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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