10 Commandments of Truck Company Ops - Part 4

More on the Basics Before Arriving On-Scene

Respond With Vigilance

Webster’s dictionary defines vigilance as alert, watchful, on guard. This definition is particularly applicable when responding emergency to an incident but is also applicable when returning to quarters. Remember that the third highest cause of firefighter injuries and deaths are accidents with fire apparatus. You cannot mitigate an incident until you safely arrive on-scene and properly place and/or spot your apparatus. Therefore, the responsibility for the delivery and safe operation of apparatus and personnel is the sole responsibility of the officer and driver.

It is common knowledge that an apparatus that is responding emergency to an incident is not expected by civilians and/or motorists. The addition of cell phones and modern vehicles with advanced soundproofing and superior sound systems does not enhance the ability of civilian drivers to recognize and make allowances for responding emergency apparatus (Figure 1). Additionally, the excitement of operating modern-large fire apparatus with lights and sirens attempting to clear traffic does not make allowances for a fire apparatus driver who is exceeding a reasonable speed and safe operation of a truck apparatus during a response. The old adage of you cannot put the fire out if you are not on-scene is still as true today as it was yesterday.

Determine Available Fireground Time

The ability to determine fireground time is a key consideration in being able to determine the amount of time a firefighter has to accomplish an intended task and equally applies to interior and exterior operations. The capability to determine available fireground time is derived from a combination of factors as follows:

(a) Building Construction
Interestingly, building construction progressed from a heavy style of construction until about 1935, a moderate style of construction from 1935 to 1960, and a lightweight style of construction from 1960 until several years ago. Although this progression of style and size of structural members has undergone numerous changes from heavy timber to the common lightweight truss of today, it is poised to take a giant leap backwards with lightweight trusses that are glued together instead of using nails or gang-nail plates. Stated from another viewpoint, modern buildings are constantly reducing fireground time to every firefighter in this country.

When conducting a size-up at a structure fire many factors must be considered, yet it is imperative that at least two basic factors are considered: (1) is fire exposing conventional or lightweight construction, and (2) what is the resultant time before structural collapse? The following baseline has proved fairly accurate in determining how much time the two basic types of construction, lightweight or conventional, will allow before collapse: (1) if fire is exposing lightweight truss construction for more than 5 minutes, re-evaluate your intended operation, and (2) if fire is exposing conventional construction for more than 20 minutes, re-evaluate your intended operation. Interestingly, a fire exposed the TJI-floor joists in Figure 2 for around three-minutes and it should be obvious that these floor members will not support the weight of fireground personnel!

(b) Reading the Environment

In concert with reading the type or method of building construction, reading the environment from outside and inside a building can provide a useful guideline to how much time the incident will allow you to conduct your intended operations. When arriving on-scene, initially evaluate the environment from the exterior of the incident. Remember that heavier and/or darker smoke will result in minimal or no interior visibility which will dramatically slow your interior operations and can also present conditions that are more favorable to a flashover. Additionally, when evaluating the environment, be sure to think about the fire from the perspective of confinement V’s extension, and if extension is a reality, then what is the degree of extension and where is it going?

Personnel engaged in interior operations must also read the interior environment with the intent of gauging the length of time the environment will allow interior operations until extinguishment and/or ventilation operations begin to improve the environment. Remember that truck company personnel are often conducting interior operations (i.e., search, etc) without the presence of a hose line (which can be an effective source of protection). Therefore, under these circumstances, it is vitally important for truck company personnel to constantly monitor and/or evaluate the interior environment they are committed to.