Rapid Intervention Size-Up

WHETHER we mean to or not, firefighters will size up any fire. First-arriving company officers will start size-up as soon as the alarm is sounded. This could be the result of a familiar address or neighborhood or a memory of a past fire in that area. They will listen to the report on the speaker or pager, start to formulate a picture in their head as to what they will see on arrival, and start thinking about what the crews’ actions will be. Arriving on scene, they will do the usual textbook size-up, walk a 360° if they can, and let incoming units know about the condition of the property and the actions the department is taking. They will continue the size-up and adapt to the changing conditions as the incident progresses.

But, what if you are the company assigned to rapid intervention? You also need to do a size-up. You’ll need to consider a lot of the points of the first-due units, including the type of structure, location and extent of fire, weather conditions, and all the other 13 points of size-up that you learned at the academy and from your reading. But your crew is not preparing to bring in a hoseline, lay a supply line, or enter the structure to search for trapped civilians. You are arriving on scene to prepare for a possible Mayday, bringing the need to find and rescue any firefighters who are in trouble.

With all of this in mind, you’ll need to look for, be aware of, and possibly plan or work to overcome several other factors, including mitigating a Mayday situation. On arrival at the scene, a rapid-intervention company has many tasks to complete. Not only do you need to be ready to react to an incident within an incident, like a Mayday, but you also need to be proactive and prepare the fireground to make any rescues as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Let’s look at what you’ll need to do during a rapid intervention size-up, which is driving all these tasks.

When the Alarm Sounds

Just like the officer and company that will be first due, the rapid intervention team (RIT) officer and members will also hear the address of the incident. If that’s you, you’ll need to paint a mental picture of the area, think about the types of structures that are prevalent in that area, and maybe also remember some past incidents.

Taking these steps will help you formulate a plan about what you’ll need on the scene. This will save you some time on arrival. But what if you don’t have your own department’s units responding as RITs? If you depend on mutual-aid companies to provide rapid intervention but they don’t have close personal knowledge of the area, you may need to ensure they get as much information as possible about the incident’s location. This includes answering questions along the lines of the following:

Is the property residential or commercial?
What type of construction is it?
What are the structure’s specific occupancies?
What is the square footage of the floors?
What conditions have been reported?

This information offers mutual-aid companies a chance to be proactive, not reactive. Ideally, you want to avoid having to change tactics and planning on arrival.

Part of the size-up also includes listening to radio transmissions from units arriving on scene. You can learn about the progress of suppression by paying attention to the following factors:

Reported location of the fire.
Extent of the fire.
Where crews are being assigned.
Crews’ intended tasks.
Changing conditions.
Calls for additional alarms.

And you may be among the only people to hear a Mayday, if one is called.

Arrival at the Scene

On arrival at the scene, you will likely be a decent distance from the structure.

It’s important to start your size-up as soon as possible. As you gather information from the initial alarm and radio transmissions, you can assemble the appropriate equipment and move toward the scene.

Members must be fully dressed in personal protective equipment, not on air. As you approach the scene, confirm the type of construction and the possible location and extent of fire. You can also do a quick assessment of progress—or lack thereof—up to that point. After you quickly stage your equipment and the officer has a quick face-to-face conversation with the incident commander (IC), you need to continue your size-up.

Now it’s time for the RIT to do a complete (if possible) 360° observation of the structure. Depending on your crew size, you could split your crew, sending one team to the B side and the other to the D side, doing a complete 360° walk around the structure (incident), then meeting again on the A side to quickly compare notes and deploy the team to “follow the fire.”

The Rapid Intervention 360°

It’s critical that you know what you’re looking for during the rapid intervention 360°. Plan to consider many of the same factors the first-due officer looked at, such as the type of construction and location and extent of fire. As the RIT, you’ll also need to look at many other characteristics of the structure itself. You may need to deal with some of these characteristics during the 360°, depending on the location and extent of the fire. Another factor is the proximity of suppression crews working inside. It’s important that you always have tools with you during the 360°, but you don’t need multiple people doing that. You’ll want to have the following items accounted for

One set of irons.
Other forcible entry tools, such as a short hook.
A 12-pound sledge.
A water can (yes, a water can).
A thermal imaging camera (if available).

Windows and Doors

While it’s critical to look at all windows and doors, the windows deserve a special level of attention.

Grates or bars: Some noteworthy observations will be obvious, like metal grates or bars. And while you’ll find these primarily on commercial structures, they do, on occasion, also apply to residential structures.

Window specs: Any observations like these must be reported right away. You also need to identify the location and size of all of the windows. Smaller-width windows are most likely bathrooms, while the shorter windows are probably over a kitchen sink.

Nonfloor-level windows: In a multiple-occupancy residence, you might find these types of windows in a stairwell. These windows make for very poor access and egress opportunities, due to their height above floor level. Finding these windows helps us figure out the possible floor plan from outside the structure.

Obstructions: Another factor to consider when you’re assessing the windows on a structure is that you may discover obstacles that will impede access and egress. These can include trees and shrubs. Not only can they block windows, but they can also block you from even seeing the window. Once the 360° is complete, you’ll need to deal with these types of challenges right away. In the event of a Mayday, or if a firefighter shows in an obscured window, gaining access to that window is paramount. If you can’t throw a ladder to that window, you must remove the tree or bush as soon as possible.

Hidden airshafts: If you are working at a midrise apartment fire in an urban area, you will not be able to see all windows during the 360°. These structures usually have airshafts that are hidden from the exterior of the structure. In cases like these, it pays to listen to the radio, as the crews working the roof will likely report these shafts. The only way that the RIT can get a look at these windows is by entering the structure through a lower floor and looking up the shaft. Most—but not all—of these shaft windows are served by a fire escape. Report these as soon as you become aware of them.

Window types: You’ll also want to understand what types of windows you’re dealing with. Most replacement windows are made of vinyl and are double and triple glazed. The latter can generally be found near the ocean as hurricane windows. One of those panes is made of Lexan^™ and will not yield to your attempts to break it with a regular hand tool. This alone is a good reason to have a battery-operated saw on hand.

Door type: When you come upon a door, you need to determine if it is a wood or a steel door, set in either a wood frame or a steel frame. You can partially force the door if you feel the need. Doing so will not cause unwanted ventilation unless you fully force the door. If you come upon a basement access door (Bilco™ or Yankee style) that is padlocked, take the time you need to remove the lock. It should only take a minute or two.

If you come across a window or door that requires immediate attention due to fire conditions or radio transmissions that indicate firefighters are in distress in that area, notify the IC of your actions before taking the door or window. Most of these forcible entries can wait until the 360° is complete. But if immediate action is required, don’t hesitate.

Elevation of the Structure

While the height of a structure is important, a more critical consideration is whether a structure is on the slope of a hill or an embankment. Once you have this information, it’s important that you report it to the IC right away. These differences in elevation could change the incident command system designations of floors or divisions. (Sadly, we’ve seen many instances of line-of-duty deaths due to misdesignations of divisions that ultimately caused confusion for RITs searching in a Mayday.) The lowest level of these structures could be a basement, but it’s also possible that the A-side main entrance is one or even two stories above. Everyone operating on the scene should be aware of these conditions.

Additional Obstacles

The possibilities for obstacles that can block access and egress are limitless. Some, such as rubbish and other debris, are easy to remove. But in cases of a fire in the middle of row homes or at a strip mall, for example, a 360® may be difficult to complete. We must either go through adjacent properties—if possible—or go all the way around. Fences and walls may block your way as well. Fences can usually be easily knocked down or cut, but walls will be a bigger challenge.

Suppression Crew Progress

Keeping an eye on how crews are handling the incident is another important step in any rapid intervention. Observe to understand how the crews are interacting and whether they’re bringing the fire under control.

Another way to monitor the suppression crew’s progress is to have a member of the RIT monitor the fireground frequency. Listen for key words and phrases that indicate suppression crews are having trouble or conditions are worsening. Having this information will inform you on whether a Mayday is in order.

The Ongoing Size-Up

Size-up doesn’t ever end for the IC. Likewise, it never ends for the RIT until the fire is extinguished and overhauled and all crews are released. The initial rapid intervention size-up will determine placement of members of that company around the structure.

This is where the concept of “follow the fire” comes in. If we can identify areas in the structure that the suppression crews are operating in by doing a good size-up, we can position members of the RIT in closer proximity to those areas and be able to respond quicker and more efficiently to mitigate the Mayday. The size-up will identify areas that need to be “softened” on the structure, allowing us to be more proactive and not react to the Mayday only to find our path blocked by things we could have identified and tasked members to remove these obstacles that would slow us down.

This is only a quick glimpse of a basic rapid intervention size-up. It should only take a few minutes to complete and identify issues that require immediate attention.

Here’s the bottom line: Any time you and your crew spend being proactive at an incident that can decrease the time you need to mitigate a Mayday is time well spent.

ART BLOOMER is a 45-year veteran of the fire service and retired as a captain with the Kearny (NJ) Fire Department after 30 years. He is a volunteer firefighter with the Brick (NJ) Fire Department and a past chief. Bloomer is a rescue specialist with NJ-TF1 and a FEMA SCT instructor and has taught several classes at FDIC. In addition, he is an instructor with OnScene Training Associates and with Spec-Rescue International.