PRIVATE-DWELLING FIRES
RANDOM THOUGHTS ON…
America’s heroes—protectors of life from fire! That’s what we are. Say it loud, feel good about it.
So how come we keep losing so many people to fires in private dwellings? These are the smallest occupied structures in our districts, but we still lose about 80 percent of this nation’s civilian death toll —6,000 people— inside these one- and two-story structures. And to make matters more frustrating, we lose them in numbers of one or two per fire incident, usually in their own homes.
None of our departments in the United States can say, “We don’t have those fires around here.’’ We don’t temper our aggressive attack or reduce our training skills at these fires. What is against us that is particular to these occupancies that causes us so much grief and frustration?
Open interior stairs. The open interior staircase —an unprotected, large, vertical flue —allows products of combustion from virtually anywhere in the dwelling to fill the tiny compartments (bedrooms) and hallways on upper floors with the silent killer of the sleeping occupants.
The same open stair offers virtually no protection for the firefighter who wants more than anything to get to the hall landing above the fire and begin a primary search of the bedrooms. The top three stairs are engulfed in a murderous column of heat and gas that can turn even the strongest of us around. There are no partitions to slow down the extending fire that so often traps the firefighter and keeps him from accomplishing his mission. Safety here depends on communication—with the engine operations below; with a partner stationed below the heat column observing conditions and operations on the fire floor; and with members outside, who should know your route and provide secondary means of egress.
Vertical ventilation. A second reason for the unusual number of fire deaths at these occupancies is our inability to quickly ventilate vertically. We cannot easily stop the mushrooming and the horizontal spread and provide the quick relief to the stairs for occupants and firefighters that is more easily accomplished at other buildings, particularly those with flat roofs. One new trend that may help us at these buildings is the openable (or not) residential skylight. Vertical ventilation is probably the single most needed operation at these fires and it’s virtually impossible to do—at least in time to make a difference. Sure, we get it accomplished eventually, but it’s too late to impact what we’re talking about here.
Insufficient personnel. If we had enough firefighters on the scene to stretch proper handlines, search the first floor, attempt to reach the second floor from inside, raise and properly place proper-size portable ladders to at least one window in each bedroom, and enter for simultaneous search from the outside, we probably would impact the savable life hazard positively and the life loss we experience at these dwellings would drop to an acceptable percentage. We then would have done our best. It’s too bad that we can’t seem to get the message across to those responsible for our onscene personnel levels.
Interior layout. Sure, the main living areas take on patterns based on building style —Cape Cod, ranch, split-level, colonial. If we’re sharp we can guess where the stair is most likely to be and which sides the living room, kitchen, dining area, and den are on. After that the rest tends to become a nightmarish maze. Bedrooms can k anywhere. Sure, they’re at the top of the stairs or to the opposite side of the living area, but what about the finished garage or the converted den? Finished basements and extensions can be a drill in confined space entry and movement.
Exterior opening —windows. These can be a nightmare for the firefighter trying to vent, enter, and ‘ search. They come in various shapes, sizes, and operating methods. Many are just too small. High, narrow ranch windows are useless—for us and for civilians. Steel casement windows, usually in dwellings of brick and brick facades, are only 12 or 14 inches on center. How wide are you? How wide are you with your SCBA on?
There are many other factors concerning these structures that will work against us more than in any other type of occupancy. We’ll get into those another time.
