ENGINE COMPANY
RANDOM THOUGHTS
Engine companies responding to structure fires with departments that have truck companies assigned to the alarm may have the luxury of being able to concentrate on extinguishment duties. This usually means getting water on the fire. It is by no means a simple task. Each operation, depending on size-up conditions at the scene, can be entirely different from the last In fact, if you aren’t able to shift hose stretch and water supplytactics and are locked into only one type of operation, you usually can get in trouble.
POSITIONING THE HOSELINE
The proper size and amount of hose, the proper hydrant hookup for the size-up, and quick and rapidlyestablished water supply probably have saved more lives at structural fires than any other tactics. Many texts encourage the lone-arriving engine company to abandon a hoseline attack if rescue operations are evident (See my January 1991 column.) This operation is far from a routine rule. In most cases, placing a handline in operation at the proper location will do more to eliminate the life hazard than any other tactic that a single, understaffed engine company can do.
Some of the basics that can go a long w ay in properly placing a handline are the following:
Get the nozzle in the right place and the engine out of the way. If the responsibilities of forcible entry, search, outside entry and removal (laddering), and ventilation are taken over by the incoming truck(s), the truck needs positioning, not the engine. The stretching and supplying of any preconnect handline always will cause position problems for the arriving truck company. If you use a straight lav from the water source, get the pumper past the fire building and stretch w hat you need from the hose bed. If you perform a reverse lay, drop the handline(s) and run to the water supply. So much the better.
Get water in the first line first. Engine companies arriving second or third at working structural fires (or at any emergency requiring water) should get in the habit of checking the condition and progress of the first handline. Assuming that it’s taken care of has caused more “catch-up” fire problems and in some cases the breakdown of firefighting efficiency and the command function itself.
Don’t get caught up in one-upmanship, macho heroics, or false pride. Help the first team get in shape. The trick here is to maintain unit integrity and return to the street for your ow n assignments as soon as possible. (I know it s tempting to wait for them to run out of air, trip, or give up their line to you for some other reason — don’t do it!) Go out and get a second line: Either they need your support or the people on the floor above or the exposure problem needs your undivided attention.
Stretch enough hose. Be able to abandon the practice of “always” stretching the preconnect. Do you know how much hose is stored in your crosslay? How deep is the fire building that you’re standing in front of? Stretching 150 feet into a 240foot-deep, one-story commercial building is a loser from the start. If you know your preconnect is short for the building you’re going to fight fire in, do something else! So often you see the first engine with more crosslays than firefighters. The hose bed is jammed with two miles of 5-inch hose. That is a variation of the “minimaxi” concept. You’re ready for little fires and the big water supply for mutual aid, but you’re not ready for the middle-of-the-road, too-deep building or the too-involved structure on arrival. Be sure to have enough hose for the floor above the fire as well.
REACHING THE FIRE
Where is the fire? How are you going to get to it when it’s above the first floor?
Stairs. Add a length if the stair is the straight-run type. As a rule of thumb, you usually w ill want 100 feet of hose available to the fire floor (not in highrise or other standpipe operations, however). If the stair has a well hole, fine. You’ll only need one additional length for each five stories. If the stair has no well and is straight-run and return or scissor-enclosed, you’ll need one additional hose length for each story. The trick here is for the nozzle person to hold onto 100 feet of hose (either folded or looped) until the rest of the team stretches enough hose for him to finally drop it on the stair landing belowthe fire floor.
Water. Don’t ask for water until you’re ready for it. Water coming too quickly while the hose is being properly laid outside and faked inside the building can prove to be a nightmare throughout the firefight. We w ill continue this discussion next month.
