THINGS YOUR INSTRUCTOR CAN`T TELL YOU
BY TOM BRENNAN
Being “out of the job” for some time now, I have had a chance to chat “the job” with many of you throughout the nation. For one reason or another, conversations in a social setting around a few “tins” more times than not evoke the presence of “real-world” firefighting operations–“I know what the book says, but what do you really do?” That kind of stuff. I started to reminisce about some of the answers that came to mind from experience when a young firefighter asked questions such as, “So, you were stuck, huh? So then what did you do?”
Scenario 1. You arrive at the parapet of this low-rise structure (one or two stories). It is commercial and has the most dangerous wall in America–the free-standing parapet. After waving to the cameras as the great roof person, I leap to the roof boards (I know it is impact load and not safe). It is then that I realize that it is five feet back to the parapet ledge and access to the aerial rungs that got me there. You can`t just ask for a portable–I mean you just can`t! The same answer or trick may occur if you ascend to the roof of the fire building by way of the adjoining structure that you were sure was the same height.
Force open the scuttle (you were supposed to do that anyway), and pry the scuttle ladder off the mounting assemblies. Now you have a nine-foot ladder, which amazes your brothers, as you ascend to the aerial or climb down or up to the adjoining fire building that was not really the same height as the exposure you used to get to the roof. That ladder can also be used for a ton of other things limited only by imagination and experience, such as bridging an anchor position for the escape rope you need to get the hell out of there, and more.
Scenario 2. You arrive at the third floor of a four-story building and an open or burned-through apartment door is issuing so much flame that the staircase to the fourth floor is blocked. That is the only staircase to the screaming and trapped occupants you hear at the rear of the stair landing above you. The engine company with the needed hoseline is busy elsewhere. What can you do after you call for help?
Get yourself another door. Force it off the hinge stile with all the tricks we talked about in past articles and videotapes. Walk up, put it in place over the opening issuing the flames, and wedge it there with your halligan tool or hook (pike pole). It will give you plenty of time to have an impact on the lives you hear above you–and give the engine time to position and permanently hold back the flame threat to the floor above? (The question mark here is no typo.) If the situation described above is in fact happening, the engine company and its properly placed line cannot leave–unless the upstairs ensemble informs them that it is safe or has another way to exit. It seems today that more handlines are dropped too soon! This “gem” will also help you out of an area blocked by another room issuing fire. Sure, you may get a few “stings” (second-degree burns), but you will be out and alive!
Speaking of alive, how many of you are carrying a piece of rope in your pocket? I know few are carrying the Super Approved Multi-Strength Rescue Survival and Recovery Machine (rope in a bag). But, no one should be without a rope of some kind–one 25 feet long and accessible. It will guide you from the doorknob and into the area you really are scared to search. It will act as your search rope for one room. Lots of unsung courage in that piece of old boat line rope. It`ll save your back while raising tools from one low location to another that is just a little higher.
Also, it will aid you when you are trapped in a low building. If it is two stories, you can hang and drop from a windowsill four feet into a bush. If you`re on the third floor, tie it to something, and let yourself out. Sure, you will let go too soon or the rope may break, but you`re a hell of a lot closer to the ground–and you survive. What will you do if your department is waiting for the issuance of approved personal ropes? Die?
Scenario 3. A high-rise apartment fire is a piece of cake (a real high-rise–75 or more feet and of fire resistive construction). It requires rapid horizontal ventilation and quick water–usually a few gallons. If you are in an aggressive truck company, your interior team is usually at the fire door before the engine can get an elevator and/or hook up the lengths of hose to each other and thence to the standpipe connection–given that all the parts are there and were not sold for drugs. If you are as smart as you are aggressive, you brought a 212-gallon pressurized water extinguisher with you. It does a hell of a job and can get you past that little fire room to the bedrooms and occupants. Most times, you need just a little more to extinguish most of these fires while they are small–mattress, kitchen cabinets, a hall closet. A great “trick” is to coil 10 feet (not much more) of garden hose with a rubber faucet quick-connect on one end and some type of nozzle on the other. You can be a hero to the gang, but the engine will be angry.
While we are on the subject of the “can”–the 212-gallon pressurized water extinguisher–those of you who have used it know how great a tool it is. You who shun ideas from others because they are not yours will find out some day. It is so valuable. So why ever have it dry? After use, fill it with the booster line or a slow-running hydrant and charge it with the short hose you constructed just for that purpose and which is carried on the truck next to the compressed-air outlet your truck committee ordered placed on the side of the truck. Oh, and remember to get the extinguisher off the bracket and inside the cab for the winter. A frozen drop of water in the plastic nozzle will prevent the “can” from discharging. More next time. n
TOM BRENNAN has more than 35 years of fire service experience. His career spans more than 20 years with the City of New York (NY) Fire Department as well as four years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was the editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and currently is a technical editor. He is co-editor of The Fire Chief`s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995).
