First Due Truck with Reduced Staffing
By Lt. Polikoff
I have had several E-mails asking me "what does your truck company due on a working fire when you only have 3 people?" I will answer what I do with reduced staffing and I am the first due truck. please understand I did not write the book on operations with reduced staffing. Others may do things differently on the fire ground and I am not saying they are wrong. What I am saying is this is what I will do when I am first due on the truck.
The first thing that I ( the officer) do is a size up (duh!) the size up starts on the dispatch. I listen to the address (type of occupancy). Next comes my running route to the scene (I want to be in front of the building) I need to find the best route to get to the front of the building and not be behind the engine company. My shift is very good about letting the truck have the front of the buildings. It is important to remember you can add more hose to an attack line, but the ladder only goes so far. Next in my size up is, what do I have showing on the scene. Do I have smoke showing? Where is it coming from? If I have smoke coming from the 1st and 2nd floor it is a good bet that I have fire on the 1st floor or in the basement. If I have smoke showing from the 2nd floor I may have fire on the 2nd floor, but with the energy efficient windows of today it is still possible I might have fire on the 1st floor and the smoke has not found a way out of the 1st floor. I will then need to ensure that the engine company is able to get into the fire building I will have the firefighter riding 3rd (entry) ensure the the engine company gets in. Once the engine company has gained entry the entry man will provide horizontal ventilation on side 1. I will grab my 4ft hook and check the rear of the building if it is possible. I am looking for trapped occupants, venting fire, or any other observations that needs the attention of the incident commander. My driver will provide a 2nd exit for the crews on the inside with ground ladders or the aerial. Once the ladders are taken care of, my driver will then get lights to the front door along with a PPV fan (the fan will be used when the interior crews get a line on the fire) My driver will also take care of outside horizontal and/or vertical ventilation. I will grab the thermal image camera and join my force entry man (3rd person) inside and start a search and vent as we go. I will also monitor conditions inside and give a report back to the incident commander. With the aid of the thermal image camera the truck company will most likely find the fire. When I do find the fire I relay the info to the incident commander, and I then attempt to confine the fire by closing the door or if the door is gone I find something to put over the opening (another door, they are very easy to pry off the hinges) once the fire is knocked we open up the walls and look for hot spots. Once the fire room is over hauled my crew exits the building and we go to rehab. That is it in a nut shell. This plan is not ridged it all depends on the condition upon arrival. Below is the responsibilities of the 1st due truck on a working incident in my county:
side 1 (front of building)
provide 2nd exit for interior crews
force entry
ventilation ( horizontal and/or vertical)
start searches (rescue squad is responsible to ensure all searches are done)
interior vent
over haul
salvage
as you can see most of the jobs are done by the driver. it is very important that the driver be experience with truck company work as well as working unsupervised.
If you have any questions please E-mail me. Fireman3403@hotmail.com