Maximize Your Exit Opportunities

By John W. Mittendorf

Each year, more than a hundred firefighters are killed and hundreds more are injured in the American fire service for various reasons. Most of these deaths and injuries occur on the fireground and consist of the traditional heart attack, building collapse, flashover, and so on. However, there is another common reason that is not normally listed in charts and graphs–dumb mistakes. So what is the definition of a dumb mistake? “Although you knew better, you took the easy route, and it cost you!” Sound familiar? The common reasons for this dilemma can best be summarized as follows:

• The sooner I can get to the seat of the fire, the sooner I can put the wet stuff on the red stuff; or
• Nobody will beat me into this fire!

  With these thoughts in mind, let’s briefly return to Firefighter 101 and review some basics relating to fireground exit considerations.

  TOPSIDE
  When aboveground operations are initiated, what is the minimum number of ladders that should be raised? Although the right answer is a minimum of two, how many ladders do you normally raise? The common answer is one! Although there are staffing constraints, time is marching on, and other considerations, what price do you put on your safety? When a building or roof suddenly begins to collapse, the number and placement of ladders suddenly becomes important. So, let’s consider ladder placement basics:

  • Mnimum of two ladders. A truck with a staffing of three can initially raise two ladders by using the aerial device (driver) and officer/firefighter to simultaneously raise a ground ladder.
  • Ladder the corners (strongest area).
  • Don’t ladder over windows (ladders can either burn or melt).
  • Ladder away from the fire (work from the weak area back to the strong and exit area).
  • Extend the ladder so you can easily see it!

    OUTSIDE
    This one is easy to remember but often difficult to put into practice. When you create an entrance opening, remember that you likely will use the same opening to exit the building. So, if the building collapses or flashes over, how easy will that opening be to find and use, particularly if several other firefighters get to the opening the same time you do? A few simple rules follow:

  • When you make an opening, open it up. Have you ever seen the glass removed from a double-hung window but the frame of the upper half of the window left in place (leaving a frame across the middle of the opening)?
  • Create a minimum of two openings that can be used for entry and exit.
  • Forcible entry consists of two considerations:
    1. forcible entry
    2. forcible exit. Don’t minimize your exit options!

  INSIDE
  Once you are inside a structure, always remember the following two considerations:

  • If necessary, pull the ceilings in front of you as you advance to the fire to determine the location of the fire in relation to you. Don’t ever let the fire get between you and your exit opening. I trust this simple rule needs no further explanation.
  • Be able to follow a hoseline out of a structure. Unless you are 110% sure you are following a hoseline the correct direction (out), use the first set of couplings to verify your direction (fabric behind the male coupling goes out, and fabric behind the female coupling goes to the nozzle–for forward lays).

  Make your entry/exit openings easy to find and use as if your life depends on it, because it does!

  John W. Mittendorf joined the Los Angeles City (CA) Fire Department (LAFD) in 1963, rising to the rank of captain II, task force commander. In 1981, he was promoted to battalion chief and in the year following became the commander of the In-Service Training Section. In 1993, he retired from LAFD after 30 years of service. Mittendorf has been a member of the National Fire Protection Research Foundation on Engineered Lightweight Construction Technical Advisory Committee. He has provided training programs for the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Maryland; the University of California at Los Angeles; and the British Fire Academy at Morton-in-Marsh, England. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Fire Engineering and author of the book Truck Company Operations (Fire Engineering, 1998).