Almost every book, article, and training session on size-up that I have read or attended taught that effective size-up begins with preplanning (before receipt of the alarm). Although many fire departments respond mainly to fires in single-family residential occupancies, we also respond to fires in commercial occupancies. Most departments do not have the resources to preplan every residential occupancy in their jurisdiction. Preplanning residential fires is a must (if that is where you fight fires). You must make generalizations concerning these residential occupancies. As an example, in Toledo, most houses are around 1,000 square feet per floor (which should provide an initial ideal rate of flow). Most were built before 1960, and the vast majority are of wood-frame platform construction. In the older parts of town, there are still many balloon-frame houses. Crews that work in these areas are aware of this and should know the telltale signs of balloon framing.
The Toledo Fire Department had prefire plans since I came on the job. All were for commercial buildings. Up until 10 or so years ago, all preplans were multipaged and dealt with construction, occupancy, built-in fire protection, floor plans, a multitude of other details, and first- and second-alarm initial assignments.
Preplans are assigned to the house captain, who divides them up by shift. Every Thursday (weather permitting), crews work on preplans. New buildings are assigned, and existing plans are reviewed. This is a continuous process. Over the past 10 years, we have developed short preplans as well as more voluminous full preplans. Short preplans contain essential initial information on the building including size, construction features, built-in fire protection, and the initial ideal rate of fire flow required. All companies and chief officers carry these plans. We hope to include the short preplans on our mobile data terminals (MDTs), eliminating the hard copies.
The incident commander decides when, if, and who will pull the preplan. I have been to many fires where preplans were pulled and used and proved quite helpful. At other fires, because of the involvement on arrival, the plans were pulled very late into the fire, if at all. I believe that as time goes on, preplans will prove more and more beneficial. Once they are on the MDT, they will be available with the push of a button and used much more often.- John “Skip” Coleman, deputy chief of fire prevention, Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue, is author of Incident Management for the Street-Smart Fire Officer (Fire Engineering, 1997) and Managing Major Fires (Fire Engineering, 2000), a technical editor of Fire Engineering, and a member of the FDIC Educational Advisory Board.
Question: Prefire planning is critical to safe and efficient fireground operations, particularly at industrial and manufacturing occupancies. How does your department conduct prefire planning, and how well is it working?
Rick Lasky, chief,
Lewisville (TX) Fire Department
Response: This is an area that is easy to overlook or forget about and is not addressed in many places. When you look at the invaluable information that can be gathered, it’s an assignment that should be placed on top of the list again. But, it takes some effort on different fronts to get it done right.
The leadership must support it. Often, it becomes one of those calendar fillers or ISO requirements and doesn’t get enough attention or isn’t considered as important as it should be. It’s not as exciting as doing a live burn, a RIT drill, or cutting cars apart; but, if done correctly, it can help us when we need it most, when we’re doing battle or even before the battle starts. Administration has to make it a priority.
The company officer also has to make it a priority; it should not be just one of those “let’s go out and get this done” things. The time taken to conduct a prefire plan is well worth it, considering what it’s going to do for you in the long run. Knowing the locations of exits, hazards, utilities, and fire department connections makes the job easier and safer.
With today’s technology, it is no longer necessary to use drafting tables. There are so many means for making this job easier. But, even if you have to do the drawing yourself, it would still be worth the work.
In Lewisville, each company is responsible for certain buildings and complexes. As part of the monthly drill calendar, the company goes out and preplans those buildings. When the firefighters complete their plans, they turn their work in to the Training Division, which looks it over and places the information into the database, which is available to everyone. We also use our city’s GIS system, which makes building templates much easier. Target hazards and those with the potential to cause a large loss of life are given priority, but plans for all buildings must be completed.
Ron Hiraki, assistant chief,
Gig Harbor (WA) Fire & Medic One
Response: We have an excellent and active prefire program. Firefighters can identify buildings that need a prefire plan, but the Prevention Division more often identifies them through inspections and plan reviews. A “draft” prefire plan is created and passed between Prevention and Operations. Prevention produces and finalizes the prefire plan after Operations firefighters walk through the buildings to check on elements critical to firefighting. Each group enters the information in their memories and database. When prefire plans are completed, they are printed and distributed to a limited number of books, which helps to keep the books accurate and up to date.
An electronic copy of the prefire plan is entered in our mapping program. We have computers in all of our staffed units. When units are dispatched to a location, a red triangle on the map alerts firefighters that a prefire plan is available. The plan is accessed by touching the screen. The computerized method is easier and faster to use than looking for a paper copy in a three-ring binder.
Prevention Specialist Steve Bowman is currently going to prefire inspections with each station and shift of firefighters. He shows the firefighters the items he looks for and includes i0n a prefire plan. Likewise, the firefighters have an opportunity to describe their needs and concerns with him. This interface between the prefire manager and the firefighters is critical. Additionally, it helps to reduce the time spent creating a quality prefire plan.
Leigh Hollins, battalion chief,
Cedar Hammock (FL) Fire Rescue
Response: Our department has employed several variations of prefire planning over the years. Currently, our Operations Division is responsible for what we call “tactical surveys” (TS). All occupancies, which meet certain criteria, are surveyed (a company survey), and a diagram is prepared. This information is available on hard copy in each apparatus, command vehicle, and station. We are in the process of installing MDTs in each apparatus and staff vehicle. The data have already been scanned into our computers; we are awaiting a link to our communication center to proceed with that project.
The criteria we use to determine whether a building requires a TS include the following: buildings containing a fire sprinkler system, excluding single-family or duplex residences; buildings with a monitored automatic fire alarm system; buildings more than 15,000 square feet; institutional occupancies; and special hazard occupancies or structures.
The TS includes information on utilities, emergency contacts, protection systems, special strategy/tactical considerations, type of construction, roof support type, special hazards, occupancy type, and a general floor plan drawing.
The tactical surveys, along with company fire inspections, hydrant flowing and inspections, construction walk-throughs, and training “skull sessions” from time to time, provide our firefighters and fire officers with a well-rounded program to make sure our personnel have a good knowledge of the buildings they must enter during all types of emergencies.
Gary Seidel, chief,
Hillsboro (OR) Fire Department
Response: Our fire inspectors work with the suppression personnel to ensure we have reviewed all appropriate occupancies, especially those with unusual fire or safety hazards. We evaluate construction type, occupancy type, fire loads, storage, building inventory, exposures, egress and access points, and water supply. We look at existing building and occupancy records and use site plans from our new construction inspectors, or we create them. Our inspections and prefire tours are done with the cooperation of the owner/occupants.
The preplans are entered into our computers and are available to the entire department. They are also added to our CAD system, are available on our mobile data computers, and are tied to our in-vehicle mapping program for use at an emergency scene. We also have hard copies in the stations and on the apparatus, in case of a computer malfunction.
We periodically revise our existing prefire plans. If there is a change in an occupancy or building, we complete or revise the prefire plan based on the new occupancy certification. Firefighter Ted Whiteman is responsible for the successful program.
Christopher J. Weir, division chief,
Port Orange (FL) Department of Fire & Rescue
Response: Each engine company performs annual fire inspections within its assigned district. Our engine crews have developed prefire planning in high hazard-type occupancies while performing their respective company inspections despite recommendations against it, as stated in Chapter 25 from the 6th edition of the The Fire Chief’s Handbook. In our case, this approach works well, since we are in the building identifying facets of life safety with one engine company fire inspector; the remaining company officer and crew are documenting or updating items such as current personnel contact numbers for after-hour responses, hazardous materials storage, egress points, the closest water supply and connections, and fire alarm and sprinkler systems. In some cases, our companies return for a more comprehensive evaluation to complete the plan.
We are developing a more standardized system. Company officers are designing the system, which will facilitate the timely entry of all the information we would need if there were a fire or hazardous materials release in a structure.
Prefire plans are needed to effectively evaluate and upgrade tactical considerations when a company is the first-arriving unit. It is especially important to inspect new buildings under construction so that tactical objectives related to the construction risk can be developed. Visit the construction site, identify potential hazards firefighters may encounter, get to know the job site managers, and obtain emergency phone contacts. Once the building is constructed and occupied, alter the tactical objectives as necessary and evaluate them through scheduled inspections or your prefire plan policy.
The late Francis L. Brannigan stated, “The people who build buildings are not primarily concerned with the likelihood of fire or other problems that will be met by fire suppression forces.” So it’s up to all of us to review, plan, implement, evaluate, and update-and then repeat these steps as often as necessary.
Jeffrey Schwering, lieutenant,
Crestwood (MO) Department of Fire Services
Response: We have incorporated our prefire planning into our annual business inspection program, enabling all members to take an active role in the preplanning process. Updates are made to the structure’s preplan when necessary. We have found new businesses that moved into a structure without notifying the city or the fire department of the type of products they produce or store.
The preplans are made readily available to all platoons for training purposes. They are used in company drills and drills with our automatic-aid companies. It is possible that our equipment may be on other assignments and that an automatic-aid company will be first due to an incident in our city. The chief and assistant chief/fire marshal approve all preplans.
It has been at least 10 years since our department has recorded a fire loss in a commercial business. Updates and changes will continue to be made to the program as our buildings change, to ensure the safety of all members operating at a potential working incident.
Thomas Dunne, deputy chief,
Fire Department of New York
Response: In our department, individual fire units do prefire planning daily. We encourage our companies to do a mental size-up at each building inspection. They consider the fire tactics appropriate to each building and forward information regarding dangerous or unusual site conditions. This information becomes part of the data given to units when dispatched to the location for a fire.
In addition, in-depth prefire plans are written for occupancies that have the potential for a complex fire operation. Large transportation centers, high-rises, and some commercial buildings may call for chiefs to prepare a formalized, written plan addressing evacuation, fire suppression systems, construction details, and other concerns. Such plans are used to conduct multiunit drills at the site and to provide vital information for a chief commanding an emergency operation.
Prefire planning and fire prevention activity generally are not considered “glamour” aspects of the fire service. Most firefighters (including me) are more stimulated by hands-on strategy and firefighting tactics. However, the value of prefire planning cannot be overstated in a city like New York with its large, crowded occupancies that are continually aging and constantly subjected to illegal renovations.
FDNY makes effective use of daily inspections, prefire plans, and enhanced dispatch information to help fire units deal with these challenges. On numerous occasions, I have altered my firefighting strategy based on the information gathered through previous planning. Detailed building knowledge, well-conceived plans, and determined firefighters have often made my job as an incident commander much easier and safer.
Craig H. Shelley, EFO, CFO, MIFireE,
fire protection advisor,
Advanced Fire Training Center,
Saudi Aramaco Fire Protection
Response: Our local fire units conduct familiarization visits to plants and nonindustrial facilities. During these visits, they use surveys to identify new or update existing information for preincident response plans. When I was a young lieutenant, I worked with a captain who had a large sign over his desk that read, “Knowledge is power.” How true! With the knowledge that preincident response planning gives us, we have a portion of the power necessary to mitigate the incident. A preincident response plan should include vital information concerning an occupancy, such as the presence of hazardous materials and their locations, fixed and semifixed fire suppression systems, locations and quantities of water supplies, foam application rates where necessary, additional resources available from the industry or occupancy, access routes, construction of the facility/plant, and a line drawing of the location.
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for specific hazards in the plant-e.g., confined spaces-should be developed and referenced in or attached to the preincident response plan. Include contact information for key plant personnel. Regarding preincident response plans for industrial occupancies, you must practice operational security (OPSEC)-they contain sensitive material and must be kept locked in an area on your vehicles so they do not get stolen. Update these plans annually; remove old copies from service and shred them. In many cases, these documents are controlled and numbered. To be effective, preincident response plans must be updated, read, used at incidents, and incorporated in drills.
John O’Neal, chief,
Manassas Park (VA) Fire Department
Response: Having the home field advantage of knowing the buildings in your district-how they are constructed and the hazards they present-is key to bringing fires and other incidents to a successful conclusion and keeping responders alive. Yet, experience has shown that some firefighters and officers put little importance on this task until they need it during an event. Our organization was no different a year and half ago: Only a fraction of the buildings in our small jurisdiction had been preplanned, and many of the plans were outdated.
After analyzing our shortcomings, the department established a plan of action and set goals to preplan all commercial and public structures in the city before the end of the 2006 calendar year (after press time). Each of the three shifts was assigned geographical areas (existing zone boxes) to survey and complete or update the prefire plans. The administrative lieutenant was assigned to coordinate the activities and maintain the books carried in the apparatus. Once all the commercial and public occupancies are completed, the preplans will be updated at least every three years. The ultimate goal is to incorporate the drawings and information into PDF files and have them available for viewing and retrieval from the apparatus CAD/mobile data computers, eliminating the three-ring binders now carried on the apparatus.
Mike Mason, lieutenant,
Downers Grove (IL) Fire Department
Response: Prefire planning has been incorporated into our departmental operations on one level or another for some time. Company officers and their members have provided preplanning throughout the years from hand drawings, computer-generated drawings and symbols, and preexisting floor and building plans. The gathering and updating process is constant and continuous. We provide critical information on buildings and structures to our members often, sometimes daily, usually through computer communications.
Prefire planning is a very important component of a company officer’s job, especially in the first-due area. The formal preplan is turned over to our Fire Prevention Division. The company officer’s “informal fire preplan” is conducted with company members: They go out into the response area to size up structures to determine potential firefighting strategies and tactics to cover all hazard concerns for the fire suppression effort if a fire were to occur-collapse, hazardous materials, and a host of other potential hazards related to the building’s use and occupancy.
It is the company officer’s responsibility to see that company members have a sound game plan for a structure that may pose problems during the fire suppression effort. Officers and company members should be proactive and identify situations within buildings that may impede or jeopardize their actions and safety. The preplanning information is disseminated throughout the department through e-mail correspondence and cognitive training.
The technologies available today provide an expedient source of strategic and tactical information for everyone on the fireground. Computerized dispatching systems that provide for on-screen viewing of the hazards of a given structure without question can be a lifesaver for civilians and firefighters.
What you put into your preplan will determine how credible and useful it will be in the heat of the battle. In addition to the basic information generally found in a preplan, information pertaining to the following areas should also be included and made available to firefighters, company officers, and chief officers: life hazards and potential fire spread, a tactical and strategic plan related to potential hazards within a structure, factors that may necessitate evacuation of the structure, and strategies pertaining to protecting exposures.
Brian K. Singles, firefighter,
Hampton (VA) Fire Department
Response: We conduct prefire planning monthly. All three shifts of each of the 10 stations are required to develop at least four preplans per month. They are responsible for all of the businesses in their first-due district. Target hazards such as hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, shopping malls, and other places that have a high-occupancy rating are updated yearly; occupancies such as convenience stores and small businesses are updated every two years. Each first-due engine company has a binder with the preplans for easy access by the responding crew.
Vital information is contained in each preplan-name; emergency contacts; gas; water, and electrical shutoffs; overhead wires; emergency exits; the two closest fire hydrants; and the building’s accessibility for large apparatus (ladder and rescue), for example. The officer and crew are responsible for reporting to the fire marshal’s office for follow-up any obvious discrepancies noted during the preplan inspection.
Prefire plans are a huge help for the new members transferred into a station for the shift or permanently. The plans are usually filed in alphabetical order by street address and number. Prefire planning is an important function of a fire department. Some may think it is not worth the effort, but being able to reference an up-to-date preplan could save your life and the lives of your crew.
Christopher Fleming, lieutenant,
Portland (ME) Fire Department
Response: Our department’s prefire planning is rolled into our fire prevention inspection program. All company inspections are entered into our department computer system. Some of the information collected has to do with roof construction and floor assemblies, egress, utilities, hydrant locations, and fire protection systems. We can add other information in the narrative section. Once in the system, the company officer can flag the property through dispatch. Some of our officers send e-mail notifications to department members about hazards found during inspections.
The biggest drawback to this program is that the focus of our building inspections is code enforcement, not prefire planning. Although many companies do informal preplanning, there is no departmentwide prefire planning program. The department is proactive in placarding “vacant” and “dangerous” buildings (defined in our standard operating guidelines as “a structure that is partially occupied and where another section is in an unsafe condition”). The placards are labeled with a “V” or a “D” on a red, yellow, or green reflective background and posted in a visible location. Green indicates the building is sound for interior operations if needed, yellow indicates the need for extra caution, and red signals that only exterior operations should be implemented unless approved by the incident commander. A list of these buildings is distributed to every company and is periodically updated. These buildings are still searched, but the extent and timing are not as they would be for an occupied structure.
Brian Halwachs, assistant chief,
French Village (IL) Fire Department
Response: We are currently updating our preplans. We have used them for more than 20 years and have found that the information they provide is crucial to our operations. The problem we have is that the plans are in binders on the trucks and staff vehicles and take up valuable storage space. We recently purchased software; one of our captains will upload the data. Our ultimate goal is to place a computer in each vehicle so the preplans will be readily available.
Our crews go into the buildings and update the plans every year. We also drill on the plans and fine-tune them as we go. The more eyes that look over the plans, the better the chances of finding errors or the need for revisions if conditions have changed over the course of the year. Preplans for commercial occupancies are especially helpful; they provide the information needed to make informed decisions while developing the incident action plan for an emergency and allow us to conduct “what-if” scenarios and drills.
Joseph D. Pronesti, captain,
Elyria (OH) Fire Department
Response: My department aggressively pursued an in-depth prefire planning program about two years ago. Then, we were hit with personnel cutbacks, and it was pushed to the curb. In my opinion, it should not matter whether you have five or 50 firefighters on duty-you are going to have fires in these buildings, and you must be ready.
We conduct fire inspections in every commercial and industrial building yearly; we look for fire hazards, extension cord violations, and excessive storage near open flame, and we update contact information. However, we have no standards on how to inspect the structures, and, as stated above, we have stopped developing prefire plans. Some of our firefighters have never been in our old downtown commercial buildings or have not been in them for years.
Company officers need to take it upon themselves to informally get their crews out and into these buildings. Although it is the departments’ responsibility to coordinate and implement procedures on how to conduct prefire plans, smart, dedicated company officers will take their firefighters through all buildings in their first-due district regardless of prefire plans.
The potential downside of formal prefire plans is the lack of follow-up after they are created. Buildings and occupancies change. A department that simply wants a nice binder full of laminated maps may soon realize just how quickly they become outdated because of the rush to get them all written down on paper. That’s why I advocate the informal company preplan-a company can go any time of the day and mentally preplan and go over a building as often as it wants.
Most firefighters carry the perfect prefire tool on them-a cell phone with which you can take photos. They can take pictures in the buildings and pictures of the outside, the basement, the roof-supporting systems, and of any unusual hazards. They then can view them at the kitchen table, print them out, and share the information.
I hope my department gets back into preplanning buildings, but our officers (or the officers of any U.S. fire department for that matter) should not use the lack of a written procedure as an excuse for not being familiar with an industrial or commercial building in their respective district. The fire service cannot use the lack of resources and personnel as excuses for stopping potentially lifesaving programs like prefire planning. It doesn’t take any fancy computerized systems or procedures, just desire.
You must know your battlefield and enemy like the back of your hand, regardless of whether you have a prefire plan and whether you roll in with three or six firefighters on your apparatus. Just get out and do it.
Susan M. Kirk, fire prevention officer/firefighter/EMT,
Warren County (VA) Fire and Rescue
Response: Our department in the past year developed a program for conducting preplanning inspections and writing the preplans. We started by identifying the target hazards of our county and assigning career staff members to walk through these target hazard locations to make an initial assessment of the site. They also are to gather floor plans, Tier Two reports, MSDSs, and any other pertinent information the business establishment can provide.
The information is entered into our firehouse program so that it coincides with our run sheets and reports. The information is then passed on to me. I place it on our county form and digitally map the site using our software, which shows the information we, as first responders, would use on an incident scene. I create a long form that includes all information provided by the commercial site and any other valuable information that would be needed in a long-term incident and place all this information in our “Preplan Main Book.” This information can also be accessed digitally; it is scanned onto a CD and placed in the book’s pockets. The information also is condensed into a one-page (short) form, which contains information needed by the first-in units. A site map is on the back of the short form, which is stored in our “Unit Preplan Book.”
This program has been extremely successful in helping us to decrease the time on-scene during a fire alarm activation because we know all the alarm sectors and the locations of the alarm panels in the buildings. Our EMS units no longer have to be escorted by security at large facilities because we know the location of the dock or entrance to which we are being dispatched. Entrance codes are now quickly accessible; there no longer are units lining up at a gate after hours waiting on a chief with the proper code. (We have also been able to get more support with the key lock box program.)
The benefits outweigh the time and labor involved in preplanning, and it is an excellent way to sell your department to the community. Everyone in that business sees us there on the walk-through and takes mental note that we are making an effort to make the workplace safer and improve our response to their emergencies. We have also incorporated fire extinguisher training, evacuation plan evaluations, and hydrant testing and maintenance on private systems into the program. We hope to preplan all commercial structures in the county and to make this a vital function in our department. You can never prepare enough.
Jim Grady III, chief,
Frankfort (IL) Fire District
Response: When a building plan for a new building is received, our Fire Prevention Bureau reviews it and passes it on to the fire/rescue companies for review. The next step is on-site visits to watch the building’s progress, giving a hands-on building construction and tactics/strategy class.
When the building is completed, there is a full company tour during which all areas of concern are reviewed-access points, alarm panels, and sprinkler connections, for example.
This system has been working well, especially having the members of the fire/rescue companies getting the bird’s eye view, since they will be entering the building for EMS or suppression activities. The feedback from the members has been favorable.
Within the next 24 months, we will be on a new CAD system at a new dispatch center, which will make it possible for officers to access the information immediately.
James Mason, lieutenant,
Chicago (IL) Fire Department
Response: Our in-service company inspection program focuses primarily on commercial occupancies and schools. The list of the locations to be inspected is generated in the Fire Prevention Bureau. The fire companies do a walk-through in all the common areas, including the basements, and then survey the outside perimeter of the building. The officer can write a violation for obvious problems found and send it to the Building Department. These inspections have been conducted for many years and provide a layout along with information on the dangers in occupancies.
In addition to preplanning the occupancies, some fire companies use EMS runs to preplan residential occupancies. Looking for unusual layouts in residential occupancies for the hose stretch and search can give responding firefighters a quicker and more effective size-up on arrival at the scene.
Sean Slamon, battalion chief,
Modesto (CA) Fire Department
Response: We currently divide prefire plans into two components. The first is the written prefire plan we call a “detail page.” The two-sided, legal-size report is prepared for buildings with a sprinkler system and two or more risers, occupancies with sufficient hazardous materials to present an unusual hazard, apartment complexes, hotel and motels containing 20 or more units, business complexes with 12 or more suites, and any building or occupancy determined by the company officer. The front page contains important building information such as type of construction; exposures; estimated fire flow; hazardous materials types, locations, and quantities; FDC and sprinkler locations; key lock box location; and building contact information. The back side of the detail page contains a map of the building’s layout that indicates exits; the number of stories; and the locations of utilities, hydrants, and fire department connections. All detail pages are carried on every fire apparatus, so the company officer can review the building information while en route to the call. All detail pages are updated yearly.
The second component of prefire planning is the multicompany walk-through. Annually, companies host at least one walk-through with the companies on the first-alarm assignment. The walk-through allows everyone from the first-due battalion chief to the rookie firefighter to walk through and discuss different fire and emergency scenarios and to discuss and confirm building construction; fire loads; forcible entry; water supply; fire protection equipment (fire alarms, sprinklers, standpipes); attack strategies; ventilation; RIC; hose size, length, and gpm selection; and previous experience. We also run a hands-on drill at these occupancies after the walk-through.
The prefire walk-through has proven invaluable. Because of retirements and the addition of stations, more than one-third of our department members have less than five years of experience. Getting the first-alarm assignment together to discuss various fire problems enables our veteran firefighters and officers to pass on their experience and knowledge in a training environment. The most important benefit is that our firefighters become familiar with a building prior to responding to an emergency there.
