VOL 4, ISSUE 3 March 2003
We will look at part three of the ‘Watch Outs & Lookouts’ for structural fires…Proactive RIT = Proactive Rescue.
The question often asked, is who would do this secondary reconnaissance?
In larger cities, the assignment could be handled as a function of one of the arriving companies. Unlike a handful of larger cities, most communities do not have the luxury of expansive resources arriving with initial alarm assignments.
Throughout most of the country, fire departments are forced to operate in a “resource poor” environment. Instead of Engines and Ladders arriving with crews consisting of four members, (one officer and three firefighters), they arrive with apparatus staffed with two firefighters and an officer, or even fewer people than that.
Crews arrive with a run-card assignment that consists of a handful of understaffed resources that guarantee fire-ground operations are shorthanded prior to a single line being charged. The need to perform a variety of critical tasks in a logical sequence drives the Incident Commander’s decision making process, and the availability of resources will influence the action plan. All actions are directed at preempting flashover in the room of origin. Operations that take place under the restriction of limited resources make that confinement harder to achieve to the detriment of the building occupants and deployed firefighters.
This resource poor environment results in situations where more is expected of fewer people, increasing the risk to firefighters operating inside of burning buildings as well as risk to the occupants.
In an effort to minimize the risk to firefighters working inside of buildings the fire service has adopted the concept of “stand-by teams” , Rapid Intervention Teams or Rapid Intervention Crews. Many community fire departments use these rescue crews as little more than informed witnesses to the activities taking place during the suppression of fire. They are often under-utilized and stand idle while under staffed fire scenes are further impacted, having one less effective company at work. Statistically, we utilize these resources in a sedentary role for hundreds of incidents where they are never needed. While there will never be an argument that firefighter safety and survival is the most important aspect of risk management at structural fires. The argument can be made that the use of two or three firefighters assigned to RIT will have very little impact on the outcome of a catastrophic building failure.
The use of the RIT/RIC resources in a pre-emptive role will increase the margin of safety for crews committed to interior fire control. That pre-emptive process is known as ‘big exiting’.
In the big exiting process, the stand-by crew or RIT would ensure that the structure is prepped for self-rescue and would take the initial steps of formulating an “escape plan”.
Assigning the RIT, RIC or stand-by crews the responsibility to prepare a building for escape is logical extension of their current role. It is the effective utilization of an under used resource within the restrictions of a resource depleted fire scene.
If the RIT is dedicated to rescue, then prevention of rescue through escape route planning should be part of their pre-incident plan. By definition then, a RIT/RIC or stand-by team would function as a rescue company when they are utilized to prepare a structure for escape. When they are not used in this manner, it is a waste of a valuable and scarce resource.
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Escape Route Planning is a six-step process that includes:
1. The developing of alternative accesses and exits. It is the process where we are looking for ‘opportunities’ to provide alternative access and egress to the building. We are developing, securing and protecting openings that will provide the most direct and immediate escape in the event that things take a turn for the worst.
2. Communication, (throughout the emergency scene), of exit locations. One of the most significant and consistent failures influencing firefighter safety and survival is the issue of poor communications and increased risk to personnel. Alleviating the effects of poor communications includes insuring that access and egress points in a building are communicated and acknowledged throughout the fire ground. Knowing where to go when nail heads begin to pop off could be the difference between idle banter on the outside and burial on the inside.
3. Clearing of protected openings, removing bars and locks, breaching fences, cutting chains and opening overhead doors. Preparing the structure for escape should be a routine that is practiced on every emergency scene. I can think of any number of events where firefighters seeking a route out of a rapidly deteriorating environment have confounded by locked gates, barred windows and sheets of plexi-glass. Think of this part of the process as cheap burn insurance.
4. Avoiding entry underneath heavy stuff. Taking the time to “Look up once in a while” increases one’s awareness to their surroundings. One of the first fatalities that I remember as a young probationary firefighter involved a Captain who was crushed by a piece of cornice inside of an aerial basket. Remember, gravity is constantly pulling buildings down. The failure of connection points during the course of a fire is a killer. Cornices, facades, mezzanines, balconies, and building signage are all examples of building features that can and do kill firefighters. Look up once in a while.
5. Establishing escape routes by placing secondary ladders to upper story windows and to the roof where teams are working.In a great many communities this has become a lost practice. Shortages in manpower, experience and fires means that things that were once routine have become rare. This is one area of firemanship that still has a critical place on the fire ground. Whenever you place people in areas above the ground, you should make an effort to provide an alternate means of escape. Who better to make the first deployment of ladders than your Rapid Intervention Team. If the task is part of their pre-incident check list, the task will probably be completed.
6. Ensuring the use of ropes and rope bags are employed where firefighters are working without hose lines. There may be instances where there is a need to work off of the end of a hose line to save lives. Performing search activities in black, hot, unfamiliar environments increases risk. The use of tag lines, ropes and rope bags are means of moderating that risk to tolerable levels. The larger and more complex the search area, the harder it will be to extricate oneself in an emergency. Think of it as leaving a trail of bread crumbs.
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RIT/RIC and Standby Teams begin the process of escape route planning by performing a comprehensive survey of the structure and its access points. A determination is made of which access points offer viable and rapidly accessible means of escape. This is the assessment phase of escape route planning.
The RIT/RIC team prepares these access points by clearing windows and disabling locking mechanisms that can impede escape. Actions are taken to establish, secure and protect these points of egress.
The location of these access points are communicated to crews working at the scene and included in briefs with the Incident Commander and Safety Officer(s). Other findings of their secondary survey that are critical to firefighter safety are also included in their report.
Among the briefing details that may be provided to the Incident Commander are:
- Success they have had in escape preparation.
- Details of building construction, including changes in construction materials, signs of deterioration and general appearance.
- Changes in elevation in the structure, including access points.
- Access problems in and out of the structure, including secured points, blocked doors, stairways and fire escapes.
- Pertinent information on utilities.
- Status of the fire, and any predicted changes in fire behavior.
- Other issues related to the safety of firefighters.
If it appears that initial RIT or Stand-by crews assigned to building reconnaissance and preparation will be engaged for a an extended period of time, the Incident Commander should establish additional Stand-by teams, RITs or RICs by requesting additional resources.
The majority of the building fire incidents involve residential structures. In most cases the effort required to prepare a building for escape will only take a few minutes.
The Incident Commander should be able recognize when the need for additional resources are required for the establishment of multiple RIT/RIC or Standby Teams. The larger the incident, the longer the duration, the greater the need for multiple RIT/RIC assignments.
It would not be unreasonable to have operations requiring the services of a hundred firefighters operating on the interior and on multiple floors to require the support from a number of these specially designated rescue teams.
The prudent Incident Commander will look for opportunities to provide rapid escape for crews working inside and on top of the structure. Time taken during the early stages of operations to prepare a structure for escape, can mean the difference between self-rescue by interior crews and deployment of stand-by and Rapid Intervention Teams or Crews.
While the concept of the RIT is a good one, the reactive use of RIT it is a poor substitute for methodical preparation of an escape plan through the evaluation of entry and egress.
Rapid Intervention Teams are a last resort effort when self-extrication has failed.
Escape Plans and building preparation will provide an insurance buffer between initial fire control actions and the need to conduct interior rescue operations in a fire environment.
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There will be instances where the action taken by the building owner to protect his property from criminal influences pose significant access problems for the initiation of interior fire operations. These obstacles must be communicated to the Incident Commander as well as to crews operating at the scene. Obstacles that may be encountered include doors blocked by stock, trailers backed up to doors, chains around panic hardware, cross bars, hasps and padlocks.
The use of fire ground terminology must be used for these types of communications. For example, crews operating on the interior from side A would need to know if a roll-up-doors at the D side of the building are blocked by forty foot van trailers.
The extent that openings are protected from entry may be the determinant factor in the selection of strategic goals in an emergency and have and could mean the difference between getting in and getting out alive.
Take the time to examine the construction type and configuration of the structure you are working with. Facades and mezzanine systems are killers of firefighters and may fail with no warning. Do not work underneath them. Access through overhead roll-up doors usually will provide an access point void of overhead risks, such as facades, and interior mezzanines.
Avoid opposing lines and attempt to attack the fire from uninvolved portions of the building into the involved areas whenever practical. There will be times when the quickest means of preserving the lives of the inhabitants is to attack the fire with a good kick in the snoot. Not every line will always enter from the uninvolved portion of a building. Examples of this may include instances where interior stairs must be protected, or when wind conditions require creative efforts for extinguishment.
Related to the use of multiple hose lines within a structure is the proper selection of fire stream patterns and an understanding of when and where to use them can reduce risk as well. It is important that fire fighters and fire officers understand and practice water application techniques. Straight stream application of water has a very different effect on fire behavior as compared to fog patterns. Solid streams of water may be very effective at placing water from a distance while at the same time be capable of injuring firefighters if it that stream of water strikes them. Fog patterns provide a quick means of absorbing heat, but also can push heat and fire down on to unwary firefighters if they are misapplied.
There is a movement within the fire service to expand the use of class-A extinguishing agents and compressed air foam systems on building fires. Some evidence suggests that Class-A solution and compressed foam reduces risks to firefighters by extinguishing fires quicker and making them stay out as well. This is an important change in thought in regard to firefighter safety at fires.
Watch how and where you place companies. If it is hard to get into seat of the fire, plan on it being hard to get out. Hazardous Materials response has taught us to position companies in a position where they can retreat when conditions warrant it. Echoing that idea, planning our approach to the seat of a fire with a mind toward rapid retreat will increase the speed of withdrawal and decrease the margin for error.
Preparation for withdrawal from a structure under emergency conditions is an important part of any Incident Action Plan. Orientation to interior surroundings, floor plan, building contents, furnishings, and industrial processes within the structure can complicate movement to the seat of the fire when visibility is good. Escape from these types of environments under deteriorating fire conditions may be hampered even more due to individual stress and the “need” to get out.
I am reminded of the Phoenix fire Captain who became lost in a smoky warehouse. The detailed narration of his journey into the recesses of this building should serve as a reminder that there are and will be obstructions and obstacles that make retreat in an emergency almost insurmountable.
SLOW DOWN… SPEED KILLS…
