You can perform many types of searches and tactics using a search rope. In this column, we are referring to a rope-assisted search – using the rope as a guide as you find the seat of the fire. You can also use the rope to lead you back to your means of egress, guide others to your or the fire’s location, and assist the rapid intervention team to where the emergency most likely is. Deploying the rope at commercial occupancies, hotels, and large apartment buildings with long hallways or unusual layouts can be an asset for your operations.
Carrying the Rope
At one training session, students were taught to place the carrying strap over their head and have the pouch of rope off to one side of their body, much like carrying a flashlight on a strap. It all seemed to work fine: The member crawling with the rope kept the rope in one hand as it played out of the bag. He could feel the distance knots and directional nubs attached on the rope. That all sounded good until he stopped to feel an object or pick up the thermal imaging camera (TIC) to survey the scene and he missed the items.
I’ll admit there were times when so much was going on around me that I missed the knots or didn’t feel them glide through my gloves. In addition, at a commercial job when we were pulling out because of deteriorating conditions, the search rope got caught on the neck of a firefighter’s air bottle as he was retreating and pulled me backward and knocked me over. Feeling like a turtle on its back and trying to get untangled from the mess, I managed to hit the button of the carrying strap’s quick release and freed myself. After this incident, tactics have changed; now, we place the strap over a shoulder or carry it in one hand. While duck walking or crawling with one knee up for better balance and visibility, you’ll feel the rope play out in your hand.
Long Hallways
Prior to going to the fire floor in buildings with long hallways, a good tactic is stopping on the floor below and getting a hallway layout and location of the reported fire apartment. Telling the crew “It’s the seventh door down on the right wall” is great information to relay. Plus, stopping on the floor below can reveal any bumpouts, sky lobbies, or oddities like a zigzag in the layout. When you enter the hallway, does the rope lead or is it in the back? If the rope leads, expect that one of the members behind you may kneel on it when it’s deploying and cause a problem. For this deployment, have the rope follow to prevent that from occurring. While traveling down the hallway, it’s okay to announce the number of doors you pass so the crew members know their location.
Also remember that you aren’t supposed to be “dopes on a rope,” all holding onto the rope and crawling forward in line. If the first firefighter abruptly stops to look in the TIC, the next firefighter usually runs him over. In addition, most firefighters stay on the rope and can’t feel both sides of the hallway; or, if they’re sweeping with a tool, they still can miss a victim lying in an alcove or in a partially open doorway. Searching firefighters should space out so their sweeping tools don’t hit other members and should work opposite walls going down the hallway; most are narrow enough that you’ll be able to touch one another.
Also, try not to crawl on all fours with your head down; even if you try to look upward, your helmet’s rear brim will hit the air bottle and cause you to drop your head because it hurts and strain your neck muscles. If you stay with one leg up and forward or duck walk, you’ll have better visibility. Plus, if you have to retreat quickly, you can do it better than when crawling.
Did you think about forcing a door for an area of refuge on your way down the long hallway? What happens if you are faced with a wind-driven fire or extension out of the apartment? Are you going to be able to scramble back to your exit? When in a long hallway, think about forcing a door for an area of refuge. Don’t force the door directly opposite the fire apartment door – this will create a flow path. Also, if you have to quickly retreat, you don’t all have to be on the rope, think you’re playing tug-of-war, or gather it up and bring it back with you. Just make a “U-turn” and follow the same wall you entered on, using your opposite hand back to your exit. The rope is a safety valve: When you work with it, you still have to keep your bearings relative to where you are and the walls you’re operating off.
Some other notes to remember about operating in hallways follow:
- Apartment doors open inward; elevator doors open outward; and if you feel no handles on the door, it could be a sliding elevator door. Forcing the last two open could cause you to fall into a shaftway and be fatally injured.
- Tying the rope on door handles while proceeding isn’t the best idea. It can create problems for forcing adjoining apartment doors, and the rope can sag or stretch between tie-off points and cause you to get hung up in zero visibility.
Rope-assisted search in public hallways is a tactic that’s useful in many situations. Knowing how to use the rope as a search tool will help you operate more safely.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 31-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com.
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