BY CHRIS STEPHENS
In the fire service, there has always been much emphasis on fireground size-up. We have been educated, trained on, and practiced proper size-up techniques through the course of our individual fire careers. When many in the fire service hear the word “size-up,” they automatically think of the fireground size-up—i.e., “Engine 1 is on the scene of a two-story wood-framed residence with heavy black smoke showing from the alpha side second floor.” This is what is referred to as the “windshield” size-up that is communicated by the initial arriving unit, but is there more to size-up than this?
When discussing fireground size-up, some authors refer to the classic acronyms “BELOW”: Building construction, Extent/location of fire,Life safety, Occupancy, Water Supply (great for the initial arriving company) and “COAL WAS WEALTH”: Construction, Occupancy, Area of fire, Life safety, Water supply, Apparatus/personnel, Street conditions, Weather, Exposures, Auxiliary appliances, Location/Extent of the Fire, Time, Heights/Hazards (great for ongoing fireground operations). I will come back to these learning aids later in the article, but for now let’s discuss the phases of size-up.
PHASES OF SIZE-UP
Phase 1: The Community
Think back to your first day at the firehouse. This is when your community size-up should begin. As you drive to the station in the morning or make runs for emergency calls, observe your community. What types of buildings are in your response area? Does your area have mainly commercial structures, residential, high-rises, rural, or a mix of the lot? Is your area populated mainly at night after work hours or during the day because of a large number of businesses in your area? Do you see hydrants everywhere, or is there a lack of hydrants? How old is your community? Is the bulk of the construction older and heavy, or is it made of new lighter-weight materials? It may take time to find the answers to these questions. Look around the community you protect, ask the senior members of your department, and talk to the residents living in your area. Starting here will help build a solid foundation for your fireground size-up.
Phase 2: Building Preplans
The late Francis L. Brannigan continually warned: “The building is your enemy. Know your enemy.” The time to learn the buildings’ secrets is during a walk-through or an inspection, not when the structure is charged with smoke and fire. Does your department have an aggressive prefire planning program? If it does not, then start one within your company. Get out into your community, and stop in to introduce yourself to the business owners. Ask permission to conduct a walk-through. The majority of the time the building owners or managers will have no problem with prefire planning. Occasionally, an owner may have trust issues or not like the fire department being inside the building. In one case, it took my company several weeks and conversations with an owner to gain his trust and let us into the private areas of his buildings. Persistence is the key here. Enlist the help of your fire code/inspection division, if necessary; just make sure you’re consistently conducting prefire plans. Also, have some type of documentation sheet on which to record hazards, floor plans, construction, egress, and so forth; then pass the information on to other fire companies. Keeping this type of knowledge to yourself could be endangering others in your department.
Your shift or your crew may not catch the working incident in the building you just preplanned. If another crew member were injured or killed when working an incident in a structure as a result of a hazard you knew existed but never reported, would you blame yourself? Prefire planning is not the “save-all” for firefighter injuries or fatalities, but the race is on when these structures catch fire and you are behind when the gates open. Any building knowledge gained before a fire starts will certainly help you to make better informed decisions on the fireground.
Phase 3: When the Bell Sounds
You have been sizing up the community and conducting prefire plans consistently for a while now, and the crew has just finished with morning apparatus tour checks when the alarm sounds for a possible fire and dispatches a box assignment. This is the time to try to obtain answers before you arrive at the scene. What time of day is it? What are the weather conditions? Do you recognize the address? If so, what do you know about the structure? What is the order of arrival? Are you first or third due? What kind of information has Dispatch given? These questions can be answered before the first unit arrives. Learning to acquire this information while responding will help you make better decisions when you arrive.
Phase 4: The “Windshield” Size-Up
You’re first due. When you arrive at the incident, you must send a size-up report over the radio to the other responding units. As mentioned before, you can use the acronym “BELOW” as a guide for doing this. Remember, you must “paint a picture” that the responding units can understand. When you examine the working building and relay the information, be clear and accurate. Think back to the fires where you were a later-arriving unit and heard a report such as the following: “Engine 1 is on the scene. This will be a working fire.”
What kind of picture did this paint for you and the other responding units? Let’s try it again: “Engine 1 is on the scene of a strip of stores. We have heavy fire coming from a store front of a middle unit, and there are several cars in the parking lot with no evacuation. Engine 1 will be laying in a supply line and attacking the fire unit with a 2½-inch line.” What kind of picture did this report paint, and did it answer the right questions for other responding units?
Where is the fire? What is the possibility that occupants are still inside the structure? Where is the fire going? What is the status of the water supply? What is the initial tactical approach? What type of structure is on fire? With these questions answered, the later-arriving units can perform their own personal size-up. An example of this would be if Engine 3 arrived as the fourth-in unit and looked at the strip of stores. Would the officer see “white surrender” smoke [the lazy white/light grey smoke created when water is applied to the seat of the fire and steam mixes with the products of combustion; the incident commander (IC) often can see it from outside], or are three units involved now? This will tell you the direction in which the fireground will be heading and will also allow the companies to prepare ahead of time for the next task or operation. Accomplishing this is often referred to as “the ongoing size-up,” where the acronym COAL WAS WEALTH can best be used. All members on the fireground should be doing this. Simply ask, What did the scene look like when I arrived, and what does it look like now?
Phase 5: Task Level/Interior Size-Up
Now, you are on scene and you have initiated a tactical action—let’s say fire attack. The officer now must size up the task and determine what will be needed to complete it safely and efficiently. The officer needs to look at the structure and examine the entire exterior if possible. If he cannot get a “360,” then he should catch as many sides as he can. This will help to answer the next set of questions: Where are you entering the structure for attack? Is the correct size attack line being used? How many lengths of hose will it take to get you to the fire area and leave you with an extra 50-foot length of working hoseline? What type of nozzle is being used? Can you move this initial line into place with a single company, or will it take multiple companies? Once you have the line set, where will you be going next? What’s your water supply status? These questions must be answered while initiating the operation.
An officer must size up every task-level assignment. Think about truck company forcible entry. Where is the door that is being forced? What type of door is it? Are you going through the lock or glass, or will it be a conventional entry? Can the integrity of the door be maintained? Is there an easier way to enter?
While performing your assigned task and operating on the inside of a working fire, don’t forget about the interior size-up as well. Always remember that the IC cannot see through walls. His only knowledge of interior conditions is coming from what he sees on the outside of the structure and from interior reports from the working companies.
Once you enter and begin working, look around, feel the interior conditions, and then report them. CAN—Conditions, Actions, Need—is another learning aid that may assist you with an interior report. An example would be the following: “Engine 1 has entered the structure. There is heavy heat and zero visibility. We need ventilation ASAP and extra personnel to help move the line.” A short report like this will assist the IC in making better informed fireground decisions.
Phase 6: In the End
It’s the next shift day after you worked the fire. Is your size-up complete? I do not believe so. The fire structure is still in your community, and you should be asking the following questions: What will be done with the building? Will it be knocked down, renovated, or changed into a different occupancy? This is when the phases of size-up come full circle. Let’s say that the strip of stores is being repaired, new occupancies are moving in, and renovations have been made. Now it’s time for a new prefire plan and walk-through. Consider it a new building, and start back at square one.
Adhering to the six phases of size-up may appear to be a lot to ask, but many of us already use them. Some of the phases take seconds or minutes; some may take more time. Prevention is the key to help mitigate fireground errors, and it can start with better informed decision making.
● CHRIS STEPHENS is a lieutenant with the Decatur Township Fire Department in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he is assigned to the training group that conducts departmentwide standardized fire training. He also has other state fire certifications, including officer 1, strategy/tactics/safety officer, and driver operator pumper.
