Share your strategies, tactics and experience!  Every Friday we’ll post a picture or video and want to get your take on the situation.

THE SCENARIO:  Check out the video and let us know how you would handle it.  Ready…Go!

• What is your initial report?
• Offensive or Defensive?
• Search type?
• What type of attack lines would you use, how many & where would they go?
• Ventilation considerations?
• How many resources would you have/want for this fire?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Enjoy & Be Safe!

Share your strategies, tactics and experience!  Every Friday we’ll post a picture or video and want to get your take on the situation.

THE SCENARIO:  You’re wearing all the hats today! You’re dispatched to a reported “structure” fire.  It’s the middle of the week during Christmas vacation and the neighbors don’t know if the kids are there or not.

• What is your initial report?
• Where is the fire?
• Where is it going?
• How many lines do you anticipate for this fire?
• What size AND length line would you use?
• HOW MUCH OF A PRIORITY DO YOU PLACE ON SEARCH?
• What search tactics would you use?
• What type and where would you vent?
• What tactics are a priority?
• What are your assignments for YOUR crews?

Make training, professionalism and pride part of your New Year’s resolution!  We’re in the process of building our 2012 calendar with intense, realistic hands-on training, interactive classroom events and good old-fashioned brotherhood.  A couple of events already scheduled include:

• Ventilation, Entry & Search Techniques –  Southeastern Fire School @ SC Fire Academy – March 10, 11
• SC State Firefighters/ Fire Chiefs Conference – Myrtle Beach, SC June 4-9

• S.A.F.E. Firefighter- Smart, Aggressive, Fundamental, Efficient (Interactive Lecture, 2 Hour) – 2 in January – Dates in the Works
• First Due Forcible Entry (Hands-On, 8 Hour) – Early February – Dates in the Works
• Ventilation, Entry & Search Techniques (Hands-On, 16 Hour) – Mid February – Dates in the Works
• First Due Forcible Entry (Hands-On, 8 Hour) – March- Dates TBD
• Fireground Rescue (Advanced RIC) (Hands-On, 16 Hour) – April – Date TBD

VSP is one of the hottest topics of conversation in the fire service today.  Captain Marsar’s research has taken the fire service by storm and has created an interesting “new” flavor of the month for those who feed on “firefighter safety through spectatorship”.  Maybe it was because of my animosity for the “let it burn” folks within our profession that I was initially against the concept of deciding if a building is searchable from the front yard and was unfairly biased.  However, the more I read about and discuss it the more I realize that I HAVE ALWAYS PERFORMED VSP!

• What conditions do I have, where are they and where are they going?
• What time is it and where are the people inside?
• Where and how can I get in to this building?
• How do I get out of this building?
• Do I have enough resources to do what I need to do now?
• What can I do now?
• Is this an offensive or defensive fire?

Is this a size-up or Victim Survivability Profiling (VSP)?

Our priorities of life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation (LIP) are one of the first things that you learn when you get into this job.  As our training continues, we learn about phases of fire, flashover and how to “read” smoke.  Then, hopefully, someone taught you about Lloyd Layman’s tactical considerations of RECEO VS (rescue, exposures, confinement, extinguishment, overhaul… vent and salvage… in that order).  What is supposed to happen is, you take all this knowledge, fight a few fires, learn from them, reapply as necessary then repeat.

As this process continues over years, you hone your skills, learn from your misreads, mistakes and close calls (or better yet someone else’s) and get better and smarter.  After time, you become the “senior man” or the officer in charge and get to use that knowledge and experience.  YOU decide mode of operation, where and how to position the first line and where/how to start a search.  NOW YOU GET TO DECIDE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES.  If a civilian dies at one of “your” fires, DID YOU AND YOUR CREW (as an extension of you) DO EVERYTHING IN YOUR POWER TO PROTECT THEIR LIFE in the manner you were taught your first week of fire training?

TENABLE versus VIABLE, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.  Tenable may depend on smoke, heat, flame and interior layout of the occupancy or any combination.  Things are NOT always as they appear from the exterior.  Viability MAY be related to tenability, however occupant age, health and relative location to the fire all impact how long someone may be “viable”.  For that matter, our actions may directly impact tenability and how long someone may be viable.

How efficiently the first line gets stretched, advanced and water gets on the fire will have the greatest impact on tenability.  The time it takes us to get the smoke out of the building will also directly and greatly drive how long someone may be viable.  However, the only location on the fireground that is the most tenable AND protects viability is OUTSIDE.  Getting IN, searching tenable areas and pulling people OUT of the buildings is the only true way of holding up our end of the deal.

One of my favorite quotes from Chief John Salka is “You don’t know what you don’t know.”  We live and work in the unknown and OUR REALITY is making decision based on limited or unknown information.  Sometimes a situation leads us into some dangerous areas based on conditions, information and YOUR gut feeling.  These factors may lead you through or around “untenable” areas into those “voids” where panicked civilians seek refuge when faced with no exit and certain death.  They are not condemned to death; they are just waiting for us to come in a get them.  That’s where our training, experience, discipline and professionalism are put to the test.  It is not our job to decide who lives and who dies.  It is our job to do our job by getting water on the fire, letting the smoke and heat out and helping the helpless.

1. “Can They Be Saved? Utilizing Civilian Survivability Profiling to Enhance Size-Up and Reduce Firefighter Fatalities in the Fire Department, City of New York.”  , Stephen Marsar
2. “Survivability Profiling: Applying What We’ve Learned”, Stephen Marsar, Fire Engineering July 2011
3. “‘Survivability Profiling’ is Key to Ending Preventable LODDs”, Stephen Marsar, FireRescue Magazine November 2011
4. “Muliple Rescues in Fatal Lewisdale Fire”, from www.hvfd.com
5. “…Report Critical of Pasadena Fire Department’s Failure to Find Woman’s Body After Fire”, from Pasadena Star News Online
6. “Sometimes It’s Not So Simple”, from www.backstepfirefighter.com

Saws, irons, ladders and rescues were the flavor of week for our brothers in Bluffton, SC.  Safe Firefighter, LLC just wrapped up a RIC Refresher for the Bluffton Township Fire District.  Training included calling the Mayday, self-rescue, rapid intervention crew assignments and operations and performing proactive RIC tasks.

Luckily, each company was able to train with their own crew which made the training that much better.  As a result of their hard work, the BTFD logged the following stats:

• 48 training hours
• 320 staff hours
• 320 Maydays called
• 160 “window bars” cut
• 160 “slide bolts” cut
• 80 “padlocks” and chain cut
• 80 hinges cut
• 80 doors force w/ the irons
• 80 windows laddered and vented by 1 firefighter
• 21 RIC deployments
• 21 downed firefighters rescued

Think your FD needs help?

Check out this promo for a documentary on Detroit Fire Department.  It’s a great video and can really put things into perspective.

Be SAFE

Click here to view the embedded video.

“What you showed me isn’t in the book.  What are the Chiefs gonna say if I do this?  Are you gonna have my back if I do this and someone says something?”

This is a real quote from a firefighter at a recent training.  As an instructor and a fire officer, one of the “hurdles” I have encountered is that people have FF1, FF2, a cape and a “S” on their chest.  However, when they pull up with fire blowing, they don’t know whether to stretch a line or go fetal.

We seem to always worry about what “the book”, the Chief or a lawyer will say.  Also, we are so worried about book knowledge and pieces of paper that we fail to learn the real life application of our job.

A buddy of mine took a class from Mike Ciampo at FDIC.  In that class, Ciampo told them that he didn’t agree with the term “tricks of the trade” because the “the tricks ARE the trade”.  We are losing, or have lost, mentorship and skill sharing in the fire service.  If we don’t learn it in “the Essentials” or take an online class about it, it doesn’t exist.  Then we wonder why firefighters die.

I’ve gotten deer in the headlight looks when asking firefighters what they would do if their preconnect didn’t reach, how to size up a handline and what “shocking the door” was.  Guys have told me that we offensively attack fire with a wide fog and didn’t know what “the irons” were.  And we wonder why firefighters die.

Safety is more than just a buzz word, a sticker on a helmet or a program.  True safety is grassroots, its hands-on and its continuous.  It’s being proactive instead of reactive.  A couple of nuggets that I remember from Tom Brennan are his desire to perform “seven tasks all at once” and to “make the building behave the way WE want it to”.  If our training and operations more closely mirrored this approach, we may see the LODD numbers continue to drop.

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS!

Thanks and be SAFE

This post is dedicated to Firefighter Edward Stringer, Firefighter Corey Ankum, those injured, their families and to the Chicago Fire Department.  RFB-KTF.

This post is written out of respect for our fallen brothers in Chicago and to all of us who respond to fires in these types of buildings.  This is NOT a commentary, only a sharing of considerations, in general, for fighting fires in vacant/abandoned buildings.

How does your department operate at vacant building fires? Do your operations change?  Does your personal mindset change?

A wall collapse that reportedly trapped and/or injured over a dozen firefighters at a vacant/ abandoned commercial building fire in Chicago has turned out to be a double Line Of Duty Death.  Numerous other firefighters were injured during the collapse and/or rescue efforts.

The topic of firefighting in so-called vacant buildings is always an interesting, and sometimes heated, kitchen table discussion.  I wanted to share some points of consideration that have been passed on to me when operating at fires in vacant buildings.

Here are three basic considerations for strategic and tactical decision making in vacant buildings:

1) Life Safety (occupants, vagrants & firefighters)

How did the fire start?  If this fire is in a truly vacant structure, theoretically utilities have been disconnected.  Though spontaneous combustion sounds good, we have to assume a person started the fire, for any number of reasons, and that a life hazard is present.  Some of these reasons may include:

• Vagrants seeking shelter and warmth (especially in winter months)
• Children playing with matches (we recently had the same structure burn three times, believed to be kids playing)
• Arsonists… professional or recreational (times are tough, it’s a reality)

Always remember, we are not the judge or the jury.  Our job is to search for ANYONE who may be savable inside a burning building and rescue them.  In doing so, however, we have to ALWAYS be aware of our surroundings and the conditions.  If the building is too far gone, it’s gone.  If areas are searchable and things get too risky, be a strong enough leader to pull the plug.

2) Incident Stabilization

The best way to make a fire safer is to put it out!  There are collateral risks involved with allowing a fire to burn when it is (or was) controllable.

• Increased risk to exposures (attached, nearby or across town (from embers))
• Increased risk of collapse, or more catastrophic collapse
• Increased strain on resources due to additional alarms, move-ups, etc.
• Overall increased risk to everyone on scene due to all of the above

3) Property Conservation

Simply put…THE FIRE DEPARTMENT CANNOT AFFORD TO LET BUILDINGS BURN.  If we start letting buildings burn OR make lack luster efforts at suppressing fires, the ramifications could impact operations, politics, finances and perhaps most importantly, loss of public trust.

Not all “vacant” buildings are derelict (though some are) and likewise some buildings are simply empty but still can be occupied/ leased/ bought or whatever.  IT’S NOT OUR JOB TO THINK LIKE REAL ESTATE BROKERS, SLUMLORDS OR DEVELOPERS.  IT’S OUR JOB TO THINK LIKE FIREFIGHTERS and DO WHAT WE DO BEST which is SAVE LIVES, PUT OUT FIRE & PROTECT PROPERTY.

I know these considerations are not very creative, however they are time tested.  Also consider that things (i.e. fires) are not always black and white.

By the nature of our job, we work in the gray area.  Conditions are never ideal, information is never complete and resources are never enough. WE STILL HAVE TO GET THE JOB DONE!

We all know that firefighting is UNAVOIDABLY dangerous.  Though firefighters have been injured or worse as a result of poor decision making, sometimes we get hurt or die despite making solid decisions despite ample experience and the best information and resources available.  The best way to prevent future tragic events is to study and learn from close calls and LODD and honor those who have fallen by learning from their incident and educating ourselves and others to recognize common situations.

RIP Brothers Stringer and Ankum

Thanks and Be SAFE

Roll Call for October 9 through October 22

SAFE Firefighter is going to give an overview of how WE did as a fire service from Saturday to Friday of every week.  Please feel free to leave comments or add comments with links to additional information.  Thanks and Be SAFE!

Roll Call for the week of October 9 through October 22…

LODD-RFB

• William Akin Jr., Fire Police Captain (Ghent, New York)
• 65 for 2010

Civilian Fire Deaths

• 58
• 1468 for 2010

Close Calls

• “7 Firefighters transported from HazMat Fire in Illinois” from www.firefighterclosecalls.com
• “2 Firefighters Trapped in Roof Collapse at ND Fire” from www.firerescue1.com
• “PA Volunteer Firefighter Shocked by Live Wire at Fire” from www.firerescue1.com
• “2 Firefighters Injured Fighting NJ House Fire/Collapse” from www.firefighterclosecalls.com
• “3 Firefighters/ 2 Medics Injured in Fumigation” from www.firefighterclosecalls.com

Other News

• “Fire Chief Rightfully Calls Budget Cuts Insane, Ludicrous!” from www.firefighterclosecalls.com
• “PA Bill Punishing Those Who Kill, Injure Responders Clears General Assembly” from www.firerescue1.com
• “Firefighters Rescue Baby, Elderly Woman from VA Fire” from www.firerescue1.com
• “Key Ruling Made in Blaze That Killed Two FDNY Firefighters” from www.firehouse.com
• “SC Fire Chief’s House Destroyed by Blaze” from www.firehouse.com