On the fire ground how do fire fighters run out of air? Why do truss collapses occur trapping or killing firefighters? Why do fire fighters get caught in flashover conditions? Why do fire fighters get lost and then succumb to the fire conditions? Why do Incident Commanders get caught short on requesting resources while their people are battling conditions on the interior? How long will it take for a Rapid Intervention Team, RIT, to rescue and extricate one or more fire fighters?
A colleague in Providence, Rhode Island, Lt. Greg Crawford, runs one of the very best SCBA classes in the country, in my opinion. His approach is confrontational to the participants but after taking the class no one will leave without understanding and appreciating the connection between the life of the wearer and the equipment. No one will ever again go into a hostile IDLH atmosphere without knowing how long his or her SCBA will last under duress.
The truss collapse in Hackensack, New Jersey, occurred in 1978. Many thousands of hours of presentations have been given to members of the fire service on the dangers and limitations of truss construction. The building industry has actually taken truss construction to new heights of danger with the advent of TGI beams and increasing use of micro-lams. We continue to attempt to outlast the collapse time frame with trusses when the simplest avenue is when trusses are identified with a fire under them then all members get out and fight the thing from the exterior.
Flashover occurs when the temperature within a room or space increases to a level that ignites all of the materials within. But there is a definite time line to this event. And there are telling cues upon arrival signaling that this event is forthcoming. Rollover is a 90% valid cue that flashover is imminent. We have encapsulated our fire fighters to such an extent that they have been denied many of their natural thermometers such as ears.
Firefighters can get lost in a closet if they are inexperienced. Too many however have gotten lost in areas where they should not have been. A commercial structure with a confirmed fire within creates many thousands of square feet of space, which can thwart the safety of fire fighters within. When units arrive and they report little or no smoke visible everyone should become more aware not more complacent. There needs to be someone or some company assigned to monitor conditions in these structures. Yes, many 90 times out of a hundred the job will not be anything but it's that ten times that make the difference. Furthermore no company should enter these structures without safety lines and escape routes or fall back positions. Also, we often don't use all of the tools at our disposal. A 1 ? or 1 ? handline has about a 40 foot reach while a 2 ? handline has a 100 foot reach. Do the numbers or set up unmanned monitor streams.
Too many Incident Commanders piecemeal help requests. A wise old chief taught me "you can always send them back if you don't need them, but you can't make them appear when you don't have them". This seems simple enough. The size up given is the first picture an IC has and they must act quickly if they are going to get ahead of the fire curve. For those who rely on mutual aid you have to know how long that help will take and limit your crew's involvement until the help arrives. The worst scenario has to be when rescues are needed and your are stretched to the absolute limit on manpower. There is no room for error and if your people get into trouble you have absolutely no resources to assist them. It's a question of risk versus gain where your personnel are the bet.
The question of RIT still perplexes many of us in the fire service. For some it's the panacea for aggressive behavior with limited manpower. There are some that post two fire fighters and refer to that a staging a RIT group. This is so far from the reality of the situation. I have had the distinct to train with the people in this country who are the absolute wizards of RIT. These are people from FDNY, Philly, Jersey City, Pittsburgh, Worcester, Providence, and LA County. We seem to learn something new each time we teach RIT HOT ops. A few common experiences seem to hold constant:
- The first crew has the responsibility of finding the victim/s, getting them on new air
- Assessing the situation for resource requirements
- Other units must provide handlines and equipment
- The first team will not be the team who brings you out
- You have 4 minutes to get the victim/s on fresh bottles
- The first crew should carry MINIMUM tools no more than lights, radios, camera, rope/tag lines and a few forcible entry tools
All of your RIT drills must be conducted with blocked facepieces and gloves on. Do real based drills and time them. If you get frustrated fine better at the drill and not on the fire ground. Stay Safe!
