Firefighters can enhance their size-up by considering alternative entry points
The standard physical size-up component upon arrival at a fire is to perform a 360° survey of the building. This task is often undertaken by the first officer on scene for small footprint buildings that have walk-around access on all sides. With larger or attached rows of buildings, the evaluation of the unseen rear side may be accomplished by gaining access to an adjoining building, lower floor, or roof. The point of the 360 is to gain intel on the scope of the fire problem from all sides and to fill in knowledge gaps regarding any previously unseen sides of the fire building.
A 361° size-up examines if there is access and feasibility for using an initial alternative hoseline entry point.
During a 360° size-up, the officer will examine the terrain along the three sides of the building for any physical hazards that would impact the operation, such as building height changes, decks, clutter, and unsafe storage practices. As part of this survey, we must also examine fire conditions, smoke, and whether people are trapped. What we need answered from the walk-around is: Can we successfully deploy our people and equipment to this area and is there a need for immediate action on another building side?
RELATED FIREFIGHTER TRAINING
- The Urban 360
- Advancing the Initial Attack Hoseline
- Quality Hoseline Management for a Better Forward Advance
- Flow Paths and Fire Behavior
Once the officer completes the 360, any actionable information gathered should be shared with the awaiting crew. Information that can impact operational safety should also be transmitted up the chain of command directly or through dispatch.
The firefighters will process this new intel, as it may change what they initially thought about both the building and the fire. The officer will decide if the information gathered will change their initial action plan.
By performing a standard 360—but not a 361° survey—one key factor remains elusive, namely an alternative entry point for the initial attack hoseline.
When you perform a 361° survey of the fire building, you are on the lookout for an alternative hoseline entry point. This is not as simple as realizing the home has another entry door. The 361 alternative entry point must be clearly defined as having value for rapid extinguishment even when the initial hose stretch may be elongated. When you observe fire in an area directly served by an access point, that places that entryway high on the list as a potential hoseline entry location.
If the fire is in an open area on a level lower than the front entry and is served by a sliding door that has or will potentially fail, then this would qualify as a proper alternative initial hoseline entry point. If wind conditions or gusts are impacting the rear of the fire building, placing the hoseline to have the wind at your back is the correct approach.
You should also be looking closely at the open front door to see if it is acting as an exhaust opening. This would indicate that there is another opening providing entry air. If the home’s main entry if it is acting as an exhaust for a lower floor fire, then placing the hoseline at the lower floor entry is an operationally sound decision.
A home’s front door is the most common entry point, with extremely high value for egress and search protection, ease-of-use based on design, and layout understanding. You don’t want to enter through a cluttered rear mud room just because this was another entry door you found. You must pick wisely and use your discretion when you move your hoseline away from the home’s entry because you are now leaving the main egress and search portal unprotected. For the vast majority of fires, using the home’s main entry will provide for a rapid-fire attack and is a sound decision. We can quickly provide stream coverage for search crews while advancing toward the fire.
You must evaluate conditions when you walk around and realize additional time will be needed to deploy your line to the building’s rear. Taking your line to the rear of a raised ranch and having to climb a flight of deck stairs to reach the dining room because the slider has failed and there is no wind condition instead of just going through the front door will delay both extinguishment and search.
Using your size-up skills and a yellow-flag approach to potential situations such as low air entry, high exhaust unidirectional flows and wind-impacted fires is what a 361° size-up is about. These types of fires have caused firefighter injuries and deaths and can be recognized when using a 361° size-up approach because you have prior knowledge and have noted another viable entry point for extinguishment. Having just a unidirectional flow at the entry door does not preclude entry through that doorway. The yellow flag for hoseline entry is when we have a downward advance component and an alternative entry point exists and firefighters do not use it, thereby increasing operational risk towards failure and injury.
The idea behind using an alternative entry point for the line is to provide operational accomplishment when a standard hoseline deployment may not be successful. The alternative entry point should provide direct extinguishment and reduce the need for a high-risk hoseline advance. When the fire can be attacked quickly, search and egress protection will be enhanced. Do a 361 next time for a more tactically robust size-up and the ability to spot performance-based hoseline placement.
Keep Fire in Your Life
RAY McCORMACK is a retired lieutenant and 38-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York. He is the co-creator and editor of Urban Firefighter. He delivered the keynote address “True Values of a Firefighter” at FDIC 2009.
