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Discuss your Size- up Incident operations. Tell us where you would place your apparatus
Tactics Tuesday, posted with vodpod
Use video to practice size-up and discuss your operations. There is no Charlie side view so do the best you can
Give us your size up and go into some details about your engine and truck ops
Tactics Tuesday, posted with vodpod
You (your crew) is ordered to search the third floor of a building. The chief says “we have multiple reports of people on the third floor, go get them”.
You know it’s not that simple or I wouldn’t write about it.
We’ll call the building a standard 3 unit row house 20X40, end unit. Single front door and front stairway, fire escapes in the back. Get the picture? OK. Now for the problems. Engine first due is trying to make the front stair, they are currently pushing a 2 1/2 up to the 3rd floor, but cannot get past the return between 2&3. Engine second due has ascended the fire escape with another 2 1/2 and is making an attack from the third floor fire escape, they are unable to push in. The truck company reports from the roof that there are multiple layers of roofing and venting will be delayed.
What do you do now? You are now behind a string of 8 -Balls.
Our course of action: 1. vent every window we could reach, there weren’t many. 2. “Motivate” the company on the fire escape to take a more aggressive approach to the fire (unsuccessful) 3. Enter the 2nd floor, search, then assist the company in the front stairwell to make the push to the 3rd floor to bring the fight to the fire. Which turned out to be the best option.
I’ll share the outcome later.
What would you have done different or similar? Why?
Based off of what you see. Give your size-up as the first arriving engine officer. Describe the strategies and tactics you may use to combat this fire.
more about “Tactics Tuesday“, posted with vodpod
Give your size-up, Initial Incident actions, and Brief Description of the strategy and tactics you would use.
OK, I need some help here. I’m currently Acting Fire Lieutenant on various line companies in my city. I’ve been around enough officers to see what kind of leader I am and what type of officer I want to be. But many questions have arisen during this acting time.
Just a few things for background information. In my city an acting job is not a guaranteed position, nor is it a promise of promotion. I could do 2 weeks in a position and get sent back to my company or I could get sent around the city as the replacement for officers on vacation. I’ve been to a few different companies now and currently try to lay low and not start any extra activities with the crew.
Usually the first thing I do is see who I have and who I am familiar with. It is their house and I am a visitor so I let them do their job, or do what they would normally do. I watch the Operator check the truck and all the equipment and ask questions about equipment if I think something was missed or needs attention and then help wash the piece.
The problem with the acting officer job starts when we get a call and there is an obvious skill area that needs attention, Or a total break from common sense. Do I drill on these items as if it was my own company so we can do it better next time? Do I just have a word with the individual, or the whole crew? If I do anything would it appear that I have a superiority complex that would then precede my arrival at any other acting job?
A couple of examples are:
1. A firefighter jumps off the truck at an alarm and runs in without his gear and goes straight to the alarm location without a tool, a partner or letting anyone else know what is going on.
2. Firefighter is incapable of strapping a patient to a back board.
3. Firefighter just does not want to work at all.
My current approach is to ask the guy, in private, what’s going on without being judgmental. Any better Ideas?
A few weeks ago some of our guys had the opportunity to attend a class by Chief John Coleman that was titled “Incident Command for the Street Smart Fire Officer.” One of the topics Chief Coleman talked about, was the “Oriented Method of Search.” This method can be used to perform a big box search.There are several different methods of performing a big box search. One method, that Chief Coleman discussed, was using a 2 ½ hand line. We performed this drill and it worked well. We did the drill three times and had two successful finds of the “victim.”
To perform the drill you will need a large area. We used our apparatus bay and it worked just fine. A water source, enough 2 ½ to reach from one end of the structure to the other, smoke trainers or something to “black out” your face pieces, full PPE with SCBA, tools, a TIC and a “Rescue Randy” type figure.
A team of 3 is ideal. You will need two personnel to perform the search and one to be the “oriented” man. Start by giving your crew a size up and assignment. They will drag the 2 ½ uncharged into the structure until they come to a wall. Personnel will call for the line to be charged. Once at the wall and with a charged line, personnel will turn around and face the way they came from. The oriented man will stay on the line and the other two will perform the search from each side of the line.
The search personnel must maintain a forward stance and stay facing the direction of the exit. Moving in a sideways motion, move 2-3 paces and then do a sweep of the area. Move 2-3 more and sweep. Keep doing this until you come to a wall. When at a wall move 2-3 paces forward, then repeat the 2-3 paces sideways and sweep till you reach the hose and the oriented man. Perform this the same way keeping your orientation towards the entry point till you either reach the other end or find the victim. Maintaining communications between crew members and maintaining a forward orientation is paramount to performing this type of search.
We found that it is best to put the “oriented” man with the TIC, as the second person on the line going in so that he can scan with the TIC as you are going along. Also the Firefighter that is 3rd, along with assisting with the advancing of the line, can sweep and do a basic search as they go. Following is a video of one of our crews as they performed this drill.
I would like to thank all the guys on my crew for bringing this training to the table and performing it as a real world scenario. If anyone has a different way of doing this type of search or sees anything that can be added to this, please let me know. Pass it along and perform the drill. Let us know how it goes. Train hard and stay safe.
more about “Big Box Search“, posted with vodpod
Go out in your district and stop at different buildings. Look for muilt-story, L-shaped U Shaped buildings in your district. Also go through your residential communities and practice sizing up different styles and sizes of homes. Key Points to emphasize when doing size-up
1. What side are you on ( Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta )
2. How many Stories
3. Occupancy type ( Single Family, commercial )
4. Where is the water supply? Have you secured a water supply?
5. CAN report ( Conditions, Actions, Needs )
Practice this in non stressful situations and you will find it’s not so easy to do. Just imagine if you don’t practice what it will sound like when the heat is on.
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