ALL FIREFIGHTERS ARE FAMILIAR with the new taxpayers (or strip malls) found on block after block in every city and small town in America. Many excellent and informative articles have been published covering access to the roll-down doors or scissor gates often found securing main entrances and display windows after business hours. Through-the-lock techniques are highly effective on the commonly encountered narrow stile tubular aluminum doors with mortise locks. In addition, firefighters are aware of the hazards found inside a deep-seated fire in these occupancies when the display windows are vented before the engine company arrives at the seat of the fire with an adequate handline. The entry and hazards on side A are well defined and covered, but what about the taxpayer fortress on side C?
With security concerns reaching out of urban centers into the suburbs and even rural communities, all fire departments can face heavy-duty forcible entry in these common commercial buildings. There are three keys to success: size-up, equipment, and techniques.
Most new taxpayers of block construction will have a door on side C for emergency egress and routine deliveries (photo 1). These doors are not used by the general public and usually open to an alley, loading dock area, or service road with limited access. Store owners face increased risk to burglary at these points because of their seclusion, and they have beefed them up accordingly (photo 2).
 1. Photos by author. |
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 2. |
Firefighters have a traditional need for access based on the need for suppression, rescue, service, or investigation. Generally, we don’t force a heavily fortified door for service calls or “smells and bells” investigations. Let’s review the reasons for spending time on these tough doors.
An aggressive firefight will often consist of an engine company’s advancing a line through the front of the occupancy. When an engine company is advancing deep into an occupancy often overloaded with merchandise and cut up into confusing layouts, there should be other means of egress if needed. Many of these occupancies have no other means of egress. Should the engine company manage to find the door, it will often be secured from the inside with padlocked slide bolts and drop bars.
When the truck company is assigned forcible entry on side C (usually the second in-truck or other arriving company), the size-up begins on dispatch. If you have been diligent in your preincident survey and know your district, the address information will tell you what level of security to expect in a particular neighborhood, as well as the specific building and any special hazards associated with the property. On arrival, the company officer should scope out side A; it is important to note fire location, size, and how many and what size hoselines are in the front door. Which store is the fire compartment and which are the exposures? How likely is it that fire has spread to either? Has the engine officer called for water, indicating he has found the seat of the fire? Have the display windows been taken out? Take note of the names of the fire occupancy and the two exposures, but also count the number of units from the left or right of the building. Often, the rear doors are not marked or have the names of a previous tenant stenciled on them. You should know which door is the fire occupancy. There are usually no windows in the rear, and it might not be readily apparent.
Hopefully, the service road will be large enough to drive your apparatus to side C. If possible, the chauffeur should raise the aerial ladder to the roof while the other members assemble the tools. Use the radio to notify the incident commander (IC) and the roof team of what has been done. This simple act provides a reliable second way off the roof for the roof team on the first-in ladder company.
If the apparatus cannot fit down a narrow or dumpster-filled alley, place your tools on a 24-foot extension ladder; if the building is a standard one story, you can still reach the roof. The 24-foot ladder will help the short-staffed ladder companies (two firefighters) carry all the equipment in one trip (place everything on the ladder, and carry it flat). If possible, have the officer or an experienced member size up the doors while the equipment is readied.
The minimum basic equipment for most applications will be a halligan and a flathead ax, an eight- to 10-pound sledgehammer, and a rotary saw with an aluminum oxide blade. The fortress needed to make entry is usually an outward-swinging steel door with a steel frame set in a masonry wall (photo 3).
 3. |
The variables that make the job interesting are the various locking hardware used to secure the door. The locking hardware can work its way up from the standard mortise lock with entry hardware, perhaps reinforced with a plate covering the deadbolt where it passes from the door to the jamb (photo 4). The next most common feature is the addition of one or more side bolts. The bolts can be installed to secure the opening side to the jamb or even the top and bottom of the door to the top of the jamb and the floor. These bolts are often locked on the inside with padlocks. If it isn’t secure enough, a drop bar can be added and padlocked.
 4. |
Low-security door installations should not be a challenge with a halligan and a flathead ax. If there are no locking devices other than the entry hardware, apply the fork of your halligan bevel to the frame near the lock. Have the striking member hit the adz end with short, rhythmic blows as you pull the halligan back from a position closest to the door and out toward the frame, helping the fork slide in between (but not buried in) the jamb and door. Some departments have notched the fork on its side at the point where the tip is past the jamb on most of the typical frames in their area. This indicates that the tool has been fully set. This standard method will work quickly and easily on low-security doors. If you need a gap to create a purchase for the halligan, set the adz end first, then pry up or down to get started.
A door with more security features will require more innovative techniques and a proficient team. Often, you will face a well-fortified door equipped with a plate obstructing the throw of the lock or locks, one or more slide bolts, and possibly a drop bar.
In all fireground operations, size-up, tools, and techniques are essential to success. The protection plate covering the main lock or deadbolt is usually bolted or welded to the door. In either case, a rotary saw with an aluminum oxide blade will cut through the bolt and plate. Though unlikely, if there is enough of a gap between the door and the frame, the blade may cut the lock bar at the same time. A more likely scenario is that you will need to gap the door. A thinking firefighter will set the ax blade or the adz of the halligan in the space between the door and the jamb. If the tool obstructs the path of the saw, crib up the gap with that door wedge on your helmet and remove the tool.
The next obstacle may be one or more slide bolts or a drop bar; they are either simple sliding bolts/bars or secured with padlocks on the inside, preventing escape or entry to all-including the firefighters. They can penetrate from the door through the jamb opposite the hinge side, or they can be installed to snug up the top and bottom of a door set into the floor or top of the jamb. Fortunately, these devices are readily visible by carriage bolts protruding through the outer door covering. Attack the exposed weak point to gain access.
Depending on the tools available, several methods can defeat the bolts. The quickest method is to shear off the heads of the bolts with a rotary saw, cutting into the door sheathing just behind the bolt head. A more labor-intensive method is to use the adz end of your halligan (it should be maintained chisel sharp) set just behind the bolt head into the door sheathing. The third method is to use the pick of the halligan tool on the bolt head driven by a sledgehammer, pushing the head through the outer skin of the door, loosening the bracket that holds the lock in place.
Don’t forget to try to open the door after defeating each locking device in multiple-lock installations-the mortise, deadbolt, upper slide bolt, and so on. Not all locks may be secured. Why force more than you have to?
Once you have forced open the door, you must force open the doors in the attached exposures as well. Secure the doors open with a chock, or tie them off to a nearby object with your webbing or a short length of utility rope. Do not let the door close on the members operating inside. Inform the IC as you open each door so companies operating in each area will know they have another option for emergency egress.
Remember the importance of assigning adequate support to side C of these modern taxpayers. The benefits directly relate to increased safety of the roof and interior companies. You will successfully complete these tasks by practicing efficient size-up, using basic forcible entry equipment, and becoming proficient in the techniques described in this article.
DAVID DESTEFANO, an 18-year veteran of the North Providence (RI) Fire Department, is a lieutenant in Engine Co. 3. He previously served 13 years in Ladder Co. 1. He is an instructor for the Rhode Island Fire Academy, where he teaches topics including FAST company operations and a ladder company program he co-developed.
