If you’re going to be in town, be sure to come see is in action as we present at the following programs:

25 to Survive:  Residential Building Fires
Presentation Date:  Monday, April 19, 2010
Presentation Time:  1300-1700

Fighting Fires in Attached Garages
Presentation Date:  Thursday, April 22, 2010
Presentation Time:  1330-1515

Modern Engine Company Essentials
Presentation Date:  Friday, April 23, 2010
Presentation Time:  1030-1215

Recognition and Attack of Basement Fires

Presentation Date:  Friday, April 23, 2010

Presentation Time:  0830-1015

Single Truck Company Operations

Presentation Date:  Monday, April 19, 2010

Presentation Time:  0800-1200

For more information on our programs, click below for a link to the 2010 FDIC List of Programs!

Pre-Conference Workshops (25 to Survive & Single Truck Co Operatons)

Classroom Sessions (All of our other programs)

• Their construciton usually promotes rapid fire growth and spread.
• They have limited access from Side Alpha.
• They will rapidly spread to exposures, especially if a wind condition is present.

Below are some quick thoughts on initial tactics at these fires.  Read on, and let us know your thoughts!

As seen here, rear porch fires will quickly spread in an "up and out" manner.

1) Stretch lines to the rear. Of course the initial attack line should go through the front door and protect the interior.  But we must also quickly stretch lines to the rear to contain fire spread to exposures B & D.  Ideally, stretch two lines to the rear – one taking a position on the Bravo exposure and the other on the Delta exposure.  These lines will be operated in a “flanking” manner – not extinguishing the main body of fire, but preventing it from spreading along the combustible exteriors of the exposure buildings.

2) Quickly get a line and hooks to the upper floor. As in these photos, many of these fires originate at the first floor level.  Fire will quickly travel up the outside of side C.  We must get a line up to the floors above along with some hooks to expose fire that may be entering the wall space or cockloft.

3) Assign companies to the exposure buildings. We must also get a line and hooks into the exposures on the B & D sides.  A quick check should be done of the 1st floor to insure there is no fire.  If not, we should proceed immediately to the second floor.  Like most fires, a first floor rear porch fire will tend to grow outward in a “V” pattern making the floor above a likely place for extension in the exposure.

4) Get reports from the roof. A report from the roof team’s perspective can provide valuable information to the IC about the growth and extent of the fire.  The roof team may also be in an ideal position to open up fire traveling in a soffit, or to discover that the fire has penetrated the cockloft.  If a common cockloft is discovered, the IC should be notified immediately.

5) Request additional resources early. If all goes well, you have a minimum of 3 buildings involved!  The original fire building, and two exposures that at least need to be checked and have lines standing by.  If all DOESN’T go well – you have a whole row of homes to worry about! This is not the time when we want to run out of engine or truck companies.  Insure sufficent resources are staging – if all your resources are committed, you have no help to call on when you need it.  You can always send them home if you don’t use them!!!

6) Be cautious about the stability of the rear porch. These are often add-on’s that sometimes were built correctly and sometimes weren’t.  Fire impingement can severely weaken these exterior structures, making a collapse of the rear porch a real possibility.  I would recommend knocking down the fire from the threshold of the main structure.  Once the fire is darkened, we can do a better evaluation of the rear porch’s stability.

These have just been some quick thoughts I threw together in a few minutes thinking about the initial tactics at these types of fires.  Rear-porch fires are fast-moving, dynamic fires that require a strong “command presence” and the quick communication of a well thought-out plan.  Have you looked around your box alarm district to see where you might encounter these types of fires?  Have you talked about operations at these fires around the kitchen table?  Remember – a failure to plan is a plan to fail.

So what did I miss?  Let us know your thoughts and experiences at these fires in the comments….

This is an open-enrollment program that anyone can attend!  For more information, please contact the host directly: Bill Opsitnik (330) 831-1195.

A routine run here may lead to questions such as: what length attack line? How would we place ladders to the porch? Apparatus Positions? Basement access? Utility cut-offs?

Making the most out of each response often involves little more than opening up your eyes to your surroundings. Calls that gain firefighter’s access to homes and buildings are an excellent opportunity to check out construction features and hazards that may come in handy should a fire occur. Often, homes within the same residential neighborhoods will have very similar layouts and construction types. A home you ran for a public service call last tour could be very similar to the working fire you’re now faced with 2 doors down.

Here are just a few considerations to look for that may help should a fire occur:

• Do these homes have a basement?
• What kind of entrance does it have?
• Where are the interior stairs located?
• Does the front door open in to block the interior stairs?
• Where are the bedrooms located? Do they have windows and how many?
• Does the pipe chase connect to the exposure home or apartment?
• How does the layout of this home compare to its attached neighbor?
• Where are the utility controls located?
• Is the occupant you are currently helping able to escape a possible fire on their own?

The above list is just a small fraction of the many things firefighters should be constantly vigilant for in an effort to prepare for that next job. Involve all members of the company through simple interactions such as “do you know why the pipe chase is located here?” or “how many windows have we passed since we came in?”. Before long members will be asking questions of their own!

Your size-up at non-fire incidents may provide indispensable knowledge at the fire later on...

The window in the picture to the right was located during a run for DCFD Truck 17 to assist a citizen back into bed. The occupant had covered the window with carpet and left a small opening at its base, which was lined with nails to discourage break-ins. This poses an obvious safety issue for the outside vent man as well as criminals. High crime areas often require low income residents to fashion a wide variety of makeshift safety features for their home. These “adaptations” can vary widely from home to home, let alone jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but are not limited to high crime areas.

The senior man right down to the newest probationer has a responsibility to himself as well as their crew to observe and question the area around them. Be prepared on every run to ask the “What if it was on fire?” question and make the most out of your time out in the field. With a little practice you and your crew can perfect “The Art of Seeing”.

Students cut actual roll-down gates. For added realism we even "tagged" them.

Some of the skills included were:

• 1 and 2 firefighter techniques for conventional FE.
• Roll-down security gates.
• HUD Windows.
• Window bars & gates.
• Thru-the-lock techniques.
• High-security padlocks.
• Size-up and tool selection.

A primary focus of the day was the capabilities of various hand tools and the importance of having multiple techniques and plans for attack.  With forcible entry you cannot always rely on “plan A” – when it doesn’t work out the way you hoped, your next move better be on deck!

Using a variety of real-world props, each student got the chance to put their hands on the tools and transfer their “theory” on how they might attack and obstacle into actual “experience” with a variety of new skills and techniques.  Each student was encouraged not only to try “our” ideas, but to take the opportunity to try new ideas and techniques – training is the time to experiment with these things, not the front door of the fire building.

It was another excellent day for instructors and students, as both walked away with some new experiences and skills.  Thanks to DFC Clauson of the Ft. Washington Fire Company for setting up another excellent training opportunity!

Click here for some more photos!

To learn more about how you can host or attend this or other Traditions Training classes – click here to contact us!

Halligan Pick / Duckbill Method:

Essentially you are performing a “spreading” motion using what is basically a wedge.   This motion needs to spread the shackle VERTICALLY.  I have seen firefighters place a duckbill lock-breaker  with the width of the wedge perpendicular to the shackle.  This will be ineffective -- it must be placed parallel.  The idea here is to drive the body of the lock off of the shackle -- NOT to spread the two arms of the shackle apart.

For this method to be successful, the top of the wedge must hit the top of the shackle and the bottom of the wedge must hit the top of the lock body. In the photo to the right, the pick of the Halligan is being used.  You can see that the pick is buried up to it’s widest point and is still not exerting vertical spreading force.  In fact, at this point the Halligan was beginning to spread side-to-side, which was not forcing the lock -- continuing to drive it just was getting the tool stuck in the shackle.  It’s not that this method doesn’t work -- it’s just that it won’t work on this padlock because the shackle is too long. If the shackle was shorter, the method would have a good chance of success.

This is a quick way for a firefighter to size-up if the pick of the Halligan will be successful before committing to the operation.  Simply place the pick into the shackle and look before driving it into place with your striking tool.  Does it appear that the shackle is short enough that the pick will wedge/spread the top of the hasp and the top of the body?  If yes, proceed.  If no, move on to another method…

In this scenario the pick of the Halligan was being used.  A “Duckbill Lockbreaker”, if available, might have been a better choice.  The duckbill is designed specifically for this technique and it’s wider wedge will fit padlocks with longer hasps, like this one.

The video below shows the duckbill in use and properly positioned -- but why isn’t it working?  This lock / chain held a sliding gate closed.  The gate was not touching the ground.  As such, most of the force didn’t go to breaking the lock each “hit” delivered just caused the gate to bounce.  When using the duckbill, or similar methods, we must make sure that our force is being delivered to a stable surface -- so that the force makes it to the lock.

Stay tuned for some tips next time on cutting pad-locks…

Thanks to members of each department for these photos from the classes:

On Sunday evening after the class, members of the Honey Brook Fire Company responded to a fire in a motel.  Deputy Chief Dan Brooks sent us the following account:

“Sunday night while recovering from the weekends class we were hit out for full company assist on the working Motel Fire. Members who attended the training, working with those who didnt, forced 10+ doors on rooms and provided ventilation and primary searches of the entire building mostly under poor to zero visibity. Using the skills we learned and reinforced, things went VERY well. THANK YOU!!!”

Nothing could make the staff at Traditions Training happier than to know that we might have provided even the smallest tip that helped someone do their job at the fire. Thanks to the members of Longwood, Parkesburg, Honey Brook, and the other department’s that attended January’s classes!

Fore more information on our Truck Company Operations, or other, programs – please contact us!  Also, be sure to check out our past blog posts on Truck Company Operations.