THE WELL-HOLE VERTICAL hose stretch has several advantages over a conventional stairway stretch. It reduces the amount of hose needed to reach the fire area by eliminating the numerous corner turns necessitated by the vertical portion of the traditional stairway stretch. Fewer hose lengths and fewer turns mean a faster stretch and earlier water on the fire. However, the well-hole stretch can be problematic for an engine company with little or no hands-on training in executing it.
WELL-HOLE STAIRWAY
The stairway design determines whether the well-hole stretch can be used. It must allow for the placement of a charged hoseline in the open space, or well hole, in the stairwell’s center between the succeeding flights of stairs and landings (photo 1). This space may vary from narrow to extremely wide. Well holes can be found in return-type stairs as well as in typical residential stairways. Fleeing occupants and ascending firefighters using a single attack/evacuation stairway will be able to move more quickly because the attack line is hanging inside the well hole and is not laid on the stair treads and floor landings as in a traditional stairway stretch. This stretch can also be used to supplement a traditional stairway stretch when additional lines are needed.
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MULTIPLE STAIRWAYS
If multiple stairways are present, the engine officer must decide which stairway to use for the hose stretch and which hose stretch method to use. The officer should choose a stairway that will facilitate the most efficient stretch to the fire area. Engine companies faced with multiple staircases should not commit their line to a particular stairway until the officer confirms that it leads to the fire area. If two stairways lead to the fire area and one contains a well hole, the engine officer must now decide whether to use a well-hole stretch.
COMMUNICATION
As with any fireground tactic, proper communication is critical. Engine officers must quickly inform their firefighters that they will be using a well-hole stretch. Firefighters sizing up the building outside may not know that a well hole is present and may size up for a traditional stairway stretch. Firefighters preparing the stretch will have to mentally switch gears and refigure the hose stretch estimate based on this new information.
On encountering a single-stairway building, some officers will announce that a well hole is present. However, this can be confusing to the crew members, who may interpret the announcement as an order to perform a well-hole stretch. Just because a building has a suitable well hole doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily use it to stretch to the fire.
Consider the following example. The fire is on the third floor of a multistory, single-stairway building. Disregarding the well hole and stretching up the stairs is often the best tactic. To avoid confusion, the engine officer should confirm with the crew the type of stretch to be performed. Usually, a company will be able to perform a standard stairway stretch to the third floor quickly, and reducing the stretch by one hose length is not a high priority. However, if your attack line’s length is limited, a well-hole stretch would be justified. This stretch is best reserved for fires at which multiple lengths of hose would be saved. A well-hole stretch can be preplanned for certain buildings in your district.
HOSE REDUCTION AND TOOLS
The hose estimate for the standard stairway stretch is at least one length of hose to cover a single flight of stairs. Using a traditional stairway stretch from the first-floor landing to the fifth-floor landing would require four lengths of hose on the stairs. You will need only one length for a well-hole stretch to cover all those floors vertically from the base of the stairway. Even though your vertical distance has not changed, the stretch has become shorter.
Eliminating three lengths of hose to reach the fire floor makes a huge difference in reflex time and effort, eliminating as many as eight or more turns around banister rails, depending on the stairway’s design. The stairway stretch’s interior portion is generally the most time consuming; a well-hole stretch greatly assists an engine company, especially if it is understaffed. Less hose stretched also reduces the number of potential kinks and the required pumping pressure.
In a standard stairway stretch, hose butts may get hung up on stair treads or get wrapped tightly around banister posts, delaying the line’s arrival to the fire floor. The well-hole stretch virtually eliminates these impediments.
You generally do not need special tools to perform a well-hole stretch. A hose strap or a short length of rope or webbing is the only additional item you will need to secure the hoseline to the stairway railing. All firefighters should have at least one of these items in their pockets.
STAIRWAY SIZE-UP
An officer approaching a selected stairway needs to give more than a casual glance to determine whether it can be used for a well-hole stretch. He needs to stand at the lowest step and look up the stairway’s full height to ensure the company isn’t stretching into a “false well”-a stairway that on quick observation appears to be suitable for a well-hole stretch at ground-floor level but does not have a well hole at the second-floor level or above.
Many times a stairway appears to have enough space for a well-hole stretch until you examine it more closely and find that the spindles or iron work that hold up the handrails are pushed outward into the well hole, restricting its space. If the well-hole space is restricted in multiple spots, seriously reconsider using it. Placing firefighters at multiple points to pull an uncharged line past obstructions is not what a well-hole stretch is about-it’s designed to be smooth and quick. Hose shouldn’t get caught up on the rails and spindles such that you’re getting frustrated and wasting time.
If vertical stairway supports are present, the nozzle firefighter should hold just the nozzle. Once the nozzle is passed around this restriction, the line will move smoothly in the well hole. If you have any doubts regarding stairway construction and your company’s ability to perform the stretch, use a traditional stairway stretch for the first line.
PERFORMING THE STRETCH
The base of the stairway is the area where you’ll lay out the lengths of hose that will travel up the well hole. As the firefighters bring the line into the building, the hose should be laid out neatly and in an order that allows the lengths to be raised without crossing over each other. In other words, the first length (nozzle) should be closest to the well hole. If you intend to stretch directly to the fire floor (fifth floor) and the fire apartment is located within a hose length away, you’ll need at least two lengths on the fire floor-one length of hose to reach the fire area and one to cover the fire area. And, you will need one length in the well hole for a total of three lengths laid at the base of the stairs.
Use the same target floor (fifth). This time, take the line out of the well hole on the floor below the fire. Then lay four lengths at the base of the well-one length to reach the fire floor by the stairway from the floor below, one to reach the fire area, one to cover the fire area, and one for the well-hole stretch. Once all the hose is staged, a firefighter should remain at the base of the well to coordinate and oversee the lower portion of the stretch. Once the line is in place, this firefighter should secure the hose as he makes his way up the stairs.
The line should be tied off at the highest level at which it comes over the handrail (photo 2). Always bring the hoseline over the handrail; don’t pull it through the support spindles. Additional tie-off points can be staggered below the highest point. Tie off on a substantial portion of the staircase assembly, such as a newel post or handrail. Avoid tying off across any part of the stair path.
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HOSE FOR THE FIRE FLOOR
Depending on whether the engine officer decides to use the well-hole stretch to reach the fire floor or the floor below, sufficient hose must be pulled up to reach the fire area. The engine officer must take into account current conditions and the need for future mobility. This estimate is critical to a successful operation. The engine officer must confirm that enough hose is available before ordering the line charged. Once the needed lengths have been pulled from the well hole, there is no going back. The weight of a charged length of hose is considerable, and attempting to lift additional hose out of the well hole is extremely difficult and personnel-intensive.
BRINGING THE LINE UP THE WELL
There are two techniques for bringing the hose to the point of operation. One is holding just the nozzle as you make your way up the stairs with the remainder of the hose hanging in the well hole. The other technique is to carry your lead length with you as you climb the stairs. The size of the well-hole opening has no bearing on whether to carry the lead length or just the nozzle as you make your way up the stairs. If you decide to carry the lead length, place it on the arm opposite the well hole, and just hold and lift the line hanging in the well hole to pass over the tops of any extended rail posts (photo 3). If you decide to just hold the nozzle as you make your way up, don’t drop it. This sounds simple enough, but this technique leaves no room for error. If the well hole is restricted by supports, you will have to take just the nozzle so that you can quickly get past them (photo 4). If you attempt to carry the lead length, it will be extremely difficult to pass it around the supports. If you take just the nozzle, you will have to pull up the lead length now as well. Not having the lead length with you when you arrive at your target floor denies you the opportunity to flake it out until all the hose has been lifted into place (photo 5).
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A problem can occur when carrying just the nozzle to the setup point. If the nozzle is placed on the floor and additional hose is piled atop of it, you could end up pulling the nozzle through a loop of hose, causing a knot in the line. Another concern with taking just the nozzle is that there is no anchor weight for the nozzle. If you don’t secure the nozzle initially, the weight of the hose hanging in the well will pull it down, and your stretch is over.
By carrying your lead length outside the well hole as you ascend the stairway, you are assured that the line won’t drop down the well hole if you trip or get bumped by fleeing civilians. When you arrive at your setup point, you’ll already have your lead length with you. By having the lead length in a neat pile, flaking out the hoseline will be easier, and the risk of the hose’s falling down the well will be greatly reduced. If you decide to pull all the hose needed up the well prior to flaking out the lead length, place the lead length a short distance away from the hose you’re pulling onto the floor. This way, you won’t waste time attempting to separate them. Sometimes you won’t have a choice as to which technique to use, such as when you stretch a second line up the same well hole.
SECOND LINE
When you stretch a second line up a well hole, you must carry the line up the stairs by the nozzle. If you attempt to carry the lead length, you will have to place it in the well hole as you make your way around the first line at every turn. This is difficult to do and a total time waster. The second line must go around the first line at every turn; otherwise, you will end up with what’s referred to as the “barber pole effect.” If the second line nozzle is not passed hand over hand around the first line, keeping them separated, the second line will tightly wrap itself around the first, halting the stretch (photos 6, 7).
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ROPES AND WELL HOLES
The use of a rope for stretching the first line up the well hole may seem efficient at first; however, by the time someone climbs to the setup point (fire floor or below) and deploys the rope, you could have most of the stretch already completed. Attempting to drop a rope bag down a small well hole will probably result in its hitting a handrail and not making it to the base of the stairs.
The speed at which a stretch can be completed by using a well hole offers the great advantage of fast water. At a serious multiline fire, the presence of a well hole allows you to at least double the number of attack lines that can be stretched using a single stairway. What can appear to be a great stretch will be ruined if you don’t pull enough line out of the well hole. Double check this before you call for water in the line. Like any hose stretch, you must practice it to become proficient at it.
RAY MCORMACK, a 25-year veteran of the Fire Department of New York, is a lieutenant with Ladder 28 in Harlem. He has written numerous articles for Fire Engineering and is a contributor to WNYF. McCormack has presented at FDIC and is a H.O.T. instructor in the Live Fire program. He is the founder of liveburntraining.com, which provides firefighter training and benefit seminars. He lectures frequently on the role of the company officer and engine and ladder company tactical operations.
