Command & Control Success: Size-Up, Staffing and Standards

Pre-arrival size-up of the fireground—before a fire and once dispatched to a specific address—is absolutely critical and must be done for all fires to have overall successful mitigation. This must include staffing levels in correlation with the complexity of the fire.

Firefighters and fire officers should maximize response time by utilizing the mobile data terminal/CAD systems and can use smartphones for a Google search through Street View. Both of these provide information and possibly a view of the building before arrival. This enhances the ability to make faster decisions on scene and allows fire companies to discuss whether the response time is a few minutes or longer.

Some departments have the capability to look up previous incidents at specific addresses—for example, to be reminded that hoarding conditions or burglars bars are involved. This type of information could be enough to request additional fire companies or additional alarms based on the staffing that will be needed.

Staffing is critical, including the effect that it will have toward successfully suppressing the fire with the best outcome. Too many times, departments respond to a fire, size up the structure/building and the extent and location of fire and then just make do with the initial assignment of staffing.

There’s a lot of training and information that goes into size-up in reference to the actual fire building and the location and extent of fire. This is important in regard to how the fire will spread and attack the integrity of the structure/building.

We also must size up the amount and type of smoke that’s generated by the fire and how the smoke will spread throughout the structure/building. This is important pertaining to life safety for any possible trapped occupants and to how it might hamper the fire fight, including challenges of moving hoselines into the structure/building for fire suppression efforts.

Smoke also is a big factor regarding how long search will take and how many firefighters must be assigned to search based on reflex/time within survivability.

UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute conducted numerous studies over the past decade on fire growth, fire attack, ventilation and, particularly, occupant survivability. All of these studies have one thing in common: Fires grow faster and produce more deadly gases than ever. All of this, combined with “Study of Coordinated Fire Attack Utilizing Acquired Structures,” supports the importance of NFPA 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments on staffing levels of both engine and truck companies as well as the initial alarm assignment.

Staffing

The baseline staffing standard starts with a single-family house at a total of 15 firefighters, 17 firefighters if an aerial is needed. It goes up to include open air commercial occupancies and garden apartments, with a baseline of 28 firefighters. We must be prepared and not in denial that a firefighter could get caught or trapped. When dealing with house fires, it’s most common that a firefighter becoming caught or trapped will be from a flashover/rapidly changing fire conditions. We know that a room can flashover in less than four minutes, and this supports the standard of arrival being four minutes. So, even if you meet the staffing standard, you still could arrive with the first engine company and flashover already occurred.

Commercial buildings

In commercial buildings, it’s common for firefighters to become lost or disoriented. Structural collapse is a major concern, too. Both of these circumstances take a considerable amount of resources to complete a firefighter rescue operation.

In “Fireground Commander: Understanding the Impact,” I discussed fireground commanders sizing up their percentage of impact. After they do this, they must size up the recent age of impact based on responding resources, the sequence of those sources’ arrival, and times based on a given building and the extent and location of fire. The farther away that the resources are, the sooner the fireground commander must request them, to cut down on delay. You always can cancel and return them, but to delay the request can and has been catastrophic. I look back over the years and think of many times when I should have requested more resources earlier in the incident. I don’t remember wishing that I shouldn’t have requested so many resources. We need depth on the bench. Think of it this way: Sports teams have a full bench for when that need arises to substitute someone into the game. In firefighting, we must have a full bench to win every time.

Standards of response

NFPA 1710 is the fire service standard for structural firefighting response. As noted above, for house fires, the standard requires 15 total firefighters. However, this doesn’t include the search team, driver/pump operator, water supply/hydrant firefighter, nor an initial rapid intervention crew (IRIC) or rapid intervention team (RIT).

It’s important that fireground commanders understand the difference between IRIC—or what some call two in, two out—and RIT. Initial rapid intervention means early on and before the full alarm assignment arrives. Once the first-alarm assignment arrives, RIT is four firefighters who are trained in firefighter rescue. Fireground commanders shouldn’t just be checking the box. They must assign consciously based on capabilities. So, training must support the staffing and staffing standard.

Fireground commanders always must try to at least request a response that meets the standard. This is particularly true once the fireground commander realizes that it’s a working fire that requires a hoseline to advance inside of the house. One hoseline always should be staffed with a nozzle firefighter, a backup firefighter/officer, a door/control firefighter and a pump operator. These four firefighters align with the standard of four firefighters per apparatus when responding to a house fire. The standard increases to five firefighters beyond the basic house fire or urban areas.

Again, staffing and standards for commercial fires start at 28 firefighters. This definitely is critical in regard to history when relating to firefighter LODDs. Commercial fires are much more challenging for many reasons, and more often than not, departments have less experience with working fires in commercial occupancies than with house fires.

Once fireground commanders realize that they have a working fire in a commercial open air building, they should request resources to respond regardless of the distance that those resources must travel, to cut down on delay. Again, the longer that you wait, the longer that it is until the resources arrive. So, don’t wait. Call early and often to get them at least responding for the potential of a significant incident.

Commercial building fires can be challenging based on required fire flow needs and the resources that are required to control and complete final extinguishment. History tells us that when a firefighter is trapped, significant resources are needed to complete the firefighter rescue operation. Furthermore, the likelihood of a collapse in a commercial building fire that results in a firefighter getting trapped is greater based on size and complexities compared with house fires.

Based on the size of the hoseline and the distance that the line must be advanced interior, more than the single 1¾-inch attack line that’s typical to extinguish a house fire might be required. When advancing a 2½-inch attack line into a commercial building, the line should be staffed with a nozzle firefighter, a backup firefighter and a supervising officer who isn’t physically touching the hoseline. Instead, the supervising officer monitors the advance with a thermal imaging camera based on height of ceiling and size of rooms. The supervising officer also must monitor the communications over the portable radio closely.

The job of the attack officer is much more detailed when advancing into a commercial building and requires more of a supervising role than a physical working role.

Rules of air management, or ROAM, are much more critical based on potential size of the building, running out of air, getting in too far or getting disoriented. So, the officer must monitor the company’s air supply, time and distance into the building: one-third air in, one-third air out, one-third for safety reserve.

When dealing with commercial buildings—and multifamily dwellings—the forcible entry challenges increase, including because of the likelihood of more doors that might need to be forced for fire attack and/or search. So, both the forcible entry and search tactics that are required will, at minimum, double—or even triple or more—compared with a single-family dwelling.

As noted above, you also put more firefighters interior/in the IDLH environment, requiring the potential for more staffing that’s allocated for rapid-intervention operations for a mayday. It’s negligent to respond to commercial building fire—or a fire in a multifamily dwelling—with the same staffing for a fire reported in a single-family dwelling.

Multifamily dwellings

As encountered at a fire on Chicago’s South Side (photo above), a rubbish fire extended into an apartment building and then up the interior walls to the top floor and attic. The fire required a hoseline in the basement and on each floor, while the truck company operated on the roof to open up for vertical ventilation.

Remember, individual apartments have the potential to be so different from one another, from the amount of furniture to the number of civilians who are sleeping in them.

The Chicago incident was managed by numerous chief officers as well as firefighters who were assigned as chief’s aides to help with tracking/accountability of all of the members who operated on the fireground and, more specifically, inside of the building.

An additional chief officer operated as the interior chief, fully geared up with air pack. This chief focused on managing numerous companies and allowing a more streamlined communication to command. This eliminated how frequently the individual engine officer and truck officer needed to talk on the radio.

When numerous companies operate inside of a building fire, when possible, it’s a good idea to assign an interior/operations chief to manage multiple fire companies. It also increases the accountability for overall safety of all firefighters who are operating.

In addition to multiple chief officers who operated in and around the building, the members of the RIT were standing FAST just behind the fireground commander, with four firefighters and an officer, prepared for immediate deployment.

High-rises

Size-up, staffing and standards for high-rise buildings will be discussed in a future column. In the meantime, Chief Vincent Dunn said that a high-rise fire requires 100 firefighters. NFPA 1710 calls for at least 43 firefighters for any high-rise that’s seven stories or taller (see “The Significance of NFPA 1710’s Revision.” Additionally, I encourage everyone to study the Twin Parks Fire in New York City. True, you might not have FDNY staffing, but studying previous incidents is critical to better prepare yourself for size-up, staffing and standards and how they related to those previous incidents, to assist you to adapt based on your available staffing levels.