Strategy
The broad, general statement or thought of what needs to be accomplished.
Tactics
The more specific functions designed to meet the strategic goals.
Task
Method used to meet the tactic
Strategy (synonym)
Goal?
Conflagration
Large, extensive fire
NFA
National Fire Academy
NFPA 1500
Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program
How many firefighter deaths occur on fireground?
About 1/2
How many firefighter injuries occur on fire ground?
Just less than 1/3
Three incident priorities
Life safety
Incident stabilization
Property conservation
NFPA
National Fire Protection Association
NFPA info
-since 1974
---death survey (report on all deaths)
---injury survey (sample report)
USFA
United States Fire Administration
USFA info
-oversees NFIRS
NFIRS
National Fire Incident Reporting System
NFIRS info
-part of data is for casualties
-voluntary system
IAFF
International Association of Firefighters
IAFF info
-since 1960
---annual survey of death and injury
---includes lost-time injuries and infectious disease exposures
---limited to career IAFF affiliations
OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA info
-within Dept of Labor
-applicable to many public and all private depts
-not every state requires public depts to comply
NIOSH
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NIOSH info
-in 1997, began FFFI&PP
FFFI&PP
Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program
FFFI&PP info
-investigates FF LODDs to formulate recommendations for preventing deaths and injuries
Regulation
Promulgated at some level of government and has force of law
Standard
Does not have the weight of law unless enacted into law by some authority with jurisdiction
CFR
Code of Federal Regulations
Title 29 CFR
OSHA regulations
Portion of CFR that impacts fireground OPS
OSHA 1910.134
Requires that respirators be provided when such equipment is necessary to protect the health of the employee
OSHA 1910.120
Deals with hazardous material releases and was referenced as part of two-in, two-out ruling
OSHA 1910.156
The personal protective clothing of this regulation applies only to FDs that do internal structural firefighting.
NFPA 1900
Standards from this set forth requirements for the purchase of firefighting PPE.
NFPA 1900
Requires that new firefighting PPE meet the current editions of the respective standards.
Phoenix RIC drills
200 total averages:
2.5 Minutes to ready state
3.03 From distress call to entry
5.82 Minutes in to make contact
12.33 minutes total time in building
21 Minutes total rescue
12 Firefighters per downed firefighter
1 in 5 rescuers would have trouble
Command or incident management
The art of directing and controlling the personnel and equipment resources assigned to, or requested to assist in, the control of an incident.
Typical span of control
3-7 (5 is rule of thumb)
NFPA 1561
Standard on Emergency Services Incident Management System
First and foremost, the IC must
Control the incident
Purpose of any command system
To provide structure, coordination, and the integration of risk management, which in turn increases the level of firefighter safety.
Fireground Command
-Based on book by Alan Brunacini
-Late 1970's
-Phoenix
Fireground command basic levels
1-Strategic--role of IC
2-Tactical--supervised by sector (geographical or functional) officer
3-Task--company level
NIIMS
National Interagency Incident Management System
NIIMS facts
1980
Initially for federal agencies with woodland responsibilities
Eventually expanded in order to be used in other scenarios
About NIMS
Effectively replaced NIIMS
required for jurisdictions seeking federal grant money.
Released by DHS in 2004
Command
-First NIMS functional area
-Responsible for all areas of overall incident
-Responsible for all command and general staff positions until delegated
Section in NIMS
Designation for the organizational level that has primary responsibility for a general or command staff function
Operations in NIMS
Responsible for management of all tactical objectives and activities
Planning section in NIMS
Responsible for ,any areas beginning with development of action plan
Logistics section in NIMS
Responsible for all non-operational support needs and activities.
Finance/administration section in NIMS
Responsible for tracking costs,recurring food and supplies by contract services, etc
Branch in NIMS a
Established when span of control of divisions and groups is exceeded
Division in NIMS
Established and named by geographic location
Group in NIMS
Established and named by a specific function they are to accomplish
Task force
Combination of unlike resources
Strike team
Combination of five like resources
NFA, Managing Company Tactical Ops communication model
Step 1-formulates message
Step 2-sends message
Step 3-message transfer through medium
Step 4-message received
Step 5-message interpreted
Step 6-message acknowledged
Size-up
A step toward solving a problem in which information is gathered
Size-up triangle
Environment
Resources
Conditions
Size-up triangle (environment)
Environment in which the incident takes place, including construction features and/or terrain; also, occupancy, access, etc.
Size-up-up triangle (resources)
Number of personnel, types of equipment, water supply, response time, etc.
Size-up triangle (conditions/situation)
Fire location and extension, type of fuel, life hazard, attributes of smoke, etc
Incident priorities
1-Life safety
2-Incident stabilization
3-Reduce property loss
REVAS
Rescue
Evacuation
Ventilation
Attack
Salvage
RECEOVS
Rescue
Exposure
Confinement
Extinguishment
Overhaul
Ventilation
Salvage
REEVAS
Rescue
Evacuation
Emergency confinement
Ventilation
Attack
Salvage
Angle strategic goals
Firefighter safety
Search and rescue
Evacuation
Exposure protection
Confinement
Extinguishment
Ventilation
Overhaul
Salvage
Recognition-Primed decision making
A fire ground commander in almost 9/10 cases makes his decision based on experience, not on a selection of choices.
Naturalistic decision making
Combines experience base with training and education and identifies the best alternative to take.
Classical decision making
-used when faced with unknown scenario
-identifies recognizable cues, and adds procedural knowledge base
Four steps of classical decision making model
Aim-what the IC wants to accomplish
Factors-anything that affects the decision-making process
Courses-options available accomplish the Aim
Plan-course of action that best fits the situation
The most important factor for any IC decision maker
To develop a logical thought process to evaluate the incident
Type V building construction
Wood frame
Main point to remember in the performance of wood as a structural member
Surface to mass ratio
Second most important thing to remember in the performance of wood as a structural member
The connection member
When was balloon frame construction common
1800s through the end of WWII
Platform frame
Sometimes known as western framing
Post and beam
Roof planks are 2" min
Beams set 6-8 feet apart
Minimum post dimension is
4 x 4
Type IV building construction
Heavy timber
Heavy timber synonym
Mill construction
Heavy timber specs
Large wooden columns greater than 8 x 8
Up to 8 stories tall
Floors are typically 3" or greater thick using 1" T & G
Exterior walls are masonry
Type III building construction
Ordinary
Type III specs
Masonry load bearing walls (brick, concrete block or both)
Wood-hoisted floors
Wood roof
Type II specs
Building materials will not add fuel to the fire but will suffer the effects of fire.
Type II construction
Noncombustible
Type I construction
Fire resistive
Saponification
The process whereby an extinguishing agent rapidly turns a burning substance to a non-combustible soap.
Endothermic reaction
Absorbs thermal energy from its surroundings
Exothermic reaction
Releases heat into its surroundings
Most abundant gas produced at any fire
Carbon monoxide
Four stages of fire
1-Incipient
2-Free-burning
3-Flashover
4-Smoldering or decay
One of the first signs that flashover is imminent
Rollover
Rollover
The rolling of flame across the ceiling as a fire progresses to the flashover stage
Point of no return
Five feet into a room where flashover has occurred.
Temperature at which oxygen and CO mixture ignite
1100 degrees F
Dark, black smoke indicates
Hydrocarbon fires like plastics and foam
Dirty brown smoke indicates
Oxygen starved fire
Lighter smoke indicates
Class A fire
National Fire Academy flow requirement formula
NFF=L x W divided by 3 x % of involvement
Iowa State University fire flow formula
NFF = V divided by 100
GPM formula
29.7 x the tip diameter squared x the square root of the pressure
Class I standpipe
Used by FD and those trained with heavy fire streams
Must flow 500 GPM for 30 minutes with 65 psi residual pressure at farthest point (if more than one standpipe, additionals must flow 250 GPM)
Class II standpipe
Primarily for building occupants for incipient fires
Must flow 100 GPM for 30 minutes with 65 GPM residual pressure at farthest point
Class III standpipe
First two classes combined
Has hose and FD standpipe hookup
Four types of standpipe system
Wet
Dry
-under no it pressure and req FD charge
-air pressurized
-from domestic water but req manual operation
Height requirement for standpipe system
275 feet
Halogenated extinguishing agents
A acompound
NFPA 1901 minimum requirements for a pumper
300 gallons water
30 cubic feet for supply hose
3.5 cubic feet for attack hose
750 GPM pump
Vent-controlled fire
Growth of the fire is limited by the lack of venting.
Displays high smoke volume and pressure
Fuel-controlled fire
Growth of the fire is limited by lack of fuel.
Two main hazards in first floor fires
Fire spread
Firefighter complacency
Multi-family dwelling categories
Older
Newer
Fire-resistive
Row-frame
Brownstone
Garden
Search order on multi floor buidlings
Fire floor
Floor above fire
Top floor
Other floors
Ratio of manufactured home deaths to conventional
3x more
What is the biggest structural difference between older and newer multi-family dwellings?
Unprotected steel I-beams
A general concern in row-frame building fires
Rapid fire spread and structural collapse
Autoextension
When fire spreads from floor to floor as a result of the fire coming out of s window and into the window above
Also called autoexposure
AHJ
Authority Having Jurisdiction
Pre-1960's high-rise construction features
Windows that can be opened from inside
Lack of central air or plenum so
Compartmentalization
A key tactical consideration in high rise fires
Firefighters must rely solely on building systems
High rise fire pump capacity at top level
At least 50 psi (relief valve set at 15 psi above that)
Components of HVAC sysyem
Processing equip
Supply system
Return system
One of the most critical aspects of fighting modern high rise fires
Getting a handle on air movement throughout building
Major hazard encountered at high rise buildings
Things related to the sheer size
High rise firefighter safety issues
Elevator use
Effective communication
Fire fighter fatigue
Personnel accountability
Wild land fire hazards
Effects of heat
Effects of smoke
Weather
Fire spread
-crown fires
-flying brands
Falling trees
Extinguishing agent dropped from
aircraft
Firefighter fatigue
10 wild land orders
Whether fire behavior escapes lookouts, ACDC communicates clears instructions, controls crews and is aggressive but safe
Know the weather
Know what the fire is doing
Act based on fire behavior
Have escape plan
Set a lookout
Be alert, be calm, think clearl
Hazmat training levels
Awareness
Operational
Technician
Specialist
IC
DOT hazmat classes
Explosives (6)
Gases (3)
Flammable and combustible liquids
Flammable solids (3)
Oxidizing substances and organic peroxides (2)
Poisonous, toxic, infectious (2)
Radio active (3)
Corrosive
Miscellaneous
ORM-D
Risk levels in hazmat search and rescue
1-Low risk
A-hazards are known and not expected to rise
B-available PPE is appropriate to task
C-responders are properly trained for the task
D-high probability for safe and successful outcome
2-Calculated risk
Same assumptions as low risk but hazards may
FCP
Fire control plan