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

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.

Wayne Benner (Port Colborne, Ontario FD) sent us this photo compilation video of several of our class photos taken from our website.  Wayne took our “Back to Basics” Engine & Ladder Company Operations class in Oakville, Ontario last year and has been in contact ever since.  Thanks Wayne, nice work!

In addition, there are two other conventional forcible entry videos uploaded to Youtube as well.  Feel free to subscribe to the Brotherhood Instructors, LLC Youtube channel, and you will be notified when other videos are posted.  We hope to post an Engine Operations video in the very near future.

Class Announcements:
We have several class announcements that we would like to make everyone aware of.  All class announcements are always posted on our “Upcoming Classes” page.

• July 6th-9th:  MABAS Division 10 (Western Chicago Suburbs):  3-hour Power Saw Operations discussion/demonstration
• July 26th:  Beeton, Ontario - Basic Forcible Entry Operations at FFAO Training Weekend
• August 21st & 22nd:  Frankfort, IL - ‘Back-to-Basics’ Engine & Ladder Company Operations (open enrollment)
• September 17th: Wildwood, NJ - Basic Forcible Entry Operations at the NJ State Firefighter’s Convention (open enrollment)
• September 19th: Centerville, MA - Basic Forcible Entry Operations (open enrollment)
• October 10th: Hughsonville, NY (Dutchess County) - Basic Forcible Entry Operations (open enrollment)

Past Classes:
Our “Past Classes” page has a new look.  Now all photos are uploaded and can be viewed as a slideshow instead of the multi-click that we used to have.  We are working to upload all of our classes to the new format.

Facebook Page:
The Brotherhood Instructors, LLC. Facebook page has nearly 400 members.  If you are a Facebook member, we invite you to join us.  All of our class announcements are posted in the form of events, class photos and videos are posted.  Facebook also allows the members who took the class to post their photos as well.  In addition, we have some quick-drill training videos, and discussions.

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

It is important to keep in mind that some departments in the United States respond with only ONE FIREFIGHTER on a truck company.

In our opinion, this is a near-criminal act that is committed by the penny-pinchers at city hall.  However, it is reality that this scenario occurs.

This is just one tool for the tool-box concerning a one-firefighter ladder raise.  Feel free to comment or question below.

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