By Michael N. Ciampo
Pulling up to the three-story isolated wood-frame flat-roof dwelling with fire showing from the third-floor windows, the first-due engine and truck put their standard operating attack tactics into service. The engine stretched a 13⁄4-inch attack line, the truck raised the aerial to the roof for ventilation operations and threw portable ladders, and the engine chauffeur secured a water supply. As we reached the front door to the structure, we saw three doorbells and mailboxes, indicating that each floor was most likely a separate occupancy. The stretch went well, the roof vent was timed perfectly, and the fire was quickly knocked down.
After the fire, one of the members, who was studying for a promotional exam, questioned me about the initial size-up process used at this particular fire. He mentioned the acronym “COAL WAS WEALTH,” which helps make the 13 points easy to recall. But how easy is it to recall any acronym or all 13 points and go through them in milliseconds when you arrive first on the scene? Plus, if you’re wearing a sweatshirt over your T-shirt and your hair is blowing in the wind, then you know it’s cold and windy! So why spend time recalling one of the “Ws” (weather) when you could be performing a better initial size-up? (Consider the effect that premature ventilation and severe wind can have on flame spread and interior operations.)
After you arrive numerous times as the first-due officer, it isn’t immediately necessary to recall all 13 points. Sure, all are important and have value on the fireground, but many times you can use your eyes to size up the structure and fire. Plus, prior knowledge and understanding of operational guidelines for specific structures and occupancies will assist in making a rapid initial size-up.
First priority: life. Life is our primary concern at the fire scene and in our initial size-up. Is there any visible life present at a window? Are there 911 reports of people trapped? Is there an assumed life hazard in the structure because of all the cars parked in the driveway or because the front door’s security chain is on? (You should notice this as you force the door.) If any of these conditions are present, we know to perform a safe and aggressive search. If conditions dictate we can’t, then we may have to revert to an alternate plan or abort the search for our own safety.
If the building is fully involved and not salvageable, we should focus on protecting the most severe life exposure while still putting water on the fire (alternate spraying water on the exposure and the fire itself). If there is an occupied dwelling exposed on one side and a vacant dwelling exposed on the other, our first concern is always the occupied dwelling.
Second priority: fire.Fire is the next concern: What kind of fire? Where is it located? What is the building type? What is the path of fire travel/exposures (all four sides, above, and below)? Is it a small fire that we can handle with the water can, or do we need to pull a 21⁄2-inch hoseline (big fire = big water) or call for additional resources?
The fire can tell us other information. If it’s in a high-rise residential building and we’re using standpipe operations, we know we need to stretch a supply line to feed the siamese connection. (Note: Many siamese connections are color coded and might not have their identities stamped on them. New York City uses the following colors to identify them: red for standpipe, green for sprinkler, and yellow for combination systems.)
When you read the fire, look at the smoke: Is it brown and thick, possibly indicating that it’s burning the wooden structural members or running the walls? Is it black and thick, more common with today’s room and contents (plastics)? Is it pushing under pressure, rolling, or sucking back into the building, all signs of imminent change and part of the size-up of fire conditions?
Third priority: operations. Our final piece of the size-up puzzle is operations. If your department doesn’t have specific standard operating guidelines (SOGs), consider instituting them. It will help the first-due company officer in his initial size-up and decision-making process. Pulling up to an address and viewing a specific type of structure or occupancy will dictate to the officer and members what their initial actions should be. For example, some departments have the SOG that for residential-type structures, they pull the 13⁄4-inch handline as their attack line; if it’s a commercial establishment, they pull the 21⁄2-inch handline.
Having predetermined handline procedures in place takes more of the guesswork out of the officer’s job. If the truck pulls up to a residential structure at 0400 hours, the members might be more of the mind-set to perform aggressive search operations than they would be at a commercial auto body shop. The building and fire can also dictate their roof operations procedures: Cutting the roof of a tenement for a top-floor fire is much safer than putting operating personnel on the roof of a one-story self-storage facility.
Life, Fire, Operations: It’s as simple as one, two, three—L-F-O—for the first-arriving company officer to make a rapid size-up for firefighting operations.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 24-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 “Truck Company: Essentials” H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladder chapter and co-authored the Ventilation chapter for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.
