Welcome to November Fire Notes!■ Following you will find Tips, Tricks, Quotes, Cool

Stuff, and Stuff that Makes sense to me from throughout the Month

■ This is somewhat my way of Passing it On ■ All this Information has been Taken from

Facebook, Twitter, Websites, Books, Articles, Videos, Etc.

■ NONE OF THIS IS MY INFO, IT HAS ALL BEEN PASSED ON, SHARED, AND WHAT I HAVE SEEN

■ Please Pass this On if you find Value in it ■ Thank you for Taking the Time to Better Yourself

November 2016 Fire Notes

■ The Simple Act of Bringing the First 50' Coupling with you to the Door, Allows the Doorman to Easily Feed the Working Length into the Structure, Making the Job of the Nozzle Man Easier. 

■ Normally the Line will Expand when Charged and the Nozzle will move Forward, but an easy way to prevent this, is to Drop a Knee on the Nozzle and Coupling Before Calling for Water to Reduce this Movement.

■ If you're using a lot of personal pronouns during your day; the message you're sending is that it's all about you! Instead of "I", "me", "mine", etc........

■ It should be "them", "you", "us", "we", "ours".

■ Your words say a lot about what you think and how your really feel about your position.

2nd Due Tasks■ Read the Building & Conditions. Has it Changed from the

Initial Report?

■ What Line is Deployed by the 1st-Due? Where is it Going and are Conditions Improving?

■ Is the 1st-Due Inside because of Rescue? If so they need to do Protection

■ New or Unseen Hazards?

■ Do Conditions Dictate a Change?

Your JOB on the Nozzle is to Take Space, Create and

Maintain Survivable Space.

■ One of the Main Reasons for Getting the Coupling up the steps is to Prevent it from Snagging on the Lip of the Stairs.

■ If the Coupling gets Caught, Line Advancement Stops, and Someone has to go back and Free it.

■ This Can be Critical with Low Staffing Levels.

■ If Conditions Allow, we'll go so far as Throwing the 50' Coupling Inside the Door a few Feet Prior to Charging the Line.

■ This Further Prevents the Coupling from Snagging on the Threshold.

Tactical Rules for the Fireground

■ The Protection of Human Life takes precedence over all other tasks on the Fireground

■ The Lives of Attacking Forces should Never be Dependent on just 1 hoseline

■ Whenever you call for more Help, Have a Purpose and a Place to put them

What Are YOU Doing To

Ensure The Future Of Your Organization?

■ You don't, nor should you, do everything and make every single decision. Train your members, give them the resources to succeed and let them work!

■ Sometimes you just need to stay out of the way and observe as the officer. It builds trust, confidence and empowers your members to take risks.

■ That's a good thing!

■ If your primary goal is to be safe, stay at the fire house. If your goal is to serve your community you must be willing to accept some element of risk. The smart, tough firefighters understand that well placed, well timed aggressive actions are what really brings reduced risk to the fire ground.

■ My bet is if you look around you probably know a few of these firefighters. Latch on to them and you will learn what managing risk can do for you and your community.

■ As a leader if your first priority is being well liked by your crew, you've already failed.

■ It's better to be respected than liked.

■ Respect will carry you farther and most likely your crew will like you once they respect you. 

■ “Risk Cannot be Managed from a Position of Fear. Risk can Only be Managed through Competence.” 

■ “Invest in People, Invest in Skills, Do Work, Do it Often, Do it Well.”

~Aaron Fields

■ Plan your Cut!

■ Where is the Fire, Where is it Going.

■ Time with Suppression & Never Create an Exposure Issue!

■ “A true testimony to leadership is not what your crew does while your present. But what they do, how they act, and how they perform when you not around!”■ -Christopher Tobola

■ “As an officer, you are not always going to have good days, be at the top of your game, and you WILL make mistakes. This job and the crew you lead WILL humble you. However, the leadership you provide on a daily basis, and the lives you touch, lead and mold will step up; and on those days you are less than perfect, they will help you rise to the occasion.”■ - Christopher Tobola

If you are in a Position to Make the Lives of those you Lead Better .... do it. Don't Worry about who Gets the

Credit.

■ If People are Telling you that you Care Too Much About this Job or That You Train Too Much... Don't Listen to Them.

It Just Means you're Doing Everything

Right.

Is This A Type 3 or 5?■ BOTH!■ Besides the Mix of

Construction Types, look at the Massive Void Spaces that Allow for Rapid Fire Spread...

"It's why you gotta hit the street even when it's asshole cold out.

This day it was but you gotta know what's going on"

Stretching the First Line■ Make it Count!

■ Where does the First Line Go?

■ Control the Door while Waiting

■ Bleed Line & Check Stream

■ Force Entry. Check LIFE, FIRE, LAYOUT

“Good Smoke”The Smoke that

Indicates “Water on the Fire”

When the Benchmark “Water on the Fire”

is given, the IC MUST Verify it

looks “good” from the Outside

Conflicting Reports KILL!

■ Saw this picture at the Mike Dugan lecture. This beaver was killed while doing something he does all the time. The expert at his craft right?

■ We can't allow the "it's never gonna happen to me" mentality to come over us. 

■ Keep a beginners attitude and train often. Our next fire may just put us to the test!!

"Just what does a search team do? What makes it a team? How does it operate? Some

departments believe 2 or more firefighters literally should hold hands or bind to each other by rope so as to do

everything together. This is a foolish concept.....The answer here is a partnership based on communication, commitment

and accountability."

~ Tom Brennan FDNY

Never Stop Learning.

Never Stop Growing.

You Work For THEM!

■ If you want the Right to Lead, then there are 2 keys things that Must Happen.■ 1-The Leader takes Responsibility to Motivate the Team and

Keep them Enthusiastic about the Vision.

■ 2-Team Members Accept Responsibility to do their Part and to be Responsible for their Own Attitude.

■ Leaders are Made...they are not Born.

■ You have to be able to count on those around you to perform their assigned duties and they must have faith in you to do your job. Without trust we have nothing.

Do your JobTreat People RightGive all out Effort

Have an all in Attitude

"When I was Squad 2's Captain I asked another officer to cover my tour one night so I could go to a family event. Catching up with him later, I

asked him how the night treated him. He told me, "Pat, we got crushed. We were going to our third or fourth fire at 3am and all I wanted to do was to

go home and go to bed. When I looked back at the men though, they were motivated. They

looked like they were ready to go to a ballgame!" The covering officer learned what I already knew - the men of Squad 2 would fight fire all day and

all night and still be ready to go. That had nothing to do with their skill or experience and everything

to do with their attitude.I've known a lot of firemen from all over the

country, and the great ones all have one thing in common - they love this job, and aren't afraid to

show it.“

- BC Pat Maloney, Chicago Fire Dept

■ Tactical Thermal Imaging is a valuable resource in Rapid Intervention. Consider the value of knowing more about the firefighter's condition prior to reaching them.

■ A RIC can verify if the Firefighter is breathing based on the the regulator lines and Facepiece are cold. This would be a good indication that they are receiving air.

Positioning Matters

Knowing your Equipment,

Districts and

Buildings Makes this Happen.

■ Always Check your Pack.

■ The Little bit that is Missing can be the Difference Making it Home and Not!

■ The 3 man Truck Company. Limited man power is all to common across the U.S.

■ How do you manage to get all the tasks done with 3 people?

■ It is hard but it is managed by multi-tasking and the officer has to be a working supervisor 

■ With 3 people you are roughly 33% efficient, that is not good at all, but you learn to adapt and overcome!

■ Spot the Turntable on Every Run without Exception and it becomes Second Nature. If the Engine Forgets to Leave Enough room, Point it Out.

■ This is Particularly Important when your First Due has problems with Overhead Wires and Other Obstructions. There isn't Always a Large Margin of Error when it comes to Placing the Aerial to our Objective.

■ Have the Discipline to Position Right the First Time Every Time, and you won't get Caught with your Pants down at 3 a.m.

■ Why isn't the Numbers being put into Perspective?

■ Why isn't the Number of Saves Being Documents??

■ Perhaps they don't Want us to know?!?!

■ When performing our Life, Fire, Layout...we don't just look for a victim behind the door...we also should be looking for keys to the layout of the structure.

■ There are times when a door can conceal key features like the stairs to the floor above (a search priority area) or another door that leads to a bedroom.

■ These can be easily missed in poor visibility creating costly delays to both fire attack and search.

■ We have to couple our exterior size-up to our interior size-up...creating our foundation of search orientation based on potential building layout.

“Do the Right Thing, at the Right Time, for the Right Reason and you Cannot go far Wrong.”

- Colonel Craig Tucker

■ Don't Over-Think or Over-Complicate things in the Firehouse or on the Fireground. The Officer MUST be able to use the Proper Tactics in Both Realms Without Overreacting.

■ Think 'try before you pry' not only when forcing doors, but when dealing with your members. Sometimes the situation, if handled without uncontrolled emotion, is not as bad or hard as it seems. 

■ We need more Pride in our Profession. Take Pride in your job Whatever it is.

"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better."

- Dr. MLK Jr

One Reason Why Commercial Fires Suck. This Is Above The Drop Ceiling. Think About All That Coming Down.

■ One of the critical tasks of an engine company is to obtain a positive water supply.

■ Set your company up for success so that a single member can rapidly accomplish this task based on your department's SOPs/SOGs.

■ Arrange all of the equipment required to hookup to the selected hydrant in such a fashion that one member can easily grab it from a single location.

■ During a VES Operation we don't simply perform a Sweep and Sound before Entering to Check for Victims and Check Stability of the Floor.

■ We also want to Confirm how far below the sill the floor is (to prevent an unexpected tumble), if there is any furniture in the way and to confirm there is a floor there at all.

■ We have to train ourselves to Always perform a Size-up and to Perform the Appropriate steps in our VES to Accomplish an Efficient and Aggressive Operation.

Do All 3 Windows Lead To Bedrooms?■ One could assume

that they all lead to rooms.

■ However under closer inspection only 1 does, the other 2 are for natural light into the great room.

■ There is a clue in the picture of which window leads to a bedroom and which lead to open air in the great room.

Remember your roof cuts.

"Simple yet effective way to train on ventilation.

Every time you walk out to the bay you see this

on the floor. " 

Fire Travel Problems In A

Type 3 Building.

Are You Ready For A Main St.

Fire?

“If I Make it Good for Them, it is by Definition Good for me. I am Protected, they

are Not, and they are Why I am here. The Interior

Space Belongs to me Once the Bell Hits. If it has

Survivable Space Inside the Building, Anywhere, it is

my Job to Protect it.”

~Aaron Fields

Know What Those Lines Are?The Portion of American Firefighting Texts Dedicated

to Fire Behavior.

It's ALL About The Search

■ There's no More Room for the "me" Mentality, WE get the Job done Together.

■ Be a Team.

First Due Diligence Requires That You Get The

Hose Wet

"My Company, Our Fire." - Wells Wilson. Own it

■ A simple technique to rapidly check for fire extension on the floor above, or fire below you, is to pull the baseboard trim away from the wall.

■ Often, there is a gap between the flooring and the drywall/plaster that is covered by the baseboard.

■ Exposing this gap allows members to see soot staining or visible smoke issuing from the wall space.

■ This method causes minimal damage, and often the trim can easily be put back in place.

■ As always, if there is any indication of fire conditions in the wall it should be immediately opened up.

■ "Even after a long and difficult hose stretch, the real work of the engine company has yet to begin. This is where experience and training

really pay dividends. As the late senior member of Engine Company 48 in the Bronx used to say,

"Never run to the rig when turning out for an alarm; if you run to the rig, you'll run at the fire, and running leads to shouting and the job won't get done." Experienced firefighters know how

to pace themselves -- both physically and mentally; this conserves energy, prevents

needless injuries, and enables them to maintain a focus on the task at hand without losing sight

of the big picture. Advancing a handline at a tough fire requires discipline, concentration,

and some intangible factors -- courage, mostly -- to see the job through."

~Andy Fredericks

Door Control From Mike Ciampo■ It's good to see so much material written and produced on door

control. However, I see a real problem with much that's written and produced in some videos. The "Close the Door" mantra is fine but let's add some BASIC firefighting principles to it first!

■ How about the first one at the door: quickly lays flat on the ground with a flashlight to see if they can get a layout of the structure, possible victims or obstructions and the fire/smoke conditions inside.

■ Also use the TIC to check the heat level/direction of heat travel or room presenting the fire and listen for the sounds of the fire. Also before you shut it, sweep behind the door and check for a victim or if there's a room or hallway behind it.

■ Now you can control the door.

■ Chain link gates are a common access problem.

■ Sliding the gate hinge down can be an easy and non destructive way to gain entry, the gate can be re-secured when you leave.

■ This will only work on the 2 piece hinge with one side being the pin and the other being the loop which it sits in.

“Study the Past if you would Define the Future.” - Confucius

■ Aerial Positioning is a Critical Part

of Truck Company Ops.

■ Your Operator Must be

Competent and Able to

Think Quickly to Find the

Best Position Possible. 

Statistics Matter....Quit Saying Aggressive Firefighting Tactics and Roof Work are

Killing Firemen Everyday!

■ When placing ground ladders for entry or egress via a window, raise them so the tip extends half a rung above the windowsill. The tip being slightly above the sill provides several advantages while still allowing members, or victims, to easily maneuver over the tip. The main benefit of this placement is that if the tip of the ladder begins to shift it will catch on the window frame instead of sliding off the face of the building. This is especially critical when uneven terrain is present, the face of the building is slippery (vinyl siding, ice, etc.), or the ladder is placed for emergency egress with no one assigned to foot it. In addition, having the tip somewhat above the sill allows members to quickly locate the ladder in low visibility or emergency situations.

The Reasons We Train

The Roof Position…■ Walk the Rim■ Look for Victims■ Report Fire & Wind

Conditions

■ Note what you See & What you Don't See!

■ Is it Blowing Out or In

"Relative Safety" -Be as Safe as you can be while Getting the Job Done. Don't

use Safety as an Excuse for Avoiding the Hard Work.

“Firefighting is not a safe job. Our objective must be to maintain relative safety by making decisions that will

allow us to accomplish our objectives without needlessly placing ourselves or our people into an untenable threat

environment. Taking up our impending flashover example again, whether you are the nozzle operator, the company officer, or the incident commander, you need to perceive, comprehend, and predict the effects of just having that initial attack line advance into the building. That situational awareness will allow you to choose a course of action that will help maintain the "relative

safety" of the folks operating on the fireground.”

~Chris Brennan

LIFE - FIRE - LAYOUT■ How Often do you Perform a Full Body Length Door Sweep after Forcing an Exterior Door?

■ Be Disciplined in our MISSION and Perform a Full Body Length Sweep Around the Door, from Wall to Wall after Every Door you Force.

■ The Sweep Must become Second Nature, not Rushed and Properly Executed.

■ To Perform in this Manner, you Must Train on it, You must Sweep in Training Every Time you Force a Door.

Windows at Floor Level in Many

Finished Attics, Significant Fall

Hazard in Smoke. Remove Interior Door

and Cover.

Apparatus Positioning. Different Devices, Different Objectives.

Thoughts?

■ As Officers and Chief Officers we Must be Aware that we are Being Watched all the Time.

Roof Report Considerations■ 2 Segments (Initial & Follow-up).

■ The initial report considerations are: ■ Type of roof? ■ What is showing (fire/smoke) from (roof

vents, updraft ventilators, turbine vents, skylights, scuttles, facade vents, etc.)?

■ Loads (HVAC and ventilators)? ■ Condition of roof (stable or unstable)

deformity or discoloration? ■ Fire extension to the façade and/or

adjacent occupancies? ■ Confirmation of firewall(s) and location? ■ Conditions in the attic (if known). ■ Basic blueprint/footprint of building (if

unusual). ■ Action(s) taken.

Roof Report Considerations■ A Follow-up Roof Report

should be Given once Personnel have Completed Vertical Ventilation.

■ This report should include: ■ The Effect of the vertical

ventilation (the amount and intensity of smoke, fire, and/or heat coming from the vent hole aka "production").

■ Conditions in the attic, and the stability of the roof.

PPV “No-Go” considerations■ ATTIC FIRE (fire spread throughout the

attic may lead to early roof collapse or contribute to a rapid change in fire behavior)

■ EXHAUST OPENING INADEQUATE (heat and smoke will not vent from the structure quickly enough to prevent rapid fire progression)

■ IMMINENT RESCUE (if the path for smoke and heat cannot be completely directed away from victims and path of egress)

■ OVER-PRESSURIZED COMPARTMENT (will likely result in interior temperatures increasing)

■ UNABLE TO LOCATE THE FIRE (PPV before the fire is located could lead to a rapid change in fire behavior and trap firefighters/occupants).

■ Engine companies have their argument smooth bore vs. Fog.

■ Truck companies can have an argument also.

■ Stick or Platform? ■ Mid Mount vs Rear vs

TDAs?

■ What is your preference?

What Would Be Your 1st Line For Each & Why?

Tactical Use Of An Aerial Device

Simple VES…

■ Complete a 360-degree walk-around and Size-up the structure

■ Determine the Entry Point■ Vent the Window/Entry Point■ Enter the Structure■ Control the Door■ Search the Room■ Extricate the Victim

■ VES was First Developed by the FDNY for the First Due Truck Company, given Primary Responsibilities for Search Operations.

■ When Working Above the Fire, Look, Feel and Listen to the Following Conditions:

Smoke Pushing Through Floor. 

Heat Keeps Increasing, but no Visible Fire.

Floors are Sagging or Creaking.

The Floor is Too Hot to Touch.

Large Loads at are in the Room.

Water Damage Areas are Present.

No Excuses TrainingUtilizing What

we can to Challenge Ourselves

Every Shift while

Running Lines and Throwing Ladders