If you have a high rise or respond on mutual aid to a high rise district, do you know if they are marked for floor identification? If so, do you know how they corresspond with the interior labels? High rise buildings are marked differently, if at all. In our area the windows are typically marked with a reflective sticker, one on every fifth floor. Where this gets tricky is when the interior floors are labeled differently.

This high rise has red circle on the corner on the fifth floor window and the 15th floor window. You can see them in the top right hand corner of the windows on the right side. Now, some places will actually put numbers on the windows, but we are going to just address this one method. If you count the windows you will notice that it doesn't add up.

This building has eliminated the 13th floor, thus making the floors on floor off if counting. This is where preplanning comes in.

It is important to know how the outside corresponds with the interior. In some of these buildings the ground floor may be labeled as "Ground" or "Lobby" and not the first floor. In addition, if there are penthouse units at the top they may be labeled as such and not given a numerical label on the elevator panel. On this building the 13th floor has been eliminated. It goes from floor 12 to 14. On the photo below you can see that there is no 13 on the panel.

We need to get into these buildings and be familiar with the labeling of floors. The last we want to do is deploy to the wrong floor or take an elevator to close to the fire floor. It is also important when searching for victims, knowing what floor is reported and how the occupants will report floor numbers.

This is by no means the only marking systems, just one method. Get out, know your system and train with it.

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    We have all heard the same statement, " the department starts and ends with the company officer."  Whether you agree with this statement or not, we cannot deny the profound affect, both negative and positive,that the company officer has on our companies and ultimately our department.

     How we operate and how we train will be dictated by how the company officer lays out his expectations and how the daily routines are performed.  When a company officer during a training evolution makes a broad statement to his young crew that "we never enter a building without a charged hoseline", we know what the ramifications will be for the members of his company and the people they are supposed to protect.  These attitudes and beliefs will be perpetuated, making our job even more difficult.

   It is easy to see how the long term attitude and beliefs will be affected one way or the other by the example set by the company officer. Lazy company officers have lazy crews and working company officers have working crews. I don't know when this got so complicated.?  

     When the backstep pulls the line off of the rig inadequately and the officer jumps his shit, we have a problem.  Is it not the job of the company officer to make sure his crew is ready?  Is it not the officers job to ensure that the guys on his truck are proficient at the tasks as simple as pulling a line?  Sure the backstepper has a responsibility, but that company officer has a problem with the wrong guy.  If that company officer drilled regularly, any deficiencies would have been identified and remediated before they became a problem. It's called knowing your crew.

    The way that we get to know our crew is to get to know your crew. That means you, as a company officer, have to invest in your people.  You have to "work" with them. That means actually doing things around the fire house and talking. That means eating together and doing regular training drills.  It is a relationship and you have to put "quality" time into it.   You cannot expect to come in, run a few calls and go home and expect to know who your working with.

    In most parts of the country we are fighting less fires.  This is dangerous and makes it even more important to drill regularly.  The officers of the past had years of actual firefighting experience to lean on and pass on. We are losing that experience and that requires us to train as a crew in order to know what is expected, what our company capabilities are based on available resources and to create those "experiences" that are hard to come by.  It all falls on the company officer.

    If you ask most companies and officers, there are a few things that really brings a crew together.  One, obviously is a good, working fire.  Everyone comes back and is pumped up and the stories begin. Second is meaningful training that is inclusive, well planned and relevant.  Third is doing projects in the house.  No matter what the work is, the crew talks, interacts and generally has a good time while doing work together.

    We can't allow our comforts of the job to override the mission. Stay safe and train. Hey, maybe today take off the hand tools and give them a good sanding and cleaning.  Oh, and do it as a crew.

Take care,

Jason 

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How many of you do VES?

How many of you and your organizations routinely perform Vent, Enter and Search Operations?

When discussing this tactic in some circles there is great debate.  In fact, I have heard outright intolerance for VES.

It boils down to training and experience.  Believe it or not, I have had firefighters actually have to ask what the acronym meant.  Obviously, they don’t perform it.

It certainly has it’s place and is something that can be incorporated into the Outside Vent position.  Especially in jurisdictions that don’t have dedicated Engines and Trucks, this position is even more critical.  In these areas, one fire you may be performing engine company operations while the same day at a different fire you may be the truck company based on the order of your arrival.

I am curious what your policies are and what your training is for this position?

How does your department run in terms of companies and assignments?

Share what you do and how you operate so that we can all learn new ideas and methods to keep us safe.

Take care and train hard and smart.

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Do you see anything different here?

I  was out of town most of this past week for class and noticed this building on the first morning I drove in.

The first morning they had only installed the wall to the “r” in Performing.  The second day I realized that I needed to snap a picture of this to share.

This false wall is about four stories tall and covers the entire length of the building.

What challenges do you see?

As you can see, this wall definately would challenge any rescue efforts were there victims in the windows.

Not only will it hamper rescue efforts, performing ventilation or suppression from this side of the building would be challenging at best.

The frame of the false wall is set off of the building wall at a distance of approximately two feet.  That is just a guess, but operating ground ladders here is almost impossible.

Interior crews would need to know that this side is limited access and egress because of the wall.   It will certainly challenge our strategies and tactics should an incident happen here.

This is one good example of why you need to get out and see your area.  Know what’s going on and get involved.  As a crew you can preplan this building by just parking out front, take a picture or two and go back and have a discussion about how you would operate at this building.

Stay safe and be careful.

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This is a C-store and filling station with address numbers of 12785.

I was doing inspections the other day and this address was on the list.  Not very exciting and pretty standard stuff.

It is a small convenience store with gas pumps out front.  I found an exit sign with emergency lights dangling from the ceiling and the battery back-up was not working.  Like I said, nothing to note that was out of the ordinary.

Then I look at my list and see the same numerics on another inspection form with a different business name.  This is what I find…..

Same address as the filling station. Same owner.

This building is directly behind the filling station in the above picture.  Both are labeled on the front of both buildings with the identical address.

Now this building was locked and I was not able to get in, but, this view is at the same elevation as the filling station, but behind it the elevation changes so that it is two stories on the back side.

This building houses offices on the main level and storage on the lower level.

Okay, the point is this, pay attention to your inspections.  This is the kind of information you need to pass on.  This is a situation that could turn ugly real quick.

Imagine getting dispatched to this address and finding that the filling station is closed.  Nobody around and the address is prominently displayed on the store.  False call, right?

Well, if we don’t know about that building behind it, even though we see it, we may not associate it with the call because how often are two buildings addressed the same?

Just be aware and alert.  Take these inspections seriously and be thorough.  Don’t be the one says, “Oops.”

Take care and be careful.

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Deploy your people. You are the big boss on this one, what next?

You are the incident commander on this fire.  You can deploy who ever you want where ever you want.

I am allowing for your normal response of resources. No cheating!

Don’t worry about what is going on with the personnel in the picture; pretend they are not there.

Explain your size-up and the building characteristics.

Deploy your resources accordingly through what ever a first alarm will bring you. If you want to expand your alarms, hey, have at it.  Just let us know.

Sit down with your crews and work this out.

This fire came in as a house fire, unknown victims, called in by the neighbors.

Have fun with it, pass it on, and be safe.

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What would you do at this point?

There is a lot already taking place here.  A hose crew is at the door or inside.  A guy is taking out a window or something to that effect on the D side.  And someone is on a ladder.

There is some nasty smoke pushing out of this structure.  It definitely is under pressure.

Time is running out for keeping this in check and an interior attack.  We’ve all been here and we know how this can go.

At this point in the fire, what ventilation tactic would you use and why?

If you need to, redirect these crews and put them where you think they will make the most progress and explain your actions.

Share with your crew and post your discussion points.  We always get great feedback and we know you have some goo ideas, so, let’s hear them.

Stay safe and be careful.  Get yourself healthy and stay healthy.

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What characteristics could you expect with this building?

Just about every jurisdiction in the country has a building like this one.

These are popular in the older downtown areas, especially in smaller towns and main streets.

Some of you may have fought a fire or two in a building similar to this one or done an inspection at one.

Based on your past experiences and this picture, what are some concerns you may have about this building?

How will those concerns determine your strategies and tactics?

What size lines and what conditions will you be looking for inside?

List your responses and share your experiences and thoughts.

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Here is a cool way to get two tools to stay together.  Firefighters can get real creative when they want to.

This is a good example of getting out of the chair and doing something to help the fire service.

Using multiple tools can make forcing entry much easier and more effective, so it is beneficial to have more than one tool.

The last post was about bringing tools, so I thought this was appropriate.  To see some other tool drills and ideas, click the picture for Brotherhood Instructors site.

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Back to Basics Part 1: Ladders

I recently did a class and we got to talking about a scenario with a second floor.

To my surprise, throwing a ladder to the second floor windows was not a top priority of tactical considerations.

In addition, most could not explain how to raise a ladder properly on their own. I can tell you that I was taken back.  So, I gave each officer an assignment, drill on ladders.

In my part of the world we may have to be a truck company at one call and then turn around and be an engine company at the next.  The next call we may be a squad. We just don’t have the resources that the large metro departments have to run engine companies and truck companies separate.

So, it is incumbent upon us to know all of the jobs.  As an engine company, we must be able to properly raise and place ground ladders.  It might be one of the first things you need to do if you have multiple victims hanging on balconies being threatened.   Not to forget that you may be second in and your first in is upstairs and may need a secondary means of egress?

Whatever the circumstances, ground ladders are important and vital. Drill with them and make them a tool that is expected to be used.

Remember, train hard and stay safe.

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