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

I’ve heard many firefighters while discussing a door with multiple locks say, “I’ll just go for the hinge side.”  If this is not something you have ever done before you are in for a real surprise when you try it.

I was going to write about: when and why to force the hinge side, sizing up the hinge side, and door control when forcing the hinge side but I think those items are better left for the discussion portion of this drill.  This drill will cover the technique of pulling the hinges using only the irons and then we’ll discuss the rest to make it more interactive and interesting.

Once you have decided that you are going to force the hinge side of the door you will typically have three hinges to pull.  Start with the top hinge.  This a good idea because the smoke will be pushing from the top of the door and taking the top hinge will allow you to take the middle and lower hinge below the smoke and heat.  Also, anyone who has done any construction or mechanical work will tell you that working with your hands above chest level for any period of time gets tiring very quickly.  Taking the top hinge first allows you to work in this difficult position at the beginning of the operation while you are still fresh.  Place the fork of the halligan under the bottom of the top hinge with the bevel side towards the door.

Next, the striking firefighter will hit the halligan with the axe as directed by the halligan firefighter.  The objective of hitting the halligan is to loosen up the hinge and hopefully break the screws holding the hinge into the door and the jam.  Be sure to “cross your tools” while striking the halligan.  The striking surface of the axe should come in contact with the halligan perpendicular to the adz, this increases surface area and lessens the likelihood of missing.  As you can see from picture 1 this is not a normal striking position that we are used to with the irons which makes accuracy even more important to avoid injury.  After loosening or breaking the screws by striking the halligan pry up on the halligan to pull the hinge from between the door and the jam.

Make no mistake about it, this is not easy especially on the top hinge.  Usually the hinge will pull about half way out using the halligan in this manner.  Next flip the halligan over and place the fork under the bottom of the hinge with the concave side toward the door this time to increase leverage and pry up to pull the hinge completely out.  One down, two to go!

Next, attack the middle hinge.  If you put the fork of the halligan over the top of the middle hinge the adz will be roughly where the top hinge was, which is too high to strike down on.  (Let the short jokes begin)  If you place the fork of the halligan under the bottom of the middle hinge the adz end will be roughly where the bottom hinge is which leaves only about a foot between the adz and the ground.  This is not enough space to strike the adz with the required force to loosen or break the screws holding the hinge in place.  For the middle hinge the adz is placed on top of the top hinge and then struck with the axe by the striking firefighter at the direction of the halligan firefighter.

Once the hinge is loosened up then place the fork of the halligan over the hinge either from the bottom or the top with the bevel towards the door and pry up.  As with the top hinge this will usually pull the hinge about half way out.  Then you can flip the halligan over and place the concave side against the door to increase leverage and pry the hinge completely out.  Two down, one to go!

The bottom hinge (I think) is the easiest which is part of the reason it is saved until last.  Place the fork of the halligan over the top of the bottom hinge with the bevel side against the door.  The striking firefighter then hits the halligan with the axe at the direction of the halligan firefighter just as was done for the other hinges.  This is the most natural striking position so it is best saved until last when you are fatigued from striking and prying the other two hinges.  After the screws are loosened or broken pry down on the halligan to pull the hinge.

Just as with the top and middle hinge once the hinge is pulled half way out flip the halligan over concave side towards the door and pull the hinge completely out.  Now that all three hinges are pulled the job is not done!

Now you have to force the hinge side of the door just as you would the lock side of an outward opening door.  Normaly you would begin by setting your halligan six inches above or below the lock but in this case there is no lock so go six inches above or below where the middle hinge was.  Place the adz of the halligan against the crack between the door and the jam.  Then the striking firefighter hits the halligan in at the direction of the halligan firefighter until it hits the door stop.  You will know you hit the stop when the halligan stops moving and you should be able to hear the halligan deaden out when it hits the stop.  Next the halligan firefighter pries up and down with the halligan to crush the door a little bit.  Then the halligan firefighter pulls back (away from the door) on the halligan so the adz clears the door stop and the striking firefighter drives the halligan the rest of the way in.  Finally, pry out away from the door with the halligan to pry the door out of the frame.

Quite a few steps and a LOT of effort are required to perform this operation.  It is a valuable and basic tactic that can be done with hand tools and a little determination.  There are certainly other tools usually available on the fire ground that can make this operation faster and easier.  Knowing how to get the job done with basic tools and basic skills can never be over emphasized and will never fail you.

If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job.

The Prop Shop- Forcible Entry Door Simulator

By: Andrew Brassard

Forcible entry door simulators have been around in some shape or form since there was a need on the fireground to force a door. Most of these door props where spawned in the stuffy old basements of many firehouses, where most of these props still stand today. Props were built by welding the steel directly to the structural supports of the firehouse, where they were used to drill the firefighters in the true art of forcible entry, by challenging everyone who used them from the probie to the senior man. These props offered the most realistic training that could be provided without using an acquired structure.

Construction

Door props like this are very basic in construction, typically pieces of heavy gauge “C” channel or tube steel where used to create the door frame and a heavy piece of flat stock metal was welded on to create a door stop. The door hinges can be constructed in a variety of different ways, the key with hinges is that you make it very easy to change the doors that will be forced in and out of the frame. An easy way to construct a basic hinge set up is to weld a piece of ¼” sheet metal onto three standard door hinges. Drill rows of 1/4 inch holes into the sheet metal; this will allow you to screw the doors in at various heights and in various places to get around damage of the door, windows, etc.

To lock the door, use a piece of “C” channel and drill three evenly spaced out ¼ inch holes in one side and seven to nine  10/32 holes into the other end. The end with the 3 holes will bolt to the “C” channel frame using two or three 10/32 machine screws and other end will be screwed into the door using 1 inch self tapping metal screws. When building the frame, screw the same hole pattern that is on your “C” channel resistance bracket onto the door frame at various heights, this will allow you to place the “lock” at various heights and it will also allow you to lock the door in multiple different spots at the same time to simulate multiple locks on the rear of the door. Having the ability to lock the door at any level will also allow you to use the entire side of the door and get more evolutions out of each side of the door.

A Prop Variation

In my department there was absolutely no way that they would allow me to weld a forcible entry prop into the structural components of the firehouse so I set out to find a way to make a prop that would hold up to the abuse of constant forces and I also wanted to be able to convert it into a wall breech prop. I searched around on the internet, looked at different props that people had made, talked to people about different things they liked and did not like about ones they had made, etc. One of the biggest things that I noticed was that a lot of these portable door props that I saw where very flimsy and would be moving all over the place when you tried to force a door in them. I used channel steel and ¼ inch diamond plate to make the base. I then used 4×4 metal tubes to make the uprights and the header. One inch steel tubing was then used to make the braces that supported the “C” channel that made up the frame for the door.

Doors

The biggest complaints that I hear about this type of door prop is that it is very material and labor intensive, in this case both complaints are very true. This type of forcible entry training is requires a lot of material to put on. You will need a steady supply of doors coming in since you will only get about 10-15 forces out of a door, the best places to look for doors is at the following places:

Ø      Demolition Sites- Stop by and talk to the Forman, most of the time they are more than willing to give you any of the doors that they are going to be throwing away.

Ø      Door Factories- If you have a door manufacturing facility in your city or town pay them a visit and see if they will give you some doors the have “manufacturing defects”.

Ø      Door Instillation Companies- I you talk to the owner allot of the time they will be more than willing to help out with getting you some old doors.

Ø      Hardware Stores- Talk to the store manager and see if he will put aside all the doors that get scratched, dented, water damaged, etc. Most of the times these doors will be going into the garbage anyway they will usually be very happy to give them to the local fire department.

Ø      Scrap Yards- most scrap yard come by metal doors quite frequently, if you make the arrangements (case of beer) with the scrap yard manager they will probably put them aside for you.

This type of forcible door prop will require a large quantity of the self-tapping screws and machine bolts.  Consider purchasing these items in bulk from a wholesale distributor instead of from your local hardware or “big box” type store to save money.

Another big thing that I see with doors is the fantastic opportunity for forcible entry saw training. After both sides of the door have been used the door can be taken out of the frame and then used for forcible entry saw training.

Wall Breach Option

Another great option for having a very sturdy forcible entry prop is setting it up for a wall breach scenario for rapid intervention operations. You can utilize two hardwood skids bolted into the door frame secured in place with two long pieces of threaded rod (similar to a H.U.D. window) and depending on how difficult you want to make it, the pallets  could be covered by plywood and drywall.

There are many fantastic forcible entry training props on the market today but nothing will compare to forcing real doors if you have the resources to do so. Forcing doors with traditional forcible entry tools (axe and halligan) is a dying art, it is a skill like any other we posses it must be practiced often to remain sharp. The more realistic that we can make training for our members the more we can help to ensure that they will go home to their loved ones at the end of their tour.

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.

Throughout our careers we become intimately familiar with the building construction commonly found in our response district.  Most of the fires in these structures are fairly routine, but there are a few that will challenge our skills and knowledge of tactics, fire behavior, and some not so ordinary construction features.  We all have our own bread-and-butter fires, the fires that present with a similar and almost expected behavior where the same tactics work nearly every time.

                Recently, I experienced one of those not so routine fires.  In the last few hours of the tour, we were dispatched to assist at a working fire in an area on the opposite side of the city.  We located the address in the map book and headed towards the expressway.  An easy ten minutes later we arrived on-scene as the sixth due engine company.  We report to command and were assigned to supply a tower ladder being set up.  We located a working hydrant and hand stretched a couple lengths of supply line to the truck’s waterway intake.  Once the water was on its way we grabbed our tools and staged near the command post to await another assignment.  We positioned ourselves across the street from exposure B-1.  Standing there with my company I began surveying the scene to get a feel for the operation.  The fire building was a two-story wood frame with heavy fire throughout.  Exposure B-1 was a one-story frame, to the rear was a yard and exposure D-1 was a one and a half story frame.  There were two deck pipes in operating into the original fire building, handlines were positioned to operate between the exposures and the tower ladder was getting ready to open up into the large opening where a roof once was.  Companies began stretching into the exposures to extinguish the advanced fire conditions present in both.  I took mental notes of company locations, many of which would not normally been at this fire, but there were two other working fires going on in the inner city.  This fact would explain the advanced fire conditions in the main fire building as well as the exposures.

                Since we were positioned in front of the Bravo exposure my attention was focused on this building.  By all outward appearances it looked to be just another private dwelling.  As the fire progressed, several crews had gone into this exposure to extinguish the fire there.  I watched as steam rolled out of the side windows multiple times with no change in the thick yellow smoke pushing out under pressure from the eves of the lean-to roof at the rear of this exposure.  The peaked roof that ran from front to back showed no sign of fire involvement, not even a wisp of smoke was evident from the opening in the gable end where the vent was.  Just then the tower ladder opened their nozzle, what caught my attention was not the massive amount water slowly darkening down the heavy fire coming from the main building, but the steam evaporating off a distinct section of the Bravo exposure roof.  As I stared at the building, I asked myself “how hot does it need to be under the roof decking to generate steam from the shingles?” and if the attic space was on fire “why wasn’t it venting out of the gable vent?”  Taking a look at the bigger picture I noticed the foundation under the first ten to twelve feet of the building was newer concrete block.  It happened to blend into the old foundation in line with area of the roof where the steam began.  This is when it became apparent that there must not be an opening connecting the original attic with the addition attic.  After informing the IC of our observation the ceiling under this area was pulled and the fire quickly extinguished, however, the heavy smoke in the rear was intensifying even though the inside the structure was virtually clear.  Low air alarms began to sound and a group of firefighters inside began to exit the exposure.  We notified the IC that we were available and of our suspicions of possible multiple roofs in the rear.  Quickly speaking with one of the firefighters who just exited revealed that they had pulled all of the ceiling in the rear and it was clear all the way to the roof decking.  Instead of heading inside, my company made a different approach, we took our tools and a power saw from the tower ladder and headed to the roof.  We carefully transversed the peaked roof towards the rear of the building.  After sounding the flat roof, coupled with the fact that an uncontrolled fire had been burning underneath for some time, we felt it was safest to deploy a roof ladder across the decking in an area supported by the outside walls.  Moving carefully out onto the ladder I dropped the saw into the roof.  Heavy smoke pressed out of kerf with great speed.  After making several cuts I moved back to the peaked section and withdrew the roof ladder.  Utilizing the reach of our hooks we began the strenuous task of pulling the decking.  Flames rose into the morning sky as a handline was positioned to extinguish the fire.  After the flames were gone it became apparent that there was not one, but two “rain” roofs constructed over top of the original roof.  We finished overhaul of the area and took up with a sense of pride and accomplishment that we saw what everyone else seemed to miss.

                So what are you to do when those routine tactics are not working?  Here are a few questions to ask yourself that may help you out the next time you’re faced with a less than routine fire.

Am I standing back and looking at the big picture?

Avoid tunnel vision and look at the whole scene.  The problem may become completely obvious.  Conditions on the inside may not be the conditions showing on the outside.  Good communication coupled with accurate information between the outside and inside crews is key in these situations.

Am I following my gut instinct?

Your feelings based on real world experience and sound training seldom steer you wrong.

Are there obvious signs of building alterations or does the building appear seamless?

Some alterations are very apparent, but others may not be.  This is why we need to have a solid grasp on building construction and the science of fire behavior integrated with the street smarts.  Based on that knowledge you need to look at what the fire’s behavior is telling you and determine your next course of action.   

Am I using all my available resources?

Technology such as thermal imagers are a great asset on the fireground for locating hidden pockets of fire quickly, but it is also just a tool and can never replace your senses.  Never be afraid to make an inspection hole in a wall, ceiling, floor, or roof.  The cost to repair a properly made inspection hole is minor compared to the damage the fire will continue to do to the structure left undiscovered. 

I’ve seen or been a part of a wide spectrum of events during my life. Many of them have involved the fire service.  That’s how it goes when you grow up in a firehouse and you learn the rules, codes (written and unwritten), and behaviors that co-exist with this type of life.  Many of these traits are still held dear to me today and I try to practice them every time I get a chance.

The thing that stood out the most was the Brotherhood.  I didn’t know the word “Brotherhood” or even what it meant at such a young age, but I could see that these firemen took care of each other.  This behavior was visible on and off the job and is the foundation of what has turned into many life-long friendships. 

I’ll have some stories to tell and examples to give, but the Brotherhood will show through in each example. 

I was five years old when my parents decided to add on to our house.  As was common practice back in the day, my Dad subcontracted all the work to firemen.  They would make a little money and you’d get a good job at a great price.  That is, if they didn’t do it for materials only! On one occasion, my mom and dad went to run an errand and I was left with a fireman who was one of my dad’s best friends (and still is today).  He was busy painting part of the addition.  The carpet had not been laid so there would be no chance for an accident.  Little did we know, the accident was me.  Long story short, I knocked over a gallon of light blue paint, which quickly spread over the sub floor.  When my parents returned, there was no avoiding the spill.  Dad asked, “What happened?” and the fireman replied, “Shit happens.  I didn’t see the paint and knocked it over.  I tried to clean it up the best I could”.  Dad agreed and asked if he needed to go get more paint.

This fireman took care of me then, as he did for many years.  He rose up through the ranks of the NFD and is now an assistant chief.  He finally told my dad what happened about four years after the incident.  The paint was spilled, it was an accident, and this mentor of mine didn’t want to see me get in trouble.  This of one of many times that Brotherhood was shown to me by a family friend/fireman.  Thanks, Chief Smith.

Unfortunately, I’ve had three of my four grandparents die in the last six years.  All had lived long lives, but it’s still hard to deal with.  The guys I work with were always there.  There were phone calls, beautiful flowers sent to the funeral home, and many brothers that came to visitations on each occasion.

I’ll never forget the death of my Grandpa (the first of the three to go).  All of our family was at visitation and the room was fairly full.  I’ll never forget the feeling I had as my nine co-workers filed into the room.  They brought comfort, peace, love, sympathy, laughter, etc…all the things that encompass this Brotherhood that we are speaking of.  They met my family and stayed until visitation was finished.  We all went out and ate afterward.  The next day was the funeral, which was going to be extremely hard.  It was my shift that day, so I knew my friends wouldn’t be around for comfort.  I had to sing a song with my cousin and I knew it would be hard to complete the task.  Five minutes before we started, the family filed into the auditorium.  At the same time, I heard an old familiar Jake Brake engage outside the church.  As I began to take my seat, the four members of 3 Truck “A” filed in wearing full dress uniforms.  To say they turned everyone’s heads is an understatement.  This event and many others over the years have kept me at NFD Station 3 for close to nine years.  There have been marriages, births, holidays, rafting trips, a few promotions, and many shifts, but the quality of people has remained the same.

I’ve gone to deck building parties, put on shingles after storms, cleaned rental properties, put in hardwood floors, mowed grass, and the list goes on and on.  I’ve been on the receiving end of many things, as well. 

The on-duty things matter too: compromising on meal selections or the consideration of folding co-workers clothes when you take them out of the dryer to put yours in; swapping days off, so a friend can go to a kids ballgame or take in a training class; building training props that can be used to sharpen skills; or pulling off attack/supply hoselines and reloading them because their appearance doesn’t meet your shift’s standards.  The life and times you share at the station or on the scene seal your bond with the individuals you work with.  As my best friend says, “You did crime or time together”.

I started tagging along with my dad to various fire events when I was six years old.  I made my first structural fire attack when I was seven.  I began riding fire apparatus during this time as well.  I have never stopped since.  The many runs, training sessions, conversations, etc. have made me the fireman I am today.  These opportunities presented themselves because somebody (in fact, many people) gave a shit.  Taking time to care about me, my family, this profession, its traditions, and the brotherhood of the fire service made the difference…and it’s my duty to give this back.  I was allowed to learn from some of the greatest and put the knowledge I gained to work under their supervision.  It’s a gift that I can never give back, but only hope to repay by passing on to someone else.

I’ve been privileged to sit on several interview panels for hiring of new firefighters. One of my final questions is always “Why do you think you want to be a fireman?” I’ve heard a wide range of answers, but the one that normally shines through is the draw to Brotherhood.  These applicants are fascinated by the thought of a second family, a tight-knit group, camaraderie, and sharing good and bad times with a “Brother”.  The idea of knowing someone has your back through thick or thin is appealing to us all, and few professions even have the possibility for something so special to exist.  If you have the opportunity to be that “Brother”, I hope you take it…as the gift will continue and not die with you.  

A firefighter on my shift in Nashville is dealing with a tough family situation.  His two-year-old daughter has cancer and it is in an advanced stage.  I can only imagine the pain his family has and the times they are facing.  Several brothers have taken off to go “ride” for this Firefighter so he can take care of his family needs.  I only made a few fires with this Firefighter, as 3 Truck is the second due truck in his part of town.  He has always been about business on scene, but is a nice guy as well.  I had a few extra days, took off, and “rode” for him for 24 hours on a Sunday.  The NFD’s newly promoted deputy chief (the top guy in the Fire Suppression Bureau, who works a 40-hour week/Monday-Friday) came in off-duty to take a Saturday 24-hour shift.  The Chief of Department wouldn’t let the new deputy chief ride the back step of the engine, but he was allowed to work as the shift commander.  This added an additional person to the manpower for the shift, allowing someone to cover the needed firefighter slot. Nobody told anyone they had to “ride” or come in, or give up time…they did it because it is the right thing to do, and because brotherhood does still exist in the fire service. I had always been very impressed with our new deputy chief, and he has many years with the NFD, but he really raised the bar with his commitment and “never forget where you came from” attitude to help a “Brother”

There are many more stories I would love to share, but I think you get the point that I’m trying to get across. The tradition of “taking care of our own” has existed for a long time, but could stand to be reinforced.  There will be times that it’s easy to celebrate successes; like a promotion, kid’s graduations, marriage, births, etc. But with the good there comes the bad, and your “brother” will need you. Deaths, sicknesses, divorces, break-ups, and disappointments on and off the job will always be a part of life. There will be projects at home and around the station where help will be needed. Be the guy that they can depend on. Sign up for the station/shift picnic or canoeing trip. The life and times you share during “battle”, at the station, and off-duty build the bond and lets you know who you can believe in when you need them most.

So, when you hear “That Brotherhood bullshit is gone, and won’t be tolerated”….don’t drink the Kool-Aid. You might have to look for it harder than you did back in the day, but the tradition of “Brotherhood” and taking care of our own is alive and well in the fire service. It is up to you to live it, love it, and pass it on.  There are some that will try to bring you down….”for personal reasons”, but the traditions of this craft were here when we came, and will hopefully be here when we’re gone. 

This “Brotherhood” we speak of was put in place by many firefighters that came before us, so who are we to let it go by the wayside? Company moral will soar, you’ll form a cohesive team that is good at what they do, you’ll genuinely care for each other, and you’ll find yourself enjoying “The Job” more than ever before. This pride will be contagious, and others will want what you have. It won’t necessarily be easy, but if it’s worth having…it requires effort.

Train hard, remember fallen brothers, stay safe…and don’t let the “Brotherhood” die. The future of the fire service is in your hands. FTM-PTB.

Trey is the President of the Middle TN FOOLS and a Firefighter with Nashville Truck-3

After locating a downed firefighter the packaging and removal process of the firefighter will be the next step. Packaging and removing a downed firefighter will without question be one of the toughest and most stressful operations that a firefighter will ever have to do in his/her career because we are now rescuing one of our own, the patient is no longer a faceless person but a fellow colleague and fellow brother.

After locating the downed firefighter a rapid and thorough size up of not only the patient but of the scene and conditions of the area were crews will be operating can make or break your RIT operation. A failed size up can lead to costly time delays or even worse causing your RIT team to be caught in a potentially life threatening situation (i.e. floor collapse, wall collapse, flashover, etc.)

Once the downed firefighter is located the RIT officer can start doing his/her size up, part of the RIT size up can include the S.A.F.E.S. acronym.

S- Size Up

Not only must the downed firefighter be sized up but the surroundings and location must be sized up as well, the use of a thermal imaging camera will pay huge divides in this situation. Things you want to look for in your size up should include:

Ø      Location of the firefighter

Ø      Conditions (fire and or heat) in the immediate area

Ø      Condition of the downed firefighter (is he or she breathing? Is there face piece still on? Are thy pinned or entangled?

If you do not have a TIC or the TIC is rendered useless due to fire conditions or a malfunction of the camera the size up will have to be done largely by feel. If the TIC does malfunction the RIT officer should call for an additional one to be brought to there location immediately should one be available. A TIC is an asset during the size up, that can sometimes be used to establish weather or not the downed firefighter is breathing. If the firefighter is passing air through the SCBA (breathing) the air bottle should be cold, this will cause the air bottle and air line to show up dark on the image from the TIC. This is not going to happen all the time based on fire/heat conditions and the downed firefighter exposure to heat or fire. As with all use of the thermal imager the user must be able to interpret what they are seeing in the image based on the fire/heat conditions around them.

You also want to get a sense of what kind of condition the downed firefighter is in:

Ø      Are they entangled? – do we have wire cutters to cut them out?

Ø      Are they pinned underneath something? – are we able to free them with the tools, equipment, and man power we have?

Ø      Do they have a face piece on? Is the SCBA or face piece they have on damaged? – do we have a way of getting this firefighter air? Do we have a new mask?

You also want to pay close attention to the fire and or heat conditions around the area of operation, is the area tenable, can we maintain an air supply to the victim and is there extra time to properly package the patient? Or are conditions rapidly deteriorating and we must remove the patient as quickly as possible? Remember the TIC may not give you a good indication of rapidly deteriorating conditions, only you experience and senses will give you a true sense of the heat conditions.

A- Assessment

Once you have located the downed firefighter you will want to complete a quick, proper, and thorough assessment of the firefighter to be removed. The best way to do this is to sit the firefighter up, one firefighter in behind the downed firefighter and on in front. Once you have the firefighter in position you can start your assessment, using the acronym

M. A. B. C. you can size use the air needs of the downed firefighter.

M- Mask- is the firefighters mask and regulator on and in place? Is it melted? Is it leaking air? There is not much point in attempting to transfill the firefighter’s air if it is going to leak out. Does this firefighter need his/her face piece changed out?

A- Air Exchange- Is the firefighter exchanging air (breathing)? The best way to tell this is to hold your breath and get your ear down towards the exhalation valve of the face piece.

B- By Pass- does the firefighters By Pass work?

C- Cylinder Pressure- What is the cylinder pressure of the downed firefighter? Do you need to transfill there air supply?

If the firefighter is found without there face piece on I would recommend utilizing the face piece in the RIT Kit, the reason for this is you would hate to go through all of the work to put the firefighters face piece on only to realize that it is defective and that was the reason for the firefighter having removed it in the first place.

F- Firefighter Needs

After insuring that the firefighter has an adequate air supply you can start to figure out what types of needs the firefighter will require to help with the extrication of the firefighter, the firefighter may only require to be extricated form the environment or he may require some additional equipment and or personal. Some of the additional firefighter needs maybe extensive depending of how trapped the downed firefighter is, some additional resources maybe as follow:

Ø      Bottle jacks

Ø      Pry bars

Ø      Air bags

Ø      Air tools

Ø      Saws

Ø      Rebar cutter

Ø      Etc.

You may also require additional personal to help clear out clutter or ensure that a clear path is ready for the extrication of the patient.

E- Extrication

Once the firefighter has been given a positive air supply we are ready to package and extricate the down firefighter. The quickest way to remove the firefighter is to do a conversion of his/her SCBA straps into a harness. There is nothing fancy about the removal of a firefighter in distress, it is simply a lot of work and there is no real way around it. There are some things that can and will make the removal of the firefighter easier, some of the ways are:

Ø      Utilizing a 2:1 mechanical advantage

Ø      Using your tools to help drag

Ø      Using the push pull method

Remember don’t waste valuable time doing the fancy a creative things the best thing for that firefighter is going to be getting them out of the IDLH atmosphere and into the hands of Paramedics, remember that the more simple you keep it the easier it will be to remember in a pressure situation.

S- Situational Awareness

Situational Awareness is probably the most overlooked part of the RIT process, but it is also the most vital. Firefighters tend to get caught up in the tasks of the RIT operation and tend to loose sight of what is happening around them. Maintaining that situational awareness is a very hard thing to teach firefighters, and it is an even harder thing to ask firefighters to do when they are focusing so hard on the monumental task in front of them. This is where the RIT officer must come in, the RIT officer must try to stay as “hands off” as possible to prevent getting tunnel vision and loose his/her situational awareness. Some things that you will want to constantly be aware of and monitor are:

Ø      Heat Conditions

Ø      Fire Conditions

Ø      Air Supply of your crew and yourself, you may have to call a “freeze” every once in a while and have the members check there air supply.

Ø      Monitor the progress of the crew; are they trying something that is not going to work? Do you have a different idea in mind? Are they making progress?

Ø      Monitor the radio

Ø      Give Command up dates as needed

Ø      Do you need a handline?

Ø      Additional resources? Try to stay 10 steps ahead of the game, don’t wait until something is needed before calling for it…… try to stay progressive

Ø      Is there another/better way out of here?

Remember that the best thing that you can do for the downed member is to get the out of the building as quick as possible, your size up should be very thorough but also must be very quick.  A proper a thorough size up can make or break your RIT operation or it could make the situation worse by creating additional downed members that must be rescued. The only way to become proficient at the task of a proper downed firefighter is through aggressive, realistic, and frequent training.

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.