As we pulled out of quar-ters in the early morning hours, the dispatcher notified us of numerous phone calls reporting “smoke on the 21st and 22nd floors.” As we responded, the talk inside the apparatus was, “Maybe this will be a compactor fire, food on the stove, or rubbish in the stairwell, which this address is famous for.” Arriving at the irregularly shaped (recessed center core of the structure) high-rise residential building, we couldn’t see anything looking up toward the upper floors. A quick scan with the apparatus spotlight also revealed nothing. Remember to proceed to the front of the structure looking up; try to size up the building’s size, shape, floors, and construction. Note other features such as the fire escape locations, windows with smoke or fire showing, visibly spotting the hallways through the windows, outside balconies or decks, utility wires and satellite dishes, security bars or gates on windows, and any other usual characteristics.
