A Mayday was called at a basement fire in a single family dwelling in Rockville, MD (Montgomery County) on October 2.  While conducting a primary search of the first floor a firefighter fell through the floor into the basement (fire area) and a mayday was called by a nearby crew who witnessed the floor collapse.  Prior to entering the house, the firefighter had conducted a circle check (360) and noticed a basement window on Side D. The firefighter caught himself in the hole, but was unable to pull himself up and decided to drop into the basement (which had been knocked just moments before the collapse).  Its reported that the firefighter remembered a window in that area, dropped into the basement and self-extricated via the basement window.  The firefighter suffered burns to his arms and legs and continues to undergo surgery and recovery in the Washington Hospital Center Burn Unit.  Our thoughts are with him, his family and our RVFD and MCDFRS Brothers.

There are some incredible lessons to be learned from this incident:

The invaluable 360 or circle check may have saved his life.  Noting the location of doors and windows is absolutely crucial for firefighter safety.  Everybody should take a look before entering any burning building and RIC should as well.

It’s not always the involved Firefighter(s) who calls the mayday.  Circumstances may dictate that someone else recognizes and calls the mayday.  Does everyone on your FD know and train on identifying mayday parameters (per NFA: fall, collapse, stuck/trapped, lost) and calling the mayday (LUNAR)?

Personnel accountability is ABSOLUTELY VITAL!!!  In the Rockville fire, a clear Command presence enabled establishment of divisions and groups (Safety, Basement Division, Division 1, Rescue Group, etc.).  A clear Command structure facilitated efficient deployment of resources, personnel accountability reports (PAR) and enabled control and evacuation of operating crews as the mayday occurred.

Control radio traffic.  Controlling radio traffic is vital to being able to handle any incident, especially a mayday.  During a mayday, uninvolved crews may be moved to alternate channels.  Remember…the incident still has to be controlled.  The mayday will have plenty of radio traffic and the fire attack, ventilation, additional searches and (hopefully) additional units will contribute much of their own.  Hopefully, a mayday action plan exists in your FD where units know where to go (or Command knows where to send them) when a mayday is called.

Train! Train! Train!  Russel Dawson, Fire Chief for Rockville VFD, said that, “Almost all of the successful extraction from the building was the result of the composure and intelligence of the firefighter, some of it based on his training and much of it on his inherent abilities.”  My question is this…

Having little or no real-world mayday experience, when it happens to you, where does composure and inherent ability end and training begin?

In the past couple of weeks, I have taught Firefighter Survival and Rapid Intervention classes at the South Carolina Fire Academy.  Experience levels ranged from Probie to Captain from rural to metropolitan departments.  What’s interesting is that regardless of either of these, on the first day of mayday training, almost everyone struggles.   Likewise, the first RIC scenario is usually  chaos at best, with many constructive lessons learned and applied to subsequent scenarios.  In both cases, the awkwardness and “newness” of mayday and RIC skills is a challenge.  However, by the end of the class, we can see these firefighters calling good maydays and becoming much more efficient in simulated RIC operations.

If this transitions takes place after just a couple days of class, imagine the impact that annual, monthly and even weekly drills may have on the confidence of these firefighters.  As for performing 360s, accountability, ICS usage and radio traffic, all of these things should be part of every incident as well as ongoing training.  All of these are part of the culture of your FD.  If your FD takes training and implementation of these skills seriously, then the culture of your FD will set you up for success when faced with a mayday situation.

Below are some additional resources related to Maydays and RIC (click on the link):

• Radio Traffic from Rockville Mayday (from DC Fire Feed)
• Rockville Volunteer Fire Department
• “Leadership On the Line- Firefighter Mayday Doctrine, Where Are We Now?”
• “500 Maydays Called in Rookie School”
• Charleston, S.C. Fireground Transmissions: June 18, 2007
• Routely Report, part 1
• Routely Report, part 2

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On September 21, a highly controversial resolution was passed mandating automatic sprinkler systems in single family homes effective January 1, 2011.  Since the predominant construction features in these dwellings are oriented strand board (OSB) floor and roof decking and lightweight truss roof joists, this is huge step in the right direction to make these new homes safer for both civilians and firefighters.  Amazingly, Sandra J Dunn, the president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) was quoted as saying, “Unfortunately, fire sprinkler manufacturers and their supporters won the vote Sunday, making these expensive, hard-to-maintain sprinkler systems part of the code.  We disagree with this mandate, but our members will continue to advocate for cost-effective construction and life safety measures through the model code process.”

After reading this I called my dad, Jack McDowell (VP of Operations for Carolina Fire Control in Charlotte and 33 year fire service veteran), to get some insight into this mandate and response to Ms. Dunn’s quote.  In regard to cost of the systems, he stated that he has installed sprinkler systems in approximately 2000 sq.ft. SFD (“classic middle income homes” as he put it) for an installation cost of around $5500.  He said that “if you take that figure and spread it out over a 30 year mortgage, the annual cost is nominal for the protection and safety of your home and family.”  The breakdown is like this:

Using a 2000 sqft  single family dwelling:

System Cost: $5500
Price/sq.ft (5500/2000): $2.75 / sq.ft.
Annual Cost over 30 yrs (5500/30) $183.00 / year
Monthly Cost (183/12) $15.25 / month

NOTE: This cost would be part of a mortgage

To address the issue of maintenance, he says that a furnace requires more annual maintenance than a residential sprinkler system.  As an example, he mentioned that he installed residential systems in seasonally occupied homes between 5 and 6 years ago.  None of these homes have required ANY maintenance/repair beyond annual inspection (if they even scheduled that).  As a matter of fact, some local insurance companies will NOT insure a second (seasonal) home UNLESS it has a sprinkler system.  In addition to residential sprinkler incentives, some insurance companies offer additional incentives for non-smoking households and homes equipped with automatic fire alarm systems.

The point is that, at the end of the day, the goal of the fire service, fire code agencies and insurance companies is to protect the lives of home owners, occupants and firefighters.

Here’s some additional information regarding residential sprinkler systems:

• They are LIFE SAFETY systems…they protect living spaces NOT void spaces and attics/cocklofts
• They are designed to wet walls and ceilings to lower surface temperatures to prevent flashover
• They are designed to give occupants a chance to escape and survive the fire
• As a bonus, residential sprinklers have controlled and extinguished fires prior to FD arrival
• Residential sprinkler systems are typically wet pipe systems
• Residential sprinkler heads only activate in the area of fire (not as depicted on TV)
• Available water supply and pressure effect the cost of the system
• The risers can be small enough to fit inside of a “linen closet”
• Rural areas, w/o a permanent water supply may require a pump and tank (or well) combination

”We must keep in perspective that residential fires are the leading cause of civilian and firefighter deaths annually.  Residential sprinkler systems are designed to save lives.  To those of you who are not in favor of this code change, what kind of price tag can you put on life? ”

-Jack McDowell