Technical Rescue Team members of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) in Southern California train consistently and often. These firefighters are constantly striving to master their craft in order to overcome any and every possible scenario that may surface. And on Dec. 30, 2016, the OCFA team was toned out to a technical rescue that would test their skills and become an internationally covered incident.
The incident
The call came in just before sunset on a rainy evening. It was communicated that an unknown number of people were stranded in the Sky Cabin observation deck at Knott’s Berry Farm, a popular amusement park in Southern California. The ride is essentially a large donut-shaped room that rotates 360 degrees and moves vertically about a fixed center pole. The attraction became disabled at height, and park maintenance workers had been unable to lower the ride to the ground. Fire station 61, which is located directly across the street, was the first unit on scene.
The primary plan was to use one of OCFA’s 100-foot aerials for access and victim removal. It appeared that it may be feasible to reach the stranded victims, and consideration was made to utilize a platform truck as a safe means of rescue. The crew from T61 raised their aerial and quickly realized that they were going to be unsuccessful utilizing this tactic.
At this point, the company officer from T61 notified dispatch to upgrade to a technical rescue and requested the other three technical rescue trucks to respond. The next technical resource to arrive was T34. The two company officers collaborated to develop a plan as the other rescue personnel donned harnesses and began their own mental size-up.
Developing a plan
It was clear that there was not going to be an effective means of rescuing the victims from ground level. The alternative plan was to gain access to the carousel by utilizing rope systems to descend from the top of the tower. But in order for this objective to be accomplished, the team had to systematically and effectively tackle a group of unique challenges.
Getting topside
The only access route was a 240-foot vertical ladder that was surrounded by a safety cage. This would ultimately cause multiple hurdles for rescuers throughout the incident. The first hurdle was the size of the cage. The dimensions were such that many rescuers became snagged on the back of their harnesses within the cage as they ascended. The second issue was fatigue. Ascending 240 feet vertically is no easy task, and most personnel made the climb at least twice throughout the incident.
The goal was to only bring up enough rigging equipment to get a rescuer down to the carousel, assess needs, then haul up any needed equipment.
Two members of T61 and two from T34 ascended the tower to address the rigging. They brought the following equipment:
- Two CMC anchor straps with tri-links
- Two CMC multi-purpose devices (MPDs)
- Two double-sheave pulleys
- Carabiners
- Software (webbing, Prusiks)
- Three 300-foot half-inch kernmantle rope bags
Setting up the first system
The plan from the beginning was a lowering operation. There were several factors that led to this decision instead of deciding to rappel. The main factors were fatigue after the ladder ascent and reduction of overall risk, as more than 20 descents would need to be made.
OCFA usually utilizes MPDs in twin-tensioned lowering systems. The idea is to load-share so that both lines are splitting the total load. In case of a rope failure, there is no reaction time or shock load to the second line, as it is already carrying roughly half of the weight. This also results in minimal rope stretch, as the load is transferred from both lines to one due to the fact that both are already loaded.
At the top of the tower was a door that provided access to a catwalk on the exterior. Above the catwalk was an arm that extended to the edge of the railing roughly 8 feet high, similar to a davit arm that you would find on the roof of a high rise. At the end of the arm was a 1-inch-diameter shackle. All rescuers were comfortable utilizing this as a high point for the lowering operation. A double-sheave pulley was attached via carabiner to the shackle and both lines ran through that pulley. The lower was roughly 120 feet to the carousel and 240 feet to the ground.
Gaining access
Due to limited access topside, the only option was to have the rope system lower the rescuers directly onto the top of the passenger compartment. This created an issue, as maintenance personnel had informed rescuers that if they stepped on the roof, they would most likely fall through it. Rescuers used hand signals that are utilized in helicopter rescue to communicate with the edge attendant and thus the lowering team. The lower had to be stopped just above the roof and rescuers had to traverse to the inner part of the carousel and continue to lower the last 8 feet onto a catwalk. Once reaching the catwalk on the interior ring of the carousel, a key needed to be located on the deck to open the inner doors and gain access to the victims.
Making contact
The first priority once inside was assessing the victims (number, age, medical issues, disabilities) and radioing this information to the incident commander (IC). On any incident of this magnitude, leadership is under tremendous pressure to obtain victim information. This may come from responsible parties, families, the press or other means. Accurate and timely information is a high priority for any IC, as it will drive incident priorities, tactics and strategies. It was ultimately determined that there were 21 individuals on board, the youngest being 3 years old, and that none were in any medical distress at the time of contact.
Plans for victim rescue
Once access had been made, the next issue was formulating a plan on how to get them down. Two options were discussed:
- Using outer doors of the carousel. However, the lack of a highpoint, insufficient anchors, and the inherent dangers of opening the passenger compartment to a potential unprotected fall all created high risks with this option.
- Using a roughly 18 x 24-inch floor hatch in the bottom of the inner catwalk. This option was not without risk. Restricted access through the hole and lowering through a truss support system presented some obstacles. On the other hand, bombproof anchors, controlled access to the hole, and high directional connection points supported this option, which is ultimately the route that was chosen.
After option 2 was selected, the next step was developing a rigging plan. The second rescuer descended from the top of the tower with the extra 300-foot rope bag. The purpose of this rope was for hauling equipment up to the carousel. After a rapid assessment, the rigging plan was decided and an equipment order was placed over the radio and gathered at the bottom of the tower. The time from the first rescuer making contact to the equipment order being placed was less than 5 minutes. The rope was lowered through the hatch to the ground, and all the required equipment was hand-jacked up to the catwalk.
The following equipment was used:
- Two CMC anchor straps with tri-links
- Two CMC MPDs
- Two edge-rollers
- Carabiners
- Travel restriction
- Software (webbing, Prusiks)
The plan was to perform a rescuer-based lower, meaning each victim would descend with a rescuer. The CMC lifesaver harness was utilized as the victim harness with a pick-off strap connecting to the two lowering ropes.
Implementing the plan
By this time T61, T34, T9 and HR6 were all on scene. One by one, rescuers would ascend the ladder to the top of the tower, lower onto the carousel, introduce themselves to the victim they would be bringing down, secure the victim in the harness, lower to the ground, and then repeat. Each victim was safety checked by the rescuer and the edge attendant before being lowered. USAR Safety was assigned to the captain from T9, who remained on the carousel throughout the rescue phase. All 21 victims were lowered without incident.
Talking points
There are several key takeaways from this incident.
Communications
As with any major incident, communications played a big role in the success of the operation. Once it was decided that it would be two stand-alone rope systems working independently yet simultaneously, a second tactical channel was activated. This allowed the IC to monitor both topside and carousel operations, and it minimized confusion within each operation.
Incident command
Placing company officers in key positions was vital. Rescue Group Supervisor (RGS) and USAR Safety are extremely important positions to have in place early. If possible, these roles should be filled by personnel trained in technical rescue. On calls related to trench rescue, confined space, structural collapse or hazardous materials, ICs should feel comfortable stepping back and allowing the autonomy for the subject-matter experts to run the rescue portion of the incident. This was one of the main contributing factors to the incident running so smoothly.
Social media
In today’s technology-filled world, those involved in public service are constantly being filmed. During this incident, not only were there at least five helicopters overhead, but the victims were also filming. The initial contact made by the first rescuer was live-streamed to a social media site without the rescuer having any knowledge or providing consent. Professionalism, empathy and kindness are always utilized in the fire service. In today’s social media age, it should be assumed that we are being filmed, and we should always perform our duties with the highest degree of integrity and professional behavior possible.
PACE
PACE is a good way to mentally put plans together. The way it laid out for this incident was as follows:
- Primary: Aerial ladder rescue
- Alternative: Rope rescue
- Contingency: Articulating boom (cherry-picker) was ordered and delivered to the scene
- Emergency: OCFA helicopter. Agency airships are configured with hoists and staffed 24 hours with one pilot, one crew chief and one paramedic rescuer.
Rigging
Rigging is where most questions arise in this incident. OCFA positions itself at the cutting-edge of rescue rigging and, as such, some of our practices will not coincide with other agency directives. Many “rules” of rigging were put into place decades ago and have not been modified as equipment, techniques and training have advanced.
Below are two of the rigging-related tactics used on this incident and why:
- Double sheave pulley on the high point with both lines running through it: Getting out of the mindset that main and belay lines need to be totally independent is hard for some. This pulley is rated at 9,891 lbs. and attached with a 9,000-lb. carabiner. Assuming a 200-lb. rescuer, there should be zero concern for running both lines through the same pulley. Knowing your potential loads and having a strong understanding of your equipment allows you to mentally move away from being overly redundant.
- Utilizing the existing arm as a high point: The Arizona Vortex was an option that was considered. The arm was rock solid and at no point was its integrity in question. The goal is generally to minimize the amount of equipment used that we don’t bring ourselves. We should know the rating of any equipment we bring; the only unknowns are usually anchors. Due to access, time and size of the arm, it was the safest and most effective option.
Training consideration
Most training exercises utilize adults as victims. Consider packaging options for children and infants as well.
In closing
Any successful incident can’t be tied back to one specific item that produced the final result. It’s a mixture of training, personnel, environment and circumstances. You only have control of the first two, so take advantage of them.
The way to set up for success is to train for every foreseeable scenario—and train hard. Learn from your mistakes and always strive to improve. Know your people, your capabilities and your equipment. Seek out those who are pushing rope rescue forward and soak up their knowledge. Get interested in why we are choosing build systems the way that we do. Are new technologies and techniques allowing us to safely rig in ways that we were previously uncomfortable with? That is for each of you to decide, but that is a question that you should be asking.
Change is hard in this profession, but it is the only constant. Don’t let “the way we’ve always done it” prevent you from progressing. Stay safe.
Sidebar:
OCFA Technical Rescue Team
OCFA is an agency of professional firefighters (Local 3631) responsible for providing emergency services in Southern California. Its jurisdiction consists of 23 cities, all unincorporated county areas, and over 1.6 million residents. OCFA has 72 fire stations and offers a large range of services to the community, including structural and wildland firefighting, paramedics, hazmat, aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF), water rescue, firefighting/rescue helicopters, and technical rescue.
OCFA utilizes four Technical Rescue Trucks (TRTs) that are strategically located throughout the county. Each TRT is constantly staffed with four individuals (captain, engineer and two firefighters) who are qualified in all areas of technical rescue. This staffing was recently approved and implemented by the OCFA and has been vital to the success of multiple recent rescue incidents.
OCFA TRT training consists of quarterly task force drills, station-level training, as well as semi-annual organized drills on each of the following disciplines: confined space rescue, structural collapse, trench rescue, rope rescue, large vehicle extrication/advanced auto extrication, and water rescue operations. OCFA is also the sponsoring agency to California Task Force 5, one of DHS/FEMA’s nationally deployable urban search and rescue (USAR) teams.
