Situation
You are the captain of Engine 37. You have been dispatched to 11000 Wilshire Blvd. for a reported structure fire. First arriving on the scene is Task Force 37. The rest of the assignment will arrive shortly. The Federal Building is a 17-story office building constructed in 1969. It is a "center core" type of high rise. The fire is reported to be on the 16th floor. Your investigation team consists of yourself, your two engine firefighters and the inside firefighter from Truck 37. Your team has all necessary firefighting equipment. The panel in the fire control room shows smoke detectors and water flow activation on the 16th floor. You start your ascent in stairwell 1 and report this to the incident commander. Your fire attack team consists of a probationary firefighter and two veteran firefighters. At the 10th floor, you receive radio communication from the firefighter in the fire control room that there has been additional smoke detector activation on the 16th floor and new smoke detector activations on the 17th floor. You also hear the incident commander state to dispatch that one window is broken out and is showing fire on the 16th floor. During your ascent, you assess floor 14 for staging and communicate this to the incident commander. Upon arrival on the 16th floor, you open the stairwell door and step out onto the fire floor. You observe thick black smoke rolling toward you from both ends of the hallway. There is no sign of fire. You have approximately two minutes before this area will be filled with the same thick black smoke.
Captain Guidelines
- Determine actions with your crew
- Formulate communications to the incident commander
- Have one member "role play" the position of Captain on E37 in order to develop a solution.
- Divide members into groups in order to develop solutions.
- Solutions should be submitted via e-mail to the Tactical Training Group at [email protected].
- Solutions from the field will be printed in next month's "Tactical Decision Games".
