ON FIRE | by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
Let’s face it: No matter who you are—a firefighter, fire officer, fire instructor, or student of this great profession—we’ve all made a mistake or two on the fireground. Hopefully, those instances have not impacted the overall operations, but there surely have been times that a larger blunder has made a situation worse. The fireground is a chaotic and dynamic scene. Add the adrenaline running through your body and the speed at which you’re operating, and your mind can tell your limbs to do something before it needs to be done. Proper training and prior experiences can help you learn when, where, and how to perform operational tactics.
Venting
Gone are the days of just “taking the windows” on the fireground. Through studies, we’ve learned that a ventilation-limited fire can become more severe in minimal time either inside the structure or vented to the outside by the opening created. Of course, this depends on many situations occurring inside the structure but, as firefighters, we must remember that although ventilation allows smoke (fire gases) to exit, it also allows oxygen to enter. For some students it all goes back to the fire triangle—oh, wait, now the fire tetrahedron: You add oxygen to the three other elements, and you can expect fire. But what about reports of life being trapped inside and we’re going to make entry off the front porch roof into the bedrooms? We’re all being taught that communicating with the advance of the hoseline into the fire and timed ventilation are the keys to proper ventilation tactics.
However, one of the first things we’ve been taught is that life always comes first. So completely venting a second-floor window off a porch roof (removal of the screen, sash, curtains, and blinds) allows you an unobstructed entry and escape route, and sweeping and sounding the floor to ensure no victims are there and the floor is stable enough to hold your weight are still your main concerns for entry. Don’t think taking just the lower portion of the window and then trying to squeeze through it to limit ventilation is a bright idea just because you trained in window bailouts. What if the tank of your self-contained breathing apparatus hits the sash of a metal framed thermal-pane window and you bounce back onto the floor? Plus, the removal of the entire window may allow the now ignited flames to roll out the top of the window, allowing you a flame-free area to escape.
Remember, once we enter the room, we want to focus on searching for a victim but also close the door to prevent pulling the fire toward our ventilation opening. To locate the door, think about the days before central air-conditioning. Homes were built to allow cross-ventilation (windows lined up with the doorway). So using a hook when you first enter the structure and probing for the door may help you shut it quickly. Not only does this provide us with more protection, it also may allow the smoke to lift off the floor or out of the room, assisting in our search operations. Plus, when you take the whole window, superheated smoke can exit the upper levels of the room sooner.
As firefighters, we must always be concerned about feeding the fire and allowing it to grow by indiscriminate ventilation (giving it more oxygen). But we have to remember there are still two key elements of ventilation: venting for fire (timed and coordinated with the engine’s hoseline advance and extinguishment of the fire) and venting for life (venting a specific area, normally the bedrooms, to search for victims). When we teach our ventilation efforts, we strive to make sure everyone communicates the practice before it physically occurs. Maybe we should stress that now the engine officer has control of calling for the ventilation tactics to be implemented so they are timed and coordinated. Although ventilation is normally a truck task, the engine is in the forefront with the line’s advance.
Flowing
When we look at hitting the fire or knocking it down from the outside, we see a lot of techniques, patterns, and tactics in videos on social media. Many of us never liked the idea of putting a narrow fog into the window because research shows the amount of air entrainment is greater with this pattern. It’s important to understand this, as the air being forced inward can have a negative effect on what’s occurring inside the structure. In addition, the fog pattern is taking up the window’s exhaust port and not allowing the fire or gases to ventilate.
A new research-based pattern or tactic has evolved and it is important to relay this to the firefighters operating in the streets to prevent stream mishaps. The “Triple S” or “S-S-S” technique (solid, steep, and steady) is a distinct way to apply water from an exterior vantage point into the structure. Rather than a fog pattern, a solid stream is used so fire can vent without pushing steam or gases back into the structure. The nozzle is held at a steep angle so it hits the ceiling just inside the window, allowing the water to cover more surface area and cooling across the ceiling. It is held steady and not moved; using a sweeping or circular motion can also move air into the structure.
When we’re inside a structure, flowing and moving forward can assist us in providing a constant cooling effect in front of the nozzle’s advance. It also allows the entrained air to push the by-products away from the nozzle team while also pushing the fire back into the room of origin. It’s a difficult maneuver to perform and requires practice to be proficient. Flowing the nozzle in a circular motion or a wall-ceiling-wall method of attack is also recommended. Just make sure you give the floor a good sweep as you move forward!
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 38-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.
MORE MIKE CIAMPO
