the hand extinguisher or even a handline, there is the possibility that fire might reach your point of entry. This brings up the second important point. Always conduct your searches with a secondary means of escape in mind. While doing your initial size-up, try to determine the layout of the fire building. Although there are always exceptions to most rules, layouts by type or design of building usually follow set plans. A bilevel house in upstate New York has the same features as a bilevel house in California. Names may change (a raised ranch vs. a bilevel, for example), but the general layout should be similar.
Use the locations of windows and doors in an attempt to verify the layout. In most houses, the front door does not put you into the master bedroomor even the kitchen, for that matter. Large picture windows are not usually found in bathrooms, but they are found in living rooms, dining rooms, and even dens. The style of house and locations and sizes of windows can help determine floor plans.
Know which rooms normally have doors. Have a plan for those that don’t; doors have been removed from closets and other rooms only to be put in front of an open doorway. Always keep in mind that the fire is spreading. If no water is being applied, the fire is getting bigger.
Communication becomes a very important part of the aggressive search. Before starting this search, the incident commander should be aware of what is about to happen. The engine company should be told that firefighters are already in the building and that the line needs to get into position. Once in position, they should also realize that they need to hold that position or drive the fire back away from this area until the searching firefighters are accounted for. They cannot let the fire overtake the entrance from which the searchers entered. Within the ladder team itself, all members should be aware of who is searching what area and how.
VES, or vent-enter-search, is another aggressive search tactic. In photo 5, two firefighters are getting ready to enter the second floor of this house. The fire is located in the rear of the second floor and has cut off access to the front rooms by the stairs. While the engine company stretches and waits for water, the outside team ascends over a portable ladder and ventilates the windows of the front rooms. They will enter these windows to search them as soon as possible. As in the other types of searches performed without the protection of a handline, this type of search has an added danger. By performing VES, the firefighters entering the building are putting themselves on the opposite side of the fire from where the engine will be attacking. This puts them in direct line of not only the stream but also of all the heat and steam generated when the fire is attacked. This can be a very punishing position. Coupled with the fact that the fire is already drawing toward the fresh supply of air makes this a very dangerous position. But it also is the quickest way to reach people trapped in these front rooms.
 Photo by author |
Once you gain access to the room, remember to shut the door, if there is one. Again, most bedrooms have doors, so you should be looking for the door right away. Once the door has been shut, two things happen. One, the ventilation that we performed is now for our room only; second, the fire is no longer “pulling” toward the new supply of oxygen. By just closing a door, you have borrowed some time.
VES is a tremendous way to put firefighters where the victims may beespecially at night in two-story homes. The bedrooms, normally found on the second floor, will be severely exposed from any fire on the first floor or basement. The smoke, heat, and toxic gases will rapidly render the second floor untenable. The fire on the first floor must be knocked down to access the stairs. This will take too much time for the victims upstairs. But by placing ladders to available windows or porches, access to these upper levels is possible. The use of these ladders also puts you above the fire, a dangerous place to be.
Before going above a fire, whether by the interior stairs or a portable ladder, you need to realize that you are going to be operating in the most dangerous place on the fireground. Working above the fire puts you directly into the high heat and heavy smoke being generated by the fire below. The fire will be trying to spread to your location; while it is doing that, it is weakening structural members so that now you need to worry about collapse. So why go there? Because that’s where the people are! It is that simple. You have the proper gear, you are wearing an SCBA, and most of your victims have neither! Yes, it is smoky and, yes, it is hot; but that’s what your equipment is for.
Although searching aggressively is dangerous, so is almost everything on the fireground. Proper turnout gear coupled with good training makes for aggressive firefighters. And aggressive firefighters may just reduce the number of civilians killed in fires every year.
BOB PRESSLER, a 23-year veteran of the fire service, is a retired lieutenant with Rescue Company No. 3 of the Fire Department of New York. He created and produced the videos Peaked-Roof Ventilation and SCBA Safety and Emergency Procedures 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, and is a member of a volunteer department.
