WORDS THAT CONVEY NOTHING
BY TOM BRENNAN
Words that convey nothing. It just occurred to me that we are trapped in traditional words, thoughts, and sentences that can slow progress in this business and, in the worst case, screw up operations with disastrous results.
Let`s discuss a few:
Be advised….Why does virtually every radio transmission to and from the fireground have to begin with these words? You have me on the radio–I just acknowledged that fact. I am being told or advised by you. Oh well, it`s a small thing, and some things will never change.
Fully involved. Why is this initial progress hysteric usually followed by reports of hydrant hookups and handlines being stretched to the interior. The interior of what? A fully involved inferno? Incident command almost always reports handlines within the “fully involved” structure and that they are making progress. How much progress can you make inside a “fully involved” structure? How can you get in and why should you be within a “fully involved” building? Take the time to adequately locate the fire and where it is not. A fully involved structure should be just that. The progress report should then follow that all units are outside and exterior streams are being set up or that a collapse zone is in place.
Brick walls fall one-third of their height. This insane statement still hangs around our fire service necks like a fifth wheel. It still remains in some fire service texts, and it certainly still exists as a “truth” with its being told so many times for so many years to so many ears that have not yet had a chance to disprove it personally on their own individual fireground. I remember being at a 100-foot-high, six-story warehouse for more than three days fighting the same fire. Pumpers were operating on a 60-foot-wide street. They couldn`t get any farther away because the other buildings were there. I guess we needed the water, and those in command stated, “Brick walls only fall one-third of their height, anyway.” Well, when the 100-foot wall fell away from the structure, ALL its 100 feet, we coined a new term for subsequent promotion exams: “monolithic.” The unattended pumpers, by the way, were flattened like a couple of bugs. The miracle was that no one was hurt.
Heavy fire condition on arrival. This term is screamed into the same radio transmitter by the guy who likes to use “fully involved.” I have responded to it to find it describing a single room in an apartment complex, an automobile, a boat, and a dumpster, among other things. So, how does it become relative? When I was studying the words “light,” “medium,” and “heavy,” related to how many handlines probably would be necessary to complete the operation at hand, a light fire condition was expected to be handled by one hoseline, a medium fire by two hoselines, and a heavy fire by at least three lines. It did not lock anyone into commitment–it just gave a relative picture of the amount of fire existing to anyone on duty. It has become a term to excite buffs, I think.
The rescue problem on scene may be so intense (different authors use different words here) that the firefighting effort may have to be abandoned. This is a traditional statement that first appeared in Manuel Fried`s book on strategy and tactics. It was echoed by the late Bill Clark in his text, and reference to this attitude is also found in today`s efforts by current authors. In this case, the truth of the statement is in the mind of the writer and not in the mind of the beholder. (Beholder is a term meaning a reader who takes these sentences as gospel and applies them directly to any fireground he faces.) One result of this occurred many years ago when arriving members of a single engine company used all manpower available for a considerable time to remove two civilians at a window of a mansion. Many other family members perished on a huge, open, second-floor landing exposed to an extending kitchen fire at the rear of the first floor of the structure. The lifesaving event here was the rapid stretching of a single handline between the fire and the people. All said that “Life is more important than firefighting.” But, whose life? Is it the life you see? The one that is making the most noise?
The authors of all tactics textbooks (as opposed to pamphlets, softcovers, and the like) are seasoned leaders of the busiest fire departments in the world. Who knows what picture they had in mind from their experience when that statement was written and rewritten? I am sure that each had more than one chance to come upon a scene where an upper-floor window showed civilians AND flame overhead where the situation dictated that they would immediately jump if something was not instantly done. But, that is not the usual case of occupied fire buildings. Proper positioning of the correct amount and size of charged fire hose may be the greatest lifesaving tactic on the fireground.
Of all the functions on the fireground, rescue of human life is the most important of all! Well, after outlining the statement above, this is a natural to follow. I still always ask this question at all the tactic seminars I attend or participate in: What is the most important function on the fireground? More than 60 percent of all audiences still adhere to the italicized adage above. The correct answer is to locate the fire, locate the fire, locate the fire! How do you know who is in the real immediate danger (the real rescue)? At the fire outlined above, the real danger existed for those who had the least time to survive–the family members at the top of the stairs in the mansion, not the two at the window farthest away from the kitchen fire. Locating the fire is so much more important to accomplish today because we are not responding with enough firefighters to really do anything immediately and the option of having enough manpower to pick up an error in judgment is nonexistent. The professional part of this job of rescue today is to be able to rescue those with the least time first–that means, you must be really good at guessing the fire location and then outguessing where it will go next.
To repeat for importance the concept of last month`s column: “Critique is done after return to the station and….” This is too late, gang. Remember, all the stories have taken on a new flavor–certainly one that will be less bitter for the one telling it. The most important and valuable critique is the one conducted with the company on the fireground before taking up. This must be done regardless of time and, certainly, weather conditions (we`re firefighters, remember). n
TOM BRENNAN has more than 33 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 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).
