Home >> Articles >> What they Didn't Teach you in Fire School

What They Didn't Teach You in Fire School

Fire Officers have enormous responsibilities and powers. They can evacuate any size building without question, block any major highway if they deem it necessary, call in multiple alarms and manpower with a simple radio code, and break down almost anyone's door with just cause.

Using this power properly is learned through experiences and by learning from the wiser senior officers. They don't teach this subject in fire school.

Follow Your Nose

Dispatched to a call for a strange smell, we found a locked, unidentified door with a strange mechanical sound. A slight burning odor was coming from behind the door. No tenant or manager was available to unlock the door or identify what was behind it. I wondered if we should force open the door. I thought about the damage we might cause and about the consequences of these actions. What if it was nothing? How would we then explain the damage? Was I allowed to break down a door just because of my suspicions?

My battalion chief arrived and his answer was, if you have any suspicion about a possible danger, then that is sufficient to later justify your actions. Our mandate is to protect the lives and the safety of our fellow citizens. Any threat or danger gives us a just cause to investigate further.

We forced the door open and found that it led to the basement furnace room. Inside, we found that the noise and the smell were being caused by the furnace's blower motor. A rubber pulley belt was disintegrating and heating up. But the clincher in this situation was that we found leaking fuel accumulating at the base of the furnace blower. There had been a real possibility that this fuel would have eventually caught on fire.

My lesson on that day is one that I still teach new officers today: if you have a suspicion and can justify your actions, then you have just cause.

Pulling Ceilings

We have all pulled ceilings as firefighters. We were taught that it is usually very simple---stick the hook in, twist and pull. What we were not taught was that if you pull the ceiling at the wrong time, or in the wrong manner, a disaster can happen. Many materials can be found in the make-up of a ceiling. Nails, screws, wire or glue may be all that is stopping this enourmous ceiling mass from crashing down on our heads.

The safest and proper way to start pulling a ceiling is to stand in a doorway, under the doorframe, and then pull the part of the ceiling that is in front of you. Once you have removed a portion of the ceiling safely, you may advance underneath the stripped area and continue pulling the res tof the ceiling. This way, if a large portion of the ceiling collapses, you would not be standing directly underneath. Each year, many firefighters suffer head, neck and spinal column injuries from sudden ceiling collapses.

This method also ensures that the exit is always behind you if you need to make a sudden retreat. Always use eye protection and try not to look up as the pieces are falling. If a heavy piece falls on you, your helmet---not your face---will take most of impact.

False Ceilings

False, or "floating" ceilings present another type of danger to firefighters. Two- foot square acoustic tiles are held in place by thin metal channels or frames. If too many firefighters try pulling at the same time, the entire ceiling could collapse and entangle the firefighters in a network of wire and metal.

The proper way to open up this type of ceiling is to push the tiles up and to the side so they rest on the metal channels. Or, let them fall through the framework to the floor. If you must remove the framework, work slowly and use wire or bolt cutters. Place the removed sections of framing a safe distance from your working area to prevent entanglement.

These ceilings can also conceal a void above the tiles that can hold fire or cumbustible gases. Hidden gases above our heads can cause a sudden backdraft or flashover the moment a tile is removed.

As you enter a large area covered by a false ceiling, push aside one or two of the tiles. This will allow you to always be aware of the conditions and potential dangers around you.

What's Around You?

The knowledge of what is below a fire is just as valuable as knowing what is above it.

We usually search the fire floor and those above. The lower floors are a lesser priority. When the fire is on the first floor, such as in a one- or two-level ranch-style dwelling, the basement is usually checked only after the suppression of the fire. Then this area is checked for water damage or to gain access to the utilities.

But there are many reasons we should check the basements earlier during a fire. Children often hide in familiar places such as a family room. Someone using a home sauna in the basement would have difficulty hearing a smoke alarm or smelling smoke from a fire. People could be in the basement at the outset of the fire and be trapped or unaware of the danger above them. There could be someone sleeping or living in the lower area. I have seen many unregistered day-care or other businesses set up in residential basements.

Other hidden surprises could be animals, illegal drug laboratories, stored chemicals, compressed gases, munitions, and even adult "playgrounds" such as soundproof dungeons. Being aware of your surroundings is one of the keys to survival on the fireground. Information is power...check the basement.

The "Odds Factor"

If you respond to the same address often for false or uisance alarms, the odds are increased that the next call will be the real thing. complacency kills. Every call should be considered and treated as the "Big One" until proven otherwise.

Routine, or "nuisance," calls are not all false alarms. Fire is not always visible, nor will we see or smell smoke every time. Occasionally, we will return to the firehouse and list the call as having been a false or defective alarm, only to be called back later and be met with a fire in its full stage of growth.

If an alarm panel does not specify a zone or floor, all areas and levels must be searched. All doors must be felt for heat by hand. If they are locked, the firefighter should apply pressure to the door and sniff between the door and doorframe. Many doors are airtight and smoke can remain inside of an apartment or office undetected by those in the hallway. Nearly all doors have a fraction of an inch of play when they are pressed, and that could be just enough to let us smell any smoke that may be on the other side.

Firefighters responded once to "a fire alarm in operation." Upon arrival, the fire alarm bell was ringing. As they were searching the specified zone, the bell was suddenly silenced and the panel showed only a trouble signal. When they saw the trouble light, they stopped their search and returned to quarters, concluding that the detection system was defective. The next day, a tenant was found dead of asphyxiation in his sleep. A sofa fire in the apartment had activated the alarm. As the fire burned itself out, the temperature in the apartment decreased. The heat detector reset itself, silenced the alarm, and left only the trouble light flashing.

The search should have continued after the alarm bell had fallen silent, and all doors should have been verified for the presence of heat or smoke. Perhaps the outcome of that call would have been different.

Conclusion

Not everything can be learned from a textbook or taught in the classroom. Certain smells, sounds or conditions can only be recognized firsthand. They can never be accurately described in words.

Experience is personal and it is gained over time. However, experience must be shared if we wish to advance our profession. Remember: "Experience comes before the lesson."

Condensed from an article by Ron Baran, published by Firehouse magazine, April 2004