For All of Us

ON FIRE ❘ by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO

Saving lives is the main focus of our firefighting efforts. Unfortunately, over the course of decades, firefighters have laid down their lives in the performance of duty while attempting to rescue people in peril. It can happen at a fire or an emergency scene, where a rescue is the only hope a victim has. The “for them” mantra is an awesome one to live by, but are our efforts to portray it and act on it always reality? Sure, we do deeds of daring and pull off superhuman acts, but do we always win or are we able to pull it off? Plus, if we’re better prepared, could the rescue have gone faster and safer?

Training

If you’re not drilling on reality, you’re only hurting yourself. Using the forcible entry saw to cut some rebar props while standing up in a vertical position on solid ground doesn’t make you an expert. When it comes to firefighter training, strive to simulate real-world problems you may find on fireground. Have you knelt down and cut below you to simulate the time when you have sunken security bars in the below grade basement windows? Or have you placed a ladder to the second floor and cut the security bars with some type of portable or battery operated cutter to rescue the victim pressed up against the window? Practicing the basics doesn’t mean just the basics; add some reality to your drills by viewing buildings in your response area and the issues you’ll encounter when those buildings are on fire.

Complacency

We’ve all been complacent at one time or another, but can we change that by wearing our gear on even the most nuisance of calls? These runs may occur often, but they can have the ability to turn into or be the most crucial run of your career. Have your personal protective equipment on and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) on your back, and if you’re waiting to hear whether to stretch a hoseline or not, be at the rear step or crosslay area so when it’s called for, it happens in split seconds. Wasting time sitting in the crew cab is another second that the growing fire gains headway on you!

For the engine company chauffeurs, are you getting off the rig, checking the hydrant, and letting it flow to get the rust or debris out of it before it clogs your intake’s screen? Truck chauffeurs can also get off the rig and look for any clues or evidence of a fire and size-up their positioning options.

Fireground Size-Up

If you think size-up is just the officer’s job, you’ve been taught wrong. Every firefighter must conduct their own personal size-up to ensure the firefight is successful and safe. Sure, you’re going to see things that are compromised, but if you train to react to these situations, you may be able to perform the rescue to save “them” that much quicker. The burnt-out stairwell is one of those situations where fire had control of the basement and jeopardized the stairwell’s treads to the second floor; a keen firefighter had the sense to run a straight or roof ladder up the stairs for access and egress to trapped victims.

When you encounter this situation, there better be a two-prong attack going on by the truck company. Vent-enter-search operations should be performed in unison. They should be done off portable ladders, a porch roof, or an aerial device to reach victims on the upper floor.

Often when you are searching for victims, you’ll place yourself in dangerous situations and areas. Although you’re focused on the victims, you must keep your wits about you. Gaining access up narrow attic stairs to search the living space is a tough place to be. Knee walls often hide fire and create high heat levels; fire growth can rapidly impact your operations. Yes, you’re pushing yourself for them, but you’re also doing it for yourself, your safety still matters.

Watching the air gauge on your SCBA and realizing you may or may not to be able to complete the rescue by yourself or you may have to abandon it can be a reality. You can leave the victim in an area where another crew can be directed to complete the removal. Operating in a building with multiple floors of smoke, carbon monoxide, and other gases isn’t a place for a firefighter to become another victim or transmit a Mayday message, when you already have a rescue operation being performed. You can push yourself to the limit, but you also have to be aware of your equipment’s limitations and your surroundings.

Leadership

When you get promoted or elected to the officer rank, responsibilities and duties change. The crew on the apparatus you responded with is the same crew you want to return safely to the firehouse. You’re the supervisor, the safety manager, and the eyes and ears of the command chief standing outside. You have to be keen on your size-up, monitor conditions, and consider an alternate strategy for a rescue when you’re cut off by the fire. Will you be able to go into an adjoining area and breach a wall to get to that room where the victim is trapped? Or will you have to call off the search because the fire is now rolling over your head, the entire hallway is engulfed, the pressurized water can is empty, and the engine company’s hoseline hasn’t arrived yet?

Life and rescue are always our first priority, but now and then we’re going to have to cease the operation if we face astronomical challenges. It’s something none of us like to talk about. We don’t like failure, but as an officer, is it right to jeopardize or lose a firefighter’s life by failing to supervise? Officers need to know and judge the conditions that surround them at all times. We’ll push our members and ourselves to do daring deeds, but sometimes the ultra-hazardous environment overcomes our abilities. It’s important to do it—for all of us.

MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 36-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 International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.