Fireground Size-Up: Check the Rear
You don’t have to be a firefighter in a congested urban city to be mindful of fire conditions in the rear of the building. Buildings of any significant square footage, buildings that are attached in a row, or buildings that extend back from the street for any appreciable distance will require that you take a look at “what is going on in the rear.” In many of what are referred to as “downtown areas,” firefighters will find attached buildings making up the business district in their town. This may be nothing more than a few commercial buildings attached or placed together up to dozens or more that consume an entire city block. In a more common setting in our nation’s cities, firefighters will not only find a number of attached buildings, but they will also often encounter structures that vary in height, square footage, and layout. Additionally, some may have garages and driveways accessible from a rear alley. Others may have small yards that back up to buildings of similar type and design on a parallel street. Still others might present a unique setting in which structures have been erected behind structures on the same parcel of land.