The engine company is attempting to advance hoselines into a building. The rescue company is attempting to search for trapped victims. One byproduct of the fire is seriously hindering their efforts. The culprit: dense, hot smoke.
A truck or ladder company can be measured on its ability to remove or at least ease this problem through ventilation. This often means going onto the roof to cut a hole or remove an existing fan or duct cover, or it could mean venting through another part of the roof.
Before you work on any roof, it is imperative that you wear full protective gear. This should include eye protection, gloves and, yes, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Too many truckies suffer injuries when they are not protected fully as they go to work. Remember to take only the tools necessary. Always take a hook long enough to punch through the ceiling below. NEVER go on a roof alone.
When putting ladders to a roof, ensure that sufficient rungs are above the roof edge to allow safe travel from ladder to the roof and vice versa. Try to place multiple ladders to the roof to allow sufficient means for emergency egress. If you are forced to go over the parapet to get onto the roof, make sure you know how high it is off the roof surface or you could have a long fall.
In many cities, the housing stock consists mainly of rowhouses. Venting these is relatively easy. The roof is flat with a parapet and maybe firewalls protruding up through the surface. The framing material is wood, but the framing runs parallel to the length with bearing walls below approximately every 15 feet. The covering can be built-up paper and tar, tar with chip or perhaps the new rubber membrane. Sometimes, but not as often, the roof may be covered in metal; however, this is not recommended for roof pitches under 4/12.
If you are trying to determine the location of the fire, a simple way is to drop the saw blade into the roof deck. If fire comes out, go to a safer spot; if you find smoke under pressure, you're real close; and if there's no smoke or lazy smoke, it's not here. This method is faster and safer than making triangle cuts or squares. There is usually a skylight or scuttle (a hatch) on the roof. Lifting the scuttle or skylight is usually all that is needed. Make an opening into the cockloft, the void area between the ceiling of the top floor and roof surface underside, to detect any fire spread.
As you are making your size up, determine where the fire is. If it is attacking the top floor, be cautious about getting onto the roof. Today, it is mandatory to "sound" the roof as you get onto it. In 1984, a member of the DCFD was killed when he stepped onto a roof from a ground ladder and fell into a two-by-two-foot duct that had been covered with sheet metal and tar.
Ensure that you have a safe retreat area should the fire become worse and you need to leave. When you make an opening or pull a scuttle or skylight, have the wind at your back. Always be wary of guy cables or other appurtenances on the roof that can trip you, or worse. Always be aware of where you are, especially when wind is playing with the smoke, causing it to flow back and forth across you. If forced to make cuts into the roof for venting or a trench cut to impede the spread, make the last cut with the wind at your back and make the opening large enough to work, but small enough to be lifted with your hooks or other tools.
If you are unable to make the roof, then operate on the top floor in another quadrant of the building. Open the ceiling and cross-ventilate using negative pressure. Some firefighters have difficulty understanding what trench cuts are used for and why. You are trying to stop the lateral spread, but you are also drawing the fire to you. Give yourself ample time, have the right tools and the right amount of personnel.
For a building with bowstring trusses, it's simple: stay off. But also be wary of what appears to be a flat roof that might be covering bowstring trusses. In the 1978 Waldbaum's supermarket fire in New York City, too many truckies were killed by this type of truss disguised under a "rain roof."
The balance of residential construction is usually gabled. These can either be trussed or conventionally framed, depending on how old the structure is. The roof covering can be asphalt or fiberglass shingles, metal, terra cotta tile, wood shake, slate or some imitation of the above. The pitches run from 3/12 to 12/12.
This last information leads to the biggest problem with these roofs - a stable work platform. Above 5/12, the angle for working becomes harder, especially when ice and snow are playing havoc with footing. In the upper pitches, the use of roof ladders is absolutely necessary for protection against falls and also as a fallback position in case of collapse. This is true only for conventional roofs, which have a ridge-pole and bearing walls for support. In the case of trusses, the roof ladder will provide a false sense of security as the collapse will be total.
When using tools on these roofs, you should be able to comfortably use the saw or axe without sliding. If that occurs, stop what you're doing and get a stable work platform. Tying off is not a good idea on this type of roof - if conditions deteriorate, how fast can you unclip or untie the knot? If you need to do that, then find another way.
With gable roofs, always determine why you need to be on the roof. If it is unknown whether the roof has trusses, then stay off. Use the gable ends or work from a tower or aerial. Roof slates can become missiles with razor-sharp edges. Also, they provide difficult footing. Ensure that members working beneath you are not in harm's way. Stay safe.
Michael L. Smith, a Firehouse® contributing editor, is a 30-year veteran of the District of Columbia Fire Department, currently deputy chief/suppression and shift division commander, commanding all fire, EMS, hazmat, special operations and special events activities in the District on shift. He is a 30-plus-year fire service veteran and is a graduate of the Executive Fire Officers Program at the National Fire Academy. Smith is a Certified Municipal Manger (CMM) from George Washington University and has degrees in fire science, construction management and public administration. He holds a journeyman's card with United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and lectures nationwide on fire service topics, including management, command, rapid intervention, building construction, and strategy and tactics for all types of buildings.
