This excellent picture is from the Norristown Professional Firefighters Local 2335 Facebook page. It was taken by Officer Joe Peterson and used with his permission.

The description reads: “Crews about to make a push on a well involved 3 story row dwelling this morning on the 600 block of Chain Street. Career crews made a great knockdown with very limited manpower.” This is not the first time I’ve seen some impressive work from that region as some of you might recall from an article I previously wrote for another venue.

I have often heard other firefighters ask how they can apply the UL / NIST studies to the fires they respond to with the limited staffing that they have. This picture, along with the accompanying text, reminds me of it every time.

Exterior fires generally require exterior lines while interior fires require interior lines. That can be taken out of context of course, but I’m sure the majority reading this will understand.

Transitional and coordinated attack, burned versus unburned, two in / two out; they all have something in common and that is that with limited staffing, you can only accomplish one task at a time.

Take comfort in knowing that while the variables and circumstances may change, the purpose of hose line remains the same; to protect lives and extinguish the fire.

When faced with these variables, members need to have a solid plan to carry out. While you can make those decisions on the fly, taking some time to train on and discuss them with your crew will pay dividends. Deck fire with an engine crew of three? That’s easy, take the line around the back. Room and contents in the rear of the second floor? No problem, take the line through the front door for their protection and ours. There are too many possibilities

to discuss in this article, but make sure you take the time to do it with your crew.

Members often get confused when there aren’t any additional resources on the scene of an outside fire that has extended inside or the other way around. In this situation, interior conditions and occupant accountability are the most significant variables.

If the second arriving engine is hot on the tail of the first, the first will have the luxury of another option. They can attempt to attack the seat of the fire or deploy the line with life safety in mind. For this reason, we might consider calling our initial lines the first and second hose lines as opposed to attack and back-up lines. In any case, the effort needs to be carefully coordinated and communicated. Captain Tommy Dunn once said “Companies today do not understand or believe in the interrelationship between tactical performance and the safety and accomplishment of another task”. No truer words can be spoken.

Life safety, incident stabilization, and property conservation are our priorities. With incidents, such as basement fires (with a walk out), attached garages, and deck fires, the only lives we need to consider may be our own. This is not to suggest that civilians aren’t our top priority but to send a crew directly over a well involved fire while all occupants are reported to have made it out is not in our best interest.

When arriving alone, even the best companies must choose one tactic over
the other. An aggressive chauffeur can help by throwing a ladder and or stretching the second line, but if you make a habit out of committing him to do everything else, you’re asking for trouble at the pump and that will have a domino effect.

Interestingly, when you ask any group of firefighters whose lives matter most, you’ll get a variety of answers. Some indicate that theirs is the most important, adding that if they aren’t available to save lives, who will? Others claim that the civilians come first which at times gives the impression that those firefighters do not operate safe.

To be fair, it is way too subjective to give a legitimate answer. If you and I are pulling a victim out and all the sudden you go down too, don’t be surprised if the civilian’s day just got a lot worse. That’s because you come first. On the contrary, if you’ve convinced yourself that a “transitional” attack is the best way to fight every fire, you solely have our safety in mind and are neglecting to account for a potential victim. There are moral and legal obligations and anyone ignoring them is setting themselves up for a world of regret, including potential lawsuits. Why? Because the civilians we swore to protect come first.

Life safety is the primary reason why we go through the front door. It is typically the path of least resistance and the one that will more than likely be taken by those occupants trying to escape in the first place.

All of this is a moot point of course if personnel in position to make initial decisions don’t pay attention to mistakes made in the past. Study our history: the journals, reports, textbooks, and documents. Safety is a goal that can be accomplished through strategies and tactics but there is a need to submerge yourself and learn what you can.

In closing, I will remind you of yet another quote from Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn. “There are no new lessons to be learned from a firefighter’s death or injury. The cause of a tragedy is usually an old lesson we have not learned or have forgotten along the way.”

Take care, have fun, use your head and be safe. Until next time....