Tactical Safety: The Lost Art Show

The Lost Art Show

By Ray McCormack

Firefighters may not stereotypically fall under the category of art lovers, but many, deep-down, should be. I am not talking about being a patron of modernist, or sculpture, but I have known a few who have worn both of those badges. No, the art show I am referring to is the show made up of lost fire tactics and principles: You know the lost art of VES, Aggressive Attack, and Forcible Entry. These three main categories make up the lost art show. Some towns lost their art years ago, some have turned a blind eye to its beauty, and, sad as it is to say, some in the fire service want the ban to continue, which will only expand lost art categories.

The lost art of VES: VES stands for vent enter search, a concept where firefighters enter rooms from the building’s exterior, conduct a search and then exit the same way(out the window). Now, some in the fire service see this search tactic as very dangerous; some see it as a tactic that places firefighters in less danger. A case can be made in either direction, however, when examined closely, we have a firefighter entering a room from outside (protected area), judging conditions and getting low upon entry; Closing the room door to provide additional search time and then leaving. It could be said that this technique places the firefighter in (less) danger for a shorter amount of time because the firefighter does not have to travel (less) distances inside the fire building to reach the search room: Less time inside, less travel distance inside - the art of VES. When the con version is allowed to flourish - usually without much constructive debate - then we have a lost art.

There is no mushy way to put this: ‘Aggressive Attack’ is how most fires are extinguished. The lost art of aggressive attack starts when we fail to understand the concept of interior-extinguishment - water versus fire. There will be future developments in extinguishment as there have always been and there will be those that bristle at such a term. Being ‘boldly assertive” (synonym) against a fire is fair play. The last thing we want, or do we, are fire operations based upon “passivity” (antonym). The lost art of aggressive attack is something that can become a lost art if we let it, if we as firefighters frown at hearing the term much less using it to our advantage then we have a lost art. If we are not engaged in battle to protect lives and property, then get some new signage; If we are not engaged when attack comes to the plate then the art has been lost.

Forcible entry is an art: Quality forcible entry is when you can get through anything put in front of you expeditiously. Not every firefighter who picks up the irons will be a master. To be a master you need quality tools and a rich canvas and engagement. ‘Mule kicking’ imprints can get it done, but are not highly valued at the art show. When forcible entry becomes a lost art, then we only have only ourselves to blame, because it only grows and flourishes from a local touch. The best techniques come for inquiry and patience and much practice like most good art.

Adding features to the lost art show is not something we should hope happens. Let’s bring back the principle players in the show and show the ‘non participants’ how great our craft looks, feels and sustains our tactical safety.

Next Tactical Safety – Hay Bales

Tactical Safety: Emotionally Charged Lines

By Ray McCormack

“Firefighter down; I’m running out of air; we can’t find the door. Children trapped!” These are some of the emotionally charged lines you may hear en route to the scene, or on scene. Some of these lines will be communicated to you for informational purposes and others will be a cry for help. When you hear these lines you must adjust accordingly.

Upon hearing “firefighter down,” you must listen for more detailed information - especially location. Are you nearby? Are you able to assist if the location is close? Will your assistance create a hardship or unsafe event to occur? If the event takes place out in front of the building your assistance may not even be required. Even if you feel your assistance is needed, just because the words were spoken, does not always pan out. If you wish to get involved, first make sure there is a need for your help. Make an inquiry and create a backup plan for the task your stopping and get permission.
“I am running out of air,” can occur from getting entangled, to losing your way. This personal distress call is time-sensitive. Our first question should be, “how much air do you have left?” An assistance plan will take in many components, the urgency is always there, but the urgency and plan of attack to resolve this announcement may involve more firefighters, and tactical changes depending upon the amount of reserve air available. While a firefighter rescue team may be standing by, and be used to remove this firefighter, additional reserve units may also assist, and a greater alarm struck to help resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

“We can’t find the door.” This tells us that we have multiple firefighters in trouble. This trouble is compounded when we are dealing with buildings that afford a limited amount of entry/escape openings. What has taken place here? The conditions have probably gotten worse, and what was thought to be memorable trail, is no longer true. We should always consider that things will get worse prior to improving. Sometimes the equipment needed is taken with the firefighters, but not used, because it did not appear necessary at the time.

“Children trapped.” This is given to you via dispatch and always cranks up the troops. Here again you must stay focused and take this information with a grain of salt. It may well be that children are trapped and it may just be someone’s way of trying to get us there quicker. Someone must ask a few questions such as the ages of the trapped and where they were located a few minutes ago. The age tells you if they are mobile, and the location may help speed up recovery.

We should always strive for focus. These and other emotionally charged lines can snap our focus. Listen up, know that you will hear many things like this on the fireground, keep your focus sharp, only then can we provide tactical safety for all.

Next Tactical Safety – The Lost Art Show

Tactical Safety: You Have Some Nerve!

By Ray McCormack

I hope you have some nerve, not to be obnoxious, but to be aggressive. Firefighting is about nerve in a lot of respects. Some firefighters have nerves of steel, whether it is making decisions or a tough push. You need some nerve just to deal with the various incident types we face. Do you have the nerve to stand up for what is right? Do you have enough nerve to concentrate on the mission at hand? Do you see nerve displayed by others both good and bad? We are in the nerve business, and without some nerve you could be passed by, regret a lost opportunity, and be fooled.

Bluster and bravado are often spoken in coded language such as, “I’ve been crawling down hallways.’’ When you hear people describing themselves in such terms, chances are they have not done much hallway crawling at all. What is usually the case is the fact that they feel the need to identify with those who have. They have some nerve!

“Firefighter makes daring rescue!” Dare is measured differently in firefighting circles then by the civilian definition. When a firefighter is recognized by their peers, and their fellow firefighters actually talk about the rescue in glowing terms, then we truly have high praise. That rescue took some nerve!

Utilizing teachings from questionable sources and personalities, with limited depth and or experience, may be the wave of the future, but not yet. When you want to learn about this craft, find an instructional source that checks out. Learn the important lessons: firefighting is real, it is difficult, and it takes many intellectual skill sets; make sure you learn how to determine what should stick from what is ‘throwaway.’ Remember, firefighting takes nerve.

Tired of wondering how your beloved fire service could think certain things (were) a good idea? You need to get involved so the next change does not surprise you. Wondering what or who is driving these fire service agendas? It could be you if you take the time to research the organizations and their platforms. Think about using some of your precious in-between call time to get the information you need to place your ideas on the next steering committee. He has some nerve getting involved!

Becoming an excellent firefighter takes some nerve. Firefighters who search for excellence unfortunately are often taken to task by others for their intense interest in our craft. To those that aspire to become great through training and self improvement - and participation - it is a long steady climb. The five-year-wonder is only a wonder if handled correctly. The need for self-acclaim is a poor outgrowth for some interested firefighters. Your knowledge that you have absorbed in one form or another is nothing new, it is how we all learn. When you discover a new twist, enjoy your level of participation, and remember that all ideas were new once and only time will tell if it lasts. Don’t let your knowledge get on others’ nerves.

Use your nerve to stay tactically safe.

Next Tactical Safety – Emotionally Charged Lines

Tactical Safety: On Guard

By Ray McCormack

It seems that every classic movie scene with a sword fight starts with the phrase, “On Guard!” This simple statement declares, “here we go; game on; battle time.” The opponents back away for a second to collect themselves and stare their challenger directly in the eye - and then the fight begins in earnest. They are there to fight, they are equipped to fight, and their safety is in their skill. Every fire is a challenge to our skill and commitment. Are you incorporating an on guard before your attack?

Your safety is increased when you back away just before you start to do battle. This battle posture allows you to focus and put yourself in drive. This is your ‘on guard’ moment. When firefighters arrive unequipped to enter the battle, they defeat themselves and our cause. When firefighters enter the battle under-equipped to overpower the enemy, they are not playing smart. These two statements refer to some basic omissions on the part of our people, lack of tools, lack of SCBA, the lack of a charged hoseline, hard to believe you say? Watch some videos.

Your safety is about thinking smart, being prepared, and fighting to win. When you do not have the capability to bust down a door or hit an advancing fire, or continue a search due to smoke in your eyes, you’re not being a tough guy, you’re being a jerk! You have let us down with your inability to function at the most base level on the fireground. You know that certain tools are used at every fire, like charged hoselines, tools for entry, ladders and SCBA, why are they missing from your attack mode? Does your special presence on the fireground trump these tools somehow? If not, then how could you make such mistakes?

Firefighters who arrive looking and acting like they could be from another profession are not very effective under normal conditions, especially when the chips are down. The chips can come down at any moment, and not being ready is a sad excuse to have hanging around your neck after the battle. Any excuse supplied would be simply weak, if we would even care to listen.

To be effective, you must fight the fire with all the tools available to you. Firefighting begins with you, your training, your knowledge, and your dedication. You wanted to do this, make sure it’s more than just talk, and put it all together to be tactically safe. On guard!

Next Tactical Safety – You Have Some Nerve

Tactical Safety : Defensive Fire

Defense Fire

By Ray McCormack

Defensive fire operations may start upon arrival or sometime afterward. Defensive fire operations, by their very nature, use a fall-back mode strategy of containment, withdrawal, and extended operational time just to name a few. Fires that do not respond to or thwart interior operations graduate into defensive fires - and utilize exterior hose streams.

Shooting water through windows and doorways during an exterior fire operation are the primary delivery points available to us. Operating through doors and windows limits our attack scrub area, but it is usually all that remains. Determining when to go defensive through exterior stream placement is a decision not taken lightly; however the choice of less efficient extinguishment always trumps potentially catastrophic results if not undertaken.

A defensive fire posture is not always handled from outside the fire building: Engine companies can switch from aggressive to defensive within the frame work of interior attack. When additional areas or larger fire rooms are come upon, it is not unusual to be in a battle that does not show instant promise. This slug fest often happens at the onset of a good job when the engine is temporally hunkered down due to amount of fire, limited access, and along with below and above grade fire attack.

Not all engine attacks are without pain; some of the pain is relegated to growing; if you believe that things always go like the training tower, that is not the case. Fire areas have a tendency to create surprises in layout, increased hoseline drag, and fire intensity. You must cross the threshold with determination supported by a plan, skill, and teamwork. Aggressive interior attack is the most efficient method of direct extinguishment and egress protection that is provided by limited staffing - the nozzle team.

The need for us to be defensive in our attack also correlates with a thorough fire attack. In other words - really work the room. Moving the nozzle to provide total coverage of the fire room with your initial pass is something the nozzle team needs to work on. We defend ourselves as we march through the fire area by not missing rooms or by an inadequate fire knockdown.

There are special teams in the fire service such as RIT, but there is no special ‘defense team.’ We all must be aware that elements from fire-attack-slowdown, through operational withdrawal, are all part of our game. Upon arrival, we must provide containment and extinguishment; if we switch to defensive, make sure you bring it on just as you should when you go inside. The plan for the game should not be fought within a restrictive framework that dismisses alternative strategies without regard; however, there also needs to be a firm understanding of base extinguishment techniques so that we can provide tactical safety no matter what mode we’re in.

Many have touted that the back-up line should be larger than the one it is backing up. For exterior hose streams, that guideline makes sense. When our attack is rebuffed initially due to a large body of fire or other ingredient that overwhelms us, we need to get a larger line. This next size up larger line may have won our initial battle, but because it was not first choice, we have inherited a defensive posture. The larger line will assist us with extended reach and penetration power and increased efficiency by delivering a substantial increase in extinguishment capability albeit from a limited access vantage point.

Next Tactical Safety – On Guard

Tactical Safety: Stream Shaper

By Ray McCormack

Some nozzles come with stream shapers built within the nozzle while other stream shapers are add-on attachments. Smooth bore nozzles - noted for their solid stream pattern - hold their shape much better when a stream shaper is added to the nozzle package. There is another type of stream shaper in the fire service: that is the people behind the movement of nozzles to exterior positions for initial fire attack.

We are starting to see stream placement through windows in occupied buildings by fully-protected firefighters at what appear to be single-room fires as ‘act one’ upon arrival. This is a very curious “moth- to -the -flame” approach to firefighting which leaves out the most important consideration of line placement: Egress protection!

When we spot window flame and move directly to exterior knockdown, without any interior size-up, we’re operating in deference to interior life safety conditions. The reasoning behind this exterior “shoot to kill” is that it will make it safer for firefighters who eventually will be allowed to go inside the structure. Knowing the true purpose of the interior hoseline is fundamental to firefighter as well as civilian safety.

Nozzle placement, in regard to fire attack, is not just about fire extinguishment. If it were that simple, municipalities could save a lot of money on equipment and personnel by just letting the civilians shoot water through a window. This new modern ‘take’ on the ‘bucket brigade’ could be further regulated and standardized so that every home would come equipped with a set amount of hose and attached nozzle. Any time a fire was spotted, the safety stream could be utilized through any available opening; and the need for timely resources, incident command, situational awareness, crew resource management, azure cards, tags and a balanced attack strategy that the local fire department provides would be greatly diminished.

Not all fires that show themselves are contained just to the show window; what we often see is fire extension from another location. How many lines will be used when you employ thru the window extinguishment? Will it be a single line that initially shoots water through a window, and is then repositioned to the doorway? Will it be a single line, and after the shoot – to – kill, the line enters through the target window? Should there be a second line? Will it be the one inside? Should the second line be at the window?

Do you know where your hoseline belongs? Does your placement convert to improved safety? Make sure your stream is in the right place to provide tactical safety for all.

Next Tactical Safety – Fire Defense

Tactical Safety: Benchmarks

By Ray McCormack

We use benchmarks on the fireground for determining levels of accomplishment through determining levels of deterioration. Benchmarking progress during fires - and timely accountability of your people - is part of fire extinguishment, and should be easier with today’s technology. There are other benchmarks that tell us a different story: a story of time, and firefighters who went before. Some of the sagest advice you will ever receive will be passed on to you from a senior firefighter and or officer. What time elapsed benchmarks have you collected for your future use?

We had a bench at my firehouse, made from hardwood and cultured over decades of use. It was not particularly comfortable, but it was set near the corner of the kitchen and provided a great vantage point as to what was taking place within the hub of the firehouse. I can remember that one of our senior firefighters loved sitting there, legs crossed, smoking a pipe, and commenting with total clarity on the multiple conversations and things happening in that busy space. Not only was he a very astute observer, he often orchestrated the events of that room through gentle pokes and prodding, and always with an escape clause, “I’m just a blue shirt what do I know”?

We had a hierarchy of seating in that room; that may have seemed crude to some outsiders, but it worked for us, much like the differences in the fire service that unite us - or separate us, now. What works for one place does not always translate into broad acceptance: Bench time was not for the junior members, and it never seemed a problem as some goals in the fire service must be earned - and waited for. Different ideas for different times wear a beach well. We do not want carbon copies of generations as much as some want you to believe. There is no way that all the benchmarks from decades ago will stand the test of time, and that’s fine; what needs to remain will, and these benchmarks are at our core.

Some benchmarks are deeply grooved straight lines while others tend to bend a bit in one direction or another; still others go full circle, proving that everything old is new again, even in the fire service. The arms of that bench seemed to have the deepest wear from where the elbow rested to the forward end, where a hand was placed into the ‘starting blocks’ of a new response. This fixture of the firehouse tells its story in a silent narrative that all can understand and hopefully appreciate. For it is the not only the stories that are important, it is the story tellers’ comfort that bring about the best tales.

Sometimes a cushion would be added to the bench for comfort and sometimes it was taken away to restore its originality. We often hear versions of stories that contain their own cushion for the storyteller; and some that believe that ‘story cushions’ are unnecessary, and only deflect from the true experience. It is up to each of us to find our place on the bench and our comfort level for storytelling. Sit for a bit and share a story that was told to you and has kept you tactically safe.

Next Tactical Safety – Stream Shaper