General Forums >> Training Concepts & Tactics >> Pop Quiz Hotshots!!
Pop Quiz Hotshots!!
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Posted 4 months ago Heres a fun exercise for all of you, lets generate some good discussion here and see what we get from it. You are senior firefighter on the first arriving engine with 4 other firefighters and a driver/operator. You have smoke showing from the rear of a ranch style 1 family dwelling. The smoke is dark gray and is slowly issuing from the house. Whats your tactical decisions as the first arriving officer/senior firefighter? Your next in unit is 3 minutes out, a ladder with 4 firefighters. What style of ventilation would you use? What size hoseline? Do you advance a dry line or a charged line? Generate some constructive discussion and debate, share your experiences and training and keep in mind we are all from different parts of the country and may have different opinions but we can all learn from each other. Lets talk. Brian "Moose" Jones
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| Posted 4 months ago My first concern is occupancy.....is it day or night (greater chance of occupancy at night typically). Where is the nearest hydrant/water supply? Where is smoke coming from....windows and doors, or eaves, or both? With dark gray smoke and slowly issuing from the house, I'm assuming the structure hasn't self-ventilated yet, so we could be looking at a potential backdraft situation. Do I have buildup on the windows? Assuming a potential backdraft, then I am going to ventilate vertically to release the heat/combustibles. So..with these assumptions...my attack would be as follows. 2 from my engine on the roof to ventilate, 2 on an 1 3/4 handline for initial entry/attack. By the time the hole is cut in the roof, my truck should be on scene and I would assign 2 from the truck to perform S&R on the residence and the other 2 remain outside to establish a water supply and perform RIT. The initial entry by the attack team and S&R team needs to take place immediately after ventilation is performed. A quick knockdown of the fire is imperative to prevent the fire being drawn from the back of the house, and up and out the ventilation hole. Kowboy BTW Moose - great idea. I like it! Ross Caston
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| Posted 4 months ago (1)As the first officer on scene I would be taking the Scene Size Up and reporting that to dispatch for all incoming units. (2) Finding out whether the structure is occupied and doing a walk around if possible then reporting that information. (3) Turning off utilities to the house eg: Electrical, Gas, Water. (4) Checking for other buildings that may be potential problems eg: adjoining garage, barns, propane tanks, etc. (5) Secure water source eg: pressurized/dry hydrants, swimming pool, pond, river, tenders {mutual aid}. (6) Additional truck should be on scene by now. Establish RIT Team and begin initial ventilation and attack. (7) Probably use positive pressure ventilation to force smoke out and raise the humidity level in the building. (8) Use foam or CAFS to protect adjoining areas from flash potential. (9) Knock down and operations to sift through the mess putting out hot spots. (10) Pack up and go home. Eric M. Gildersleeve
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| Posted 4 months ago Ok, some more info... Its 2:30 AM on a Wednesday in August, its 86 degrees and the humidity is 98%. The smoke seems to be coming from 3 windows in the rear of the structure, and no where else. There is a Fuel Oil tank on the "D" side, a garage on the "B" side detached about 5 feet away connected to the house by a breezeway only. No other exposures. Door is locked from inside by chain, 2 cars in driveway and a swing set in back yard....Whats Next? Thanks Kowboy!! Brian "Moose" Jones
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| Posted 4 months ago With all of the LODD lately Im sure we can all think of something to add to this discussion....Anyone????? The two guys that answered only scratched the surface here, lets get some more input on anything....ventilation, attack, search, VES, PPV,PPA, Thermal Imagers, water supply ops, roof ops, manpower issues, training issues, tactics.....come on everyone, lets start a good, constructive discussion here. Thanks for the replies guys, I was going to wait and see if anyone else chimed in but heres my take. You arrive to find a fire, in the fairly early stages of the game yet, still hasnt self vented or extended into the atic or roof spaces (cock loft) yet, with a possible life hazzard, what about your thoughts on the use of Positive Pressure Attack? The fire is small, you have an idea where its located, windows and doors still intact, the conditions are perfect for PPA tactics. Put the fan in the front door, send in the attack/search crew to find the seat of the fire, and hopefully if fate and skill are on your side the extinguishment will only take a few seconds and you can than safely locate the possible victims too and give them more of a chance to live by forcing the smoke and heat out of the structure. Just some of my thoughts. I believe KD7CAO mentioned this in his reply. As far as ventilation goes, whats your favorite style for this type of scenario? Do you go to the roof every time or would you do horizontal venting here due to the size of the fire? VES would be good for this fire if you had the manpower initially. Than theres PPV/PPA...How many out there use this tactic regularly? For the search crews, do you use the TIC or does your department even have one? We just recently bought 2, the only thing I dont get is that they are 2 different types...???...dont know what they were thinking when they did that but oh well!!!LOL Brian "Moose" Jones
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| Posted 3 months ago First of all i'd be blessed to have 6 people if 3 truck were on scene. So for starters i'm already unrealistic. Our first action would be to determine a point of entry. Unburnt side of the house. A quick walk around to determine hazards and any other information. ( utilities, bed rooms, some sort of idea on how the house is laid out.) Pull a hose line, our water supply would more than likely be the tanker which would be 2nd in truck. If fire was in the attic then a vertical ventilation would be used if it was in a bed room then a horizontal w/PPV would be used. A quick search in route to the seat of the fire to clear any residents/ patients. A ranch style home generally will allow this type of search then push the fire back to the burnt area and extinguish. We rely heavily on mutual aid departments. They are auto-mutual aid. Nursing is a very common practice in our area. Our first in tanker is 3000 gls. Water for the most part is not our biggest concern. Man power is. We are very much a blue collar community so day time response for us is our weakest time. From there the variables are endless. But by this time our 4 mutual aid departments are there. And we thank God for them. In turn we go to them as well.
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