I want to keep the firehouse up to date with their monthly drills for the kitchen table.  Perhaps someone will print this one and throw it on the table as well!

This is a cross-post from our Facebook page.  If you haven’t added yourself to our Facebook page, feel free to follow the link and add yourself.  There are several other daily/weekly drills that are posted there in addition to class photos and upcoming classes.

This photo provides a great overview of operations in a commercial-type warehouse. Several points of discussion are present:

- The roll-down gate was able to be raised without defeating it, most likely with this type of door, it was raised by using the chain inside the building. The door must be secured open in case of failure, and since this is a large door for a vehicle, conventional methods are not useful. Here a ladder company has used a 24′ portable ladder to assure that the door does not drop down pinching hose lines and trapping members. This is a very simple solution to an often overlooked and very dangerous issue.

- A heavy fire condition in the building with little or no smoke showing from the doorway. This indicates that vertical ventilation is working well, or that the ceilings are of very high and heat and smoke is building up drastically. Communication with members operating on the roof is paramount.

Members must be EXTREMELY AWARE of this build-up. In the photo, visibility is great, even near the fire area. This “false-sense of security” can lure members into trap-like conditions. Once the ceiling reaches the correct temperature, roll-over will occur and fire will rapidly drop down on the members and overwhelm hose lines (in some cases even 2 1/2″ hose lines). The only way to guard against this is by communication and awareness. Use thermal imaging cameras (also in the photo) and 2 1/2″ attack lines. The reach and “punch” of the stream will darken fire down well in advance of the nozzle team.

- The 10′ hook on the right side of the photo is also a must if ceilings must be pulled down. A member in this building with a 6′ hook is all but useless. As a rule, I will drop the 6′ hook and take a 10′ hook at most commercial fires. This will allow me to pull the multiple ceilings typically found in these old buildings. Don’t stop pulling until you’ve reached the roof boards. Sometimes, the 10′ hook can be used as a “thermometer” of sorts in the absence of a thermal imaging camera. You can extend the hook into the smoke above you, then lower it and CAREFULLY feel the head of the hook. This may give you an idea of the conditions above you if you cannot “see” them with a TIC. This will keep you from getting too deep, too fast and getting into trouble.

- A search rope is also present on a few members in this photo. Remember to secure the search rope on the EXTERIOR (parking meter, street light, rig, car, etc…) of the building regardless of conditions inside the building as you enter. Although clear in the building presently, if conditions deteriorate, you want the search line to bring you back to the street, NOT 20′ inside the door, which is now banked down to the floor and you have to “guess” the rest of the way.

- Water run-off: In this photo there is a single 2 1/2″ attack line flowing 250-300 gallons per minute. The trickle of water coming out of the overhead door is not nearly the amount of water being poured into the building. Perhaps it is going to a harmless point in the building, a drain, the basement, out another door due to the natural slope, etc…

What if it is not running off harmlessly? In this case it was being soaked into all of those pallets filled with antique furniture and other combustible and “sponge-like” items. Those items were stacked floor to ceiling, across TWO FLOORS of this 300×300 warehouse. Simple math: 250gpms at 8lbs per gallon = 2,000lbs (or 1 TON) of water per minute PER HOSE LINE! There were at least 8 attack lines on this fire during the offensive stage. That doesn’t even account for the floor load already present.

ALWAYS watch the water run-off. If it is going in, and not coming out it is going somewhere. This is equally important during exterior operations while utilizing master streams. After the bulk of the fire has been knocked down, the tendency is to enter the building to extinguish stubborn pockets of fire. The video below illustrates why that may not be such a good idea if the building is not allowing the water to run-off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SUuBXRQyXk

In the video above in Midtown Manhattan serves as a great purpose for watching water run off. D/C Vincent Dunn had command of this fire, and would not allow members to enter the building to extinguish pockets of fire. At :53 seconds, you will see his reasoning.  The early video of the fire, you see no run-off even though several tower ladders throw TONS of water per minute into the building. If you listen to the video, the building was FILLED FLOOR TO CEILING with shoe boxes (excellent sponges).  They flowed water via master streams for ELEVEN hours.  Listen closely to the audio at 1:50 as well. “Engineers” declared this building “structurally stable” 3hrs before the collapse.

Feel free to jump in with any comments or questions.  I also want to extend a warm welcome to the members of the firehouse that are keeping up with the current events of Brotherhood Instructors, LLC.  ;-)

Stay safe,

Nate DeMarse
Brotherhood Instructors, LLC.
ndemarse.broinstructors@gmail.com

Things are not always what they seem, this door is a good example of that. This door is on a private dwelling on the side of the house. The door is hollow core metal and the frame is wood. What looks like a fairly easy door to take with conventional forcible entry techniques may cause some unexpected delays during forcible entry operations.

The interior view reveals that the door has been covered over with plywood and then drywall. Covering doors in private dwellings is nothing new but what makes this one different is the fact that they kept the window of the door present and are using it as an interior window. This door would still be very “doable” with conventional forcible entry techniques, but it may be tougher than you may think when you go to force it. This is a great door to show the firefighters that always say “just smash out the glass and unlock the door”.

This door is a great example of the fact that you can never take anything for granted, you must always be prepared to force the toughest door of your career every time you get off the rig at a fire because the day you are not fully prepared is the day that you will encounter a door that will test your skill, knowledge, experience, and preparation…….. and all of those things come back to your level of training!!

As the forcible entry and nozzle teams ascend to the second floor, they are met with a heavy smoke condition.  As they near this apartment, heavy smoke and fire are pushing from the cracks in the door shown above.  The paint is peeling, the top one third of the door glowing and distorted.  Time to go to work!

Destroying the integrity of this door during a forcible entry operation will certainly spell disaster for anyone (civilian or firefighter) operating or caught above the fire floor.  Many uninformed firefighters will opt to simply “bash” the door out of the frame (usually from the hinged side) with a sledge hammer/maul.  This technique is dangerous and unprofessional, and in many cases will not work!

If you are a firefighter that likes to “bash” the door in like a SWAT team, ask yourself these questions:

- What is the plan for door control if the engine is on a frozen/broken hydrant?
- What is the plan if the engine loses water?
- What is the plan if the fire cannot be controlled?

We are professionals, and our forcible entry operation should reflect as such:  This door (as should all doors) should be taken with the Irons, using conventional forcible entry techniques.  Gap the door, set the forks, and force the door ON THE LOCK SIDE.  Then CONTROL THE DOOR by grabbing the door with the Halligan or reaching in with a hook (pike pole) to close the door until a charged attack line is in position.  If any of the questions above surface during our operation, members can withdraw to the safety of the public hallway, and close the door until the problem is rectified, then resume the attack.

Note the cable wire (held in place in the ceiling corner by a plastic cover).  This plastic covering melts with very little exposure to heat, dropping the cable onto members entering/leaving the doorway below.

This photo shows two side-by-side doorways, typically both apartments will share the wall that runs between the doorways to an exterior wall.  A firefighter entering the right door to perform a search should know that there are probably no rooms on the left wall, and probably all of the rooms will be on the right wall.  The apartment on the left will most likely be a mirror image of the right apartment.

This fire was on the second floor of a 6 story brick apartment building.  Several civilians were trapped on the floors above, including 6 unconscious civilians (an entire family) that were trying to make their way to the roof, but were trapped behind a locked steel gate in the bulkhead.  The civilians were actually found by the first and second due Roof Firefighters performing a sweep of the bulkhead (after forcing the bulkhead door to vent). All six civilians survived.

Although some departments may not have H-types or 6 story apartment buildings, the rules above also apply to garden apartments, “Main Street type” apartment buildings or private houses converted to apartments.

Feel free to leave your comments or questions.

In every firefighters career they will encounter a forcible entry problem that will test them both mentally and physically and put their training and experience to the test. The following account of one such door comes to us from Gabriel Angemi of Camden Fire Department Rescue 1, below is the story of the door and the forcible entry operation in Gabriel’s own words.

In my last ten years on the job, this is one of the most bad-ass doors I have encountered. This business had been robbed several times over the years and the means by which the thieves got in was thru an opening in the construction of the roof, so apparently this door is more to keep you in than keep you out. This was the scene of a smaller working fire in an automobile salvage garage with a light to medium smoke condition issuing from the roof at about 2am, and our company was given orders by Battalion 1 to gain entry through this particular outward opening door. This door was thought to be the door that occupants/workers normally used to enter and exit the premises, Rule #3. We were told a keyholder was in route, but were not about to wait for him…

Although these pictures do not show it, (I had forgotten to bring the digi to work and went back to take these the next day) we originally cut a triangle into the door after having observed rule #1 (try before you pry) already. Rule #2 had us not ignoring the obvious, since we saw a pattern of bolt heads three quarters up from the bottom of the door and then the same pattern a quarter up from the bottom, we were sure there was a set of drop in bars to deal with here….

…The last two pictures show the backside of the door and allow you to realize what we found out the hard way. The initial triangle cut was made for speed, in an attempt to push up and out on the top drop-in bar and pull out the bottom drop-in bar, leaving the door primarily intact (rule #4: maintain the integrity of the door) and easy to repair cheaply.

Once the presence of the chain was discovered, we enlarged the hole to the size you see it in the pictures, in an effort to use bolt cutters on the chain and still accomplish what we set out to do. However….

…the chain itself was attached to the top drop-in bar and went up and over a steal I-Beam attached to a framework erected inside the building leaving no visible marks on the buildings exterior for us to notice. Once over the I-Beam the chain was then padlocked to the bottom drop-in bar and the drop-in bar holder, which was drilled out to accommodate the padlock and all fit snug together. The presence of the undetected I-Beam would have foiled any manual attempt to remove the top drop-in bar as well since reaching around it was not going to happen. Attacking the hinges and trying to pry the door out of the frame would have been useless, as would have been cutting the bolt heads that were holding the drop-in bar holders thru the door.

Upon the arrival of the keyholder to the scene, members were led thru a series of other interior doors with varying types of locks, one of which was even more beefcake than this one pictured, proving we had attacked the right door at least. The padlock holding the whole deal together was opened by the keyholder, releasing the chain and the drop-in bar system was then removed from the inside and our fire suppression attack began on a small fire in a big pile of scrapped engine blocks. Our next step would have been to enlarge the opening further to allow for better lighting and space to cut the padlock, and attack the rest of the obstacles until we were successful. This just goes to show how time consuming forcible entry can be, and although this didn’t take all that long to finally get thru and the fire was out quickly, it could have been much more serious under different conditions and breaching the wall may have become an option had the keyholder not responded so quickly.

I would like to thank Gabriel for allowing us to use his pictures and story. Please check out Gabriel’s Camden Rescue Company 1 web Blog at http://cmdfd.blogspot.com/

Door 1

This door appears to be a wood door with a metal door bolted/lagged it, this will cause serious issues with a proper size up due to the metal door hiding bolt patterns. The door has two substancial security bars and a small hasp and padlock. This door could cause serious issues for even a seasoned forcible entry team.

Door 3

The two brackets that house the drop bar are welded to the door, the drop bar is also secured with a padlock on the hinge side. One additional issue that you may have with this door is the space that you will have to work, in the first photo you can see a railing and a wall on either side which may cause issues.

Door 5

As you can see the door is equipped with a surface mounted Mul T Lock, it is also equipped with a mortise key in the knob lock and deadbolt.

Door 7

As you can see from the interior view of the door it has been heavily fortified from the inside, all of the hardware (including the hinges) have been welded to either the door or the frame. It is a double hung inward swinging door which will make it very difficult to force by conventional methods, it also has no real indication of locking mechanisms from the outside. The metal strip that protects the middle of the doors on the outside is welded to the door also, this will make getting a prying tool or a saw blade in the middle of the two doors very difficult. Better bring a saw and a couple of blades!!

Door 8

As you can see this door also has a surface mounted Mul T Lock.

Thanks to Walt Lewis, Ryan Royal, and Nick Chapel for their responses to the post, very insighful brothers!! great job!! I would also like to apologize to Josh Materi for the spelling of his name on the photos.

There appears to be a current trend for Incident Commanders to keep their RIT/FAST team standing in the front yard like a piece of ugly lawn art. Most firefighters have an inherent nature and work ethic that is not conducive to standing in front of the building, and watching everyone else work. All of us know the feeling that occurs when responding to a confirmed fire. You are struggling to listen to the radio, adrenaline flows, you from a loose game plan….building layout…..type of building. As you pull out of your first due response area continuing towards the fire, you hear over the department radio, “Ladder XX, you are responding as the RIT team!”

The members in the rig immediately feel “deflated”. In addition, groans and sighs immediately follow the transmission, and typically members will again start talking about ESPN or dinner plans. This is very common in today’s fire service, as these highly motivated firefighters feel that they will most likely be standing in the front yard. The “deflation” is a very dangerous condition and may be considered one of the rawest forms of complacency. Why not give these firefighters active tasks that correspond with their RIT assignment, and improve the safety of members operating on the interior? These tasks will be completed on the exterior of the building, and still allow the RIT team to remain available in case needed.

Of course there are members of “management” who will resist this or similar operations. Those individuals will most likely hide behind the word, “freelancing”. In reality, the RIT team is not freelancing. They have been given assigned tasks and locations by their officer and are conducting those tasks to PREVENT a “mayday” situation. In fact, they are proactively starting or accomplishing their job! In the event of a “mayday” transmission, the RIT team members will return to the designated RIT area (where they would have been standing), and deploy to assist the stricken member(s).

Example:
A RIT company arrives to a fire in a single family or small apartment building. Upon arrival, the company officer locates the incident commander to confirm his arrival, and gather a briefing on the incident. The officer may even perform a quick 360 degree walk-around while the firefighters gather equipment and transport it to the designated RIT area. Upon the officer’s return, he/she may assign them to tasks that will aid the RIT team in case they are activated for a downed firefighter. These tasks WILL NOT include suppression operations, and will be conducted on the exterior of the building.

Example tasks:

- Perform forcible entry on rear and side doors
- Remove window bars
- Placing portable ladders under sills of upper floor windows.
- Clear out sashes of windows taken by interior companies

ALL tasks mentioned above provide egress for members operating within the building. ALL tasks mentioned above provide access for the RIT team, in the event the RIT team is activated. Finally, many of the aforementioned tasks can be accomplished in a few minutes, and usually with little exertion by the RIT team.

Modifications

Proactive RIT operations may be modified to various building types. In the event of a fire in a multiple dwelling/apartment building, the RIT team may add a lower floor reconnaissance to their list of possibilities. This will provide a layout of the fire apartment above. A radio transmission stating, “I am trapped in a rear bedroom” will no longer leave guesswork to the RIT team that is going to get the stricken member. Those members now know that they enter the apartment door, move down a hallway passing two doorways (a bathroom and a closet) and will then enter the third doorway to the bedroom. If an exterior route is chosen, they will know which windows to start placing ladders. If a fire occurs within a warehouse or other large commercial building, the RIT team may be utilizing search ropes or a LAST (Large Area Search Team) to rescue the stricken member. The RIT team may proactively look for objects to secure the rope, points of entry, etc…

Possible Obstacle and/or Problem

The proactive RIT assignments that are discussed above are all completed while in direct communication of the RIT officer. At any time, RIT team members performing proactive tasks can drop what they are doing and report to the RIT staging area for deployment. The proactive RIT concept is not an excuse to “freelance”. If a team has a plan of attack, known assignments and are being supervised by their officer (either directly or via radio), it is not considered freelancing.

Advantages of Proactive FAST/RIT Operations

One advantage of the proactive RIT team lies in the fact that there will be a crew operating on the exterior of a fire building constantly performing a size-up and providing feedback to the RIT officer and the incident commander. While crews perform this size-up, they are gathering information on building construction, smoke conditions, fire travel and the progress and location of crews operating within the building. This information may allow crews to “predict” when and where a problem or “mayday” may occur and plan for those issues. The best “mayday” is one that is resolved before the RIT team is in operation.

Imagine a ladder company operating on the floor above the fire. A charged line is aggressively being advanced in the fire apartment and things appear normal. The ladder company above is conducting searches and opening up to check for fire extension. Suddenly, conditions change and the crew cannot exit from the entry point that they used. Conditions worsen, heat continues to increase rapidly while smoke banks down, and “maydays” are transmitted as they work their way to the rear bedroom window. Seconds later, the RIT team, (deploying to assist the stricken members) round the corner into the rear yard. They witness two members descending the ladder and the last member, an officer, stepping out of the window and onto the portable ladder. Over his head, heavy black, velvety, churning smoke is pushing under pressure from the window. The room lights up as the officer descends the ladder. The officer notifies the incident commander that all of his members are accounted for in the rear yard, and that his “mayday” can be cancelled.

This tragedy was averted because of proactive RIT/FAST team operations. Minutes before, the RIT team had placed portable ladders to several windows in the rear of the building. In the above case, the members on the floor above would have most likely resulted to jumping from the upper floor windows, unable to await the assistance of the RIT team. Proactive RIT/FAST operations turned a tragedy into a mere “close-call”.

Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. believes in “Proactive RIT/FAST Operations. If you are interested in the concept, or would like to host a class centered on this topic, please feel free to contact us at brotherhoodinstructors@gmail.com. As always, feel free to add comments or questions to the article. We appreciate your feedback, and your continued interest.

Stay safe!

Dusty joined the Appleton City Volunteer Fire Dept (Appleton City, MO) in 1996, In 1998 he started as a part-time firefighter with the West Peculiar Fire Protection District(Peculiar, MO) Dusty was hired as a full-time firefighter with the Southern Platte Fire Protection District(Parkville, MO) in 1999 and later in 1999 left South Platte when he was hired by the Kansas City Fire Department(Kansas City, MO) In 2001 Dusty transferred to a rescue company and is currently assigned to Rescue 31 where he has been since 2005. Dusty also serves as in Instructor for the University of Missouri Fire and Rescue Training Institute.

Size up of forcible entry operations is one of the most important functions of forcing entry into a building. Being able to identify what exactly is locking the door is half the battle, knowing your locks and secondary locking mechanisms are paramount. The best way to know your locks is to get out in your area and visit hardware stores and locksmiths and see the types of locks that are being purchased and installed in your area, and the other way to see the forcible entry problems in your area is to get into the buildings you will be responding to.

This following drill will show you several different forcible entry problems and then we will ask you to add your comments and ideas for forcing entry into the following buildings. On some of the doors only the exterior will be shown initially, this will allow you to make your forcible entry decisions based on only your knowledge, experience and training. Not on what you know is there because you can see it. The back side of the door will be shown at a later date to allow you to see if your forcible entry procedure would be effective or not.

Door 1

What type of door construction are we dealing with?

What are the primary locking devices?

What are the secondary locking devices?
What forcible entry tools would you want to have with you?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Inside of the door will be shown later

Door 2

What is the primary locking device?

What are the secondary locking devices?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Door 3

What way does this door swing?

What locking devices are on this door?

What additional forcible entry issues might you have?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Inside of the door will be shown later

Door 4

This is an interior view of a double door in the rear of a commercial building.

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Door 5

Answer the following question without the use of a power saw.

What way does this door swing?

What are the primary locking devices on this door?

What are the secondary locking devices on this door?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Inside of the door will be shown later

Door 6

What are the primary locking devices on this door?

What are the secondary locking devices on this door?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Door 7

This next door is located at the rear of a supermarket in Clinton, Ontario. Clinton is a very small rural community in Southern Ontario, as you can see having heavily fortified doors in your community is not just a problem for large cities.

What are the primary locking devices on this door?

What are the secondary locking devices on this door?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

Inside of the door will be shown later

Door 8

What are the primary locking devices?

What are the secondary locking devices?
What forcible entry tools would you want to have with you?

What forcible entry techniques would you use here?

What would your back up plan be if your initial forcible entry plan failed?

Inside of the door will be shown later

All of the questions can be cut and pasted into your answers. The Interior views will be posted in a months time so you can see how close your tactics where.

Special thanks to Josh Materi from Seattle Ladder 3 and Chris Collier FDNY Ladder 49 for the use of their pictures.

All answers must be posted with your full name and department, no unsigned posts will be posted.

Youtube user Chasefire has come up with some excellent footage once again.  Here, we see footage as the first or second due ladder company arrives at the scene of a fire in an apartment building.  The footage is located on Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hstF-UH3qg.

The first 1 minute, 30 seconds of video is simply the rig responding to the fire.  Trust me that it gets better at the 1:30 mark and the video (and ensuing discussion) will be well worth the wait.

Here are a few questions for discussion.  Feel free to copy/paste these questions, and answer them as you see fit as they pertain to your department and/or your observations.  If you would like, let us know what the response would be in your department and how many firefighters would be fighting this fire if it occurred in your town.

Engine Operations:

1) Ideally, where would the engine stop at this fire?  Why?
2) What type of stretch would you perform (pre-connect, reverse, forward, etc…)?  Why?
3) What size & length of attack line would you stretch?  Why?
4) Any other comments regarding engine considerations that may arise from the video?

Ladder Company Operations:

1) In your department, who conducts the searches and when?
2) At this fire, where would your members start to search? why?
3) If searching above, and there is a loss of water on the fire floor what may be your second means of egress?
4) Would you or your department ascend to the floor above without the protection of a hose line? Why?
5) Forcible Entry Considerations:  What special considerations may arise at a Motel, Hotel or Inn?
6) How would you ventilate this structure?  Who is doing it?  Where and when?
7) Are there any other comments regarding ladder company considerations that arise from the video?

Remember to keep this discussion a tactical discussion.  Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. pride ourselves in running a professional Online Drills area.  We are strictly moderated, and comments that simply bash a department’s or firefighter’s tactics (or any responses) will not be allowed and will not be posted.  Nate & Andrew will post their answers to the questions above and other discussion points on approximately April 10th.  Any and all levels of firefighters are encouraged to post and ask questions.

All posts MUST be signed with at least your first and last name
(we also prefer your department)

Facebook Users:  Join us on our new Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. Facebook page
Fire Engineering Training Community members:  Join us here

How about a professional tactical discussion on building fires. Copy and paste the questions, then answer them on your reply. As always, no unsigned posts or posts that bash another’s tactics will be posted. If you cannot discuss this without bashing tactics, there are plenty of other websites that will allow you to. If you are a young firefighter, feel free to post your concerns or questions on how the guys are coming to their conclusions so you can learn as much as possible.

Your Department:

1. How many apparatus (what type/manpower) will arrive within five minutes of your arrival?
2. How many apparatus (what type/manpower will arrive within 10 minutes of your arrival?
3. How far away is your nearest mutual aid company and what is their manpower when they arrive?

Engine Company Operations:

1. What are your major concerns if arriving first due at this fire?
2. Where will you stretch your first attack line and why?
3. Where will you stretch your second attack line and why?
4. Will you need other lines, if so, how many and where?
5. Will you forward lay or reverse lay and why?
6. Will you call for additional help on arrival?
7. Any other Engine points that you would like to share?

Ladder Company Operations:

1. What are some major concerns if you are the first due ladder company at this fire?
2. What ladder company functions are needed immediately and how will you conduct them?
3. Is roof ventilation a primary concern at this fire?
4. How will you conduct ladder company operations if your department does not have a ladder truck?
5. How will you search this building?

Building Construction & Fire Conditions:

1. Is this a private dwelling or converted multiple dwelling and what are the concerns with each?
2. Where will the fire travel in the next 5 minutes and how will you stop it?
3. What type of construction do you expect and the hazards associated with construction?

**No unsigned posts**

**Copy & paste the questions & answer as you see fit**

Here is a great example of a disciplined engine and ladder company. Again, the video is set to music. Turn the volume down and zone in on the training aspects of the video.

You can skip to 01:30, everything prior to that is a response video. The video is a little dark in some spots but it gives insight in a near perfect aggressive interior attack in a very common private dwelling found in most of our communities.

01:30 - 02:30: The first due engine company arrives on the scene with heavy fire showing from two windows on the 1-4 (a-d) corner. They immediately go to work forcing the front door and stretching and flaking the first line. It appears that line is ready to go at approximately the 2:30 minute mark, less than a minute after the rig has stopped.

02:30: - It appears that the forcible entry firefighter is delayed in getting the door. He sticks with it using various 1-firefighter techniques by prying down with what appears to be the adz end and then followed it up with a baseball swing at the 03:00 mark. He uses various techniques of the Halligan to effect entry.

03:00 - Resisting Several Urges: This is probably one of the best videos on the online training circuit showing tremendous professionalism and discipline in both engine and ladder company operations. This video shows us that there are still departments out there that know and operate with the basic firefighting fundamentals in mind.

The engine company resisted all urges to hit the fire from the exterior, even when the forcible entry operation was not going as smoothly as we like. Hitting this fire from the exterior would have driven the fire into uninvolved areas of the building, and would have killed any occupants that certainly could be alive in any other part of the house aside from the fire room. This would have also driven fire to a member performing VES opposite the fire searching for those victims, if VES is in the departments SOPs.

The engine company also did a great job in avoiding becoming “side-tracked” by the small rubbish fires (fence, bushes, rubbish on the side) and kept to the mission of getting a line through the front door and to the seat of the fire quickly. Operating on those small fires, which are typically inconsequential to the outcome of the fire, often lead to a tendency to “hit the window” to “give the fire a whack”. By staying near the front door and covering the member forcing entry, the line was able to quickly move in after the door was forced.

In addition, the ladder company (or ladder company operating firefighters) resisted a tremendous urge to ventilate the two front windows directly adjacent to the front door. I started to become a little concerned at 03:15 when a member with a hook, set up to the right of the window as if he was preparing to ventilate. Just as I started to cringe, he decided not to ventilate the window. Whether he decided on his own, or a boss or senior firefighter told him not to, it was the correct decision to delay ventilating those windows. Ventilating those window(s) would have certainly pulled the fire from the room of origin and to the new ventilation opening and probably allowed it to spread throughout the rest of first floor since access had not yet been gained.

03:53: - After a tough forcible entry operation, entry is gained. A second member assists the forcible entry firefighter by providing a couple of much needed “taps” to the properly positioned Halligan and the door is forced almost immediately. In a very coordinated and swift motion, the front windows are ventilated and the line aggressively advances to the seat of the fire. All members appear to assist in the advance of the hose line. It appears that water was applied to the main body of fire about 30 seconds after the line entered the front door and the main body of fire knocked down about 15 seconds after that. A great job by the engine company in any way that you approach it.

Other comments:
There were several YouTube comments that express displeasure with the operation, mainly centering around the speed of the forcible entry operation. I emailed the videographer and he explained that the owner of this house was in prison and had “fortified” this door prior to him vacating the house for his absence. The door had a high deadbolt and a standard deadbolt, both with extra-long bolts as well as the regular locks. The firefighter forcing the door did an excellent job getting the door. Perhaps, asking for assistance (a few hits to set the forks, which was done eventually) a little earlier could have slightly sped up the operation, but I think it went well. This was not your typical easy private dwelling forcible entry job that much of the country sees on a day to day basis.

Additionally, there were comments regarding making entry through the window with the hose line and to search while other members worked on the door. As I wrote above, ventilating the windows next to the door would have drawn the fire to that location and negated entry to the building. Anyone who would have entered, would probably be leaving just as fast. There are very limited circumstances where the first hose line should be stretched through a window instead of through a door opening. The only instance that I can think of stretching a hose line through a window is in the case of a vacant building where the stairs are burned out, unstable or otherwise compromised. Short of that, the hose line should enter the fire building through a doorway and not a window.

I invite everyone to add to the discussion, comment further or post questions regarding the video or my thoughts. The only two things that we ask on our forum is that all posts be signed (first and last name) and all posts remain professional with an intent to learn or teach. Posts that do not meet that criteria will not be published!