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JANUARY 2009
VOLUME 162
NUMBER 1

PENNWELL CORP.
21-00 Route 208 South
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-2602
Tel.: (973) 251-5040
www.FireEngineering.com
P.O. Box 1260
Tulsa, OK 74101
(918) 835-3161

Features
63

THE FIRE SERVICE AND GREEN BUILDING
CONSTRUCTION: AN OVERVIEW
Ronald R. Spadafora—Green buildings are the future. They
help large municipalities across the country provide a healthful environment, fight climate change, and conserve natural
resources. Be sure to include them in your preincident planning,
as certain design features could impact firefighting operations in
these buildings.

79

THE IMPACT OF SOLAR ENERGY ON FIREFIGHTING
Timothy Kreis—How do homes and businesses that use solar
energy affect fireground safety, and what can firefighters do
about it? Incorporate solar energy into your training, and work
to develop well-written code regulations and standard operating
procedures.

85

ARE YOU PREPLANNING YOUR BUILDINGS?
Jack J. Murphy—The importance of conducting building reconnaissance cannot be overstated. Good preincident planning
addresses floor and roof assemblies, loads, and obvious signs of
deteriorating or weakening structures. As the late great Francis
L. Brannigan used to say, “Know your buildings!”

BASIC FIRE SCHOOL, P. 16
SCHOOL P

93

99

CAPNOGRAPHY: A TOOL FOR EVERY PATIENT
Jim Davis—It is considered the gold standard for assessing
airway patency in patients and will become a mandatory part of
advanced airway management. Take the time to understand capnography’s benefits and uses; soon, you won’t think of going on
a run without using it.

105

GREEN CONSTRUCTION, P. 63

FIREFIGHTING CHALLENGES IN CONVERTED MILLS
David DeStefano—Mill makeovers involve change of occupancy, which may change your firefighting options, priorities,
and challenges. Fire departments must be involved at all levels
in mill conversions—both fire prevention bureau personnel and
responding companies—from the design phase through regular
inspections.

FIREFIGHTER INVOLVEMENT HELPS PASS ICC CODES
Sean DeCrane—Fire service participation in the building and
fire code process pays off. Here is a summary of the most
important code changes that directly impact the fire service that
came out of last September’s International Code Council Final
Action Hearings.

CONVERTED MILLS P. 93
MILLS,
4 January 2009 FIRE ENGINEERING

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1/7/09 9:10:41 AM

JANUARY 2009
VOLUME 162
NUMBER 1

PENNWELL CORP.
21-00 Route 208 South
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-2602
Tel.: (973) 251-5040


P.O. Box 1260
Tulsa, OK 74101
(918) 835-3161

Departments
8 EDITOR’S OPINION
“How Much Fire Service Can We Really Do Without?”
12 VOLUNTEERS CORNER
“Developing Proficiency in Today’s Firefighters”
16 TRAINING NOTEBOOK
“Basic Fire School: A Teaching Tool
for Probies and Veterans”
22 FIRE SERVICE EMS
“Fire/EMS Training Tips”

TECHNOLOGY TODAY, P. 115

28 ROUNDTABLE
“Prefire Planning”

115 TECHNOLOGY TODAY
“Homes That Won’t Burn?”
“Metal Buildings for Firehouses”

52 NEWS IN BRIEF
60 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
109 FIRE PREVENTION BUREAU
“Chief Must Advocate Building Fire Safety”

117 2009 BUYERS GUIDE

111 FIRE COMMENTARY
“Alarm Response Policies: To Go or Not To Go?”

169 PRODUCTS/SERVICES/MEDIA

168 APPARATUS DELIVERIES

170 COMING EVENTS
171 COMPANY/ASSOCIATION NEWS
171 NAMES IN THE NEWS
172 CLASSIFIEDS
176 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
“More Cool School: The IC’s Need to ‘Disconnect’ ”

THE COVER: This mid-morning fire in Wheaton, Illinois,
actually started in the rear of the living area and extended
to the garage through an open door. First-due companies arrived to find heavy fire in complete control of the
attached garage and rear of the house. As shown in the
photo, crews stretched a 21∕2-inch attack line to the driveway to knock down the heavy fire in the garage. They then
quickly repositioned the line to the front door to mount an
interior attack. Bread-and-butter engine operations such
as those shown at this fire require training, professionalism, and quick-thinking officers and firefighters to gain the
upper hand. (Photo by Stephen J. Wilcox.)

P i di l Postage P id at T l OK 74101 and at additional mailing offices.
Periodicals P t
Paid t Tulsa,
d t dditi
l
ili
ffi


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1/7/09 9:10:42 AM

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0901FE_7 7

1/7/09 9:10:49 AM

EDITOR’S OPINION

How Much Fire Service
Can We Really Do Without?
BY BOBBY HALTON
S AMERICAN CITIES AND
towns face unprecedented issues regarding budgets, we all
must begin to anticipate what the ramifications could potentially be regarding
service delivery in our communities. The
great statesman Tip O’Neil once said, “All
politics is local,” and he was absolutely
right. We also know that all fire protection is predominantly local in nature, and
local budgets are shrinking fast.
Reacting to these shrinking budgets
in major metropolitan cities, towns, and
villages, local fire departments have
already experienced fire station closings, reduced staffing, and companies
removed from service. The effects of this
economic meltdown will reach every
corner of American life, and public
safety is no exception. We are witnessing
local governments explain fire station
closings and company removal with
carefully chosen words such as “deactivation,” “brownouts,” and “furloughs.”
These politicians are simply using
words they learned from Frank Luntz,
the author of Words That Work. These are
words that make people feel better about
closing fire stations and reducing fire
protection. These words were selected because they reduce the anxiety and apprehension caused by words such as “closed,”
“eliminated,” and “reduced.” Unfortunately,
these less-threatening words will be of
little comfort to those same citizens when
those deactivated, “brownouted,” and
furloughed firefighters are not available to
answer the call in an emergency.
All of this cutting and reducing is being done using the best statistical data
that these good people can find to justify
their positions. Sometimes, as you listen
to their explanations, you feel like you’re
watching a truckie trying to fix a computer with a halligan. Benjamin Disraeli
said it best: “There are three kinds of lies:
lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Unfortunately, statistics do little to help the
citizen who is having trouble breathing,

A


0901FE_8 8

who is crawling through her smoke-filled
home at two in the morning, or who has
just had a car accident.
We know that we are going to be
asked to sacrifice; we know that, as
citizens, we are going to be expected
to do with fewer services than we have
become accustomed to. The overriding
question has to be, “To what extent are
the ‘local’ citizens willing to reduce the
level of fire protection and life safety
that your department is currently providing?” Simply showing charts and graphs
of run volumes with geographic overlays
of response times and overly simplified
statistical data does not show the real
costs in human treasure.
While we acknowledge that, even at
standard-compliant levels, we cannot
arrive swiftly enough 100 percent of the
time, it is clear standard-compliant staffing and response times offer our citizens
the best possible advantage. I must disagree with some of my, albeit, well-intentioned but inexperienced peers who have
stated that staffing and response times
are irrelevant to fireground safety. I could
never find any way to legitimize such a
statement simply because nothing could
be further from the truth. Response times
and staffing are critical on both sides of
the survival equation.
Experienced, street-savvy firefighters
understand standard-compliant staffing
offers firefighters the best possible safety
margins; anything less increases our risks
exponentially. The fire service exists for
those very times when we can make a
difference, when we can save a life, and
when we can alleviate someone’s suffering. Cuts are coming; but, because of
who we are, we will continue to provide
the best possible service under whatever
conditions we are forced to operate.
More than a thousand homes in
Southern California were tragically
destroyed in the most recent firestorm.
Unfortunately, this firestorm is still not
completely contained; many more homes

will be taken. To the credit of the excellent services provided by the personnel
in the Region 1 mutual-aid group under
the direction of Los Angeles County
Chief Michael Freeman, at this point no
lives have been lost. That statistic is the
most important one, not to discount or
underestimate the tragedy of all these
families losing their property. We must
applaud the efforts that saved all the
lives in this firestorm’s path of fury.
The question becomes for the good
citizens protected in that region with
such excellent fire responses, “How
much fire service can they stand to live
without?” If all politics is local, and our
elected politicians must ultimately bear
the responsibility for dividing up the pie
of taxes and revenue to fund fire, police,
sewers, roads, libraries, universities, and
rest of the services that make up a community, what levels must exist?
The answers to these questions will
come from you. You must assess locally
what your community’s needs are to
safely protect the lives and property you
have sworn to protect. Those in power
and those who have elected them must
heed your words. You have that power of
influence, and with it comes awesome and
dear responsibility. You have a responsibility to the men and women who stand with
you and to those whom you serve.
This is where politics gets “local” and
life in the fire service—whether you
want to admit it or not—is closely tied
to local politics. When addressing this
responsibility, remember all you have
learned regarding staffing; response
capabilities (task and tactical); fire
behavior; human behavior; and, most
importantly, the values that make you a
firefighter. They are not statistics. They
are not lies.


1/7/09 9:10:52 AM

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1/7/09 9:10:54 AM

. . . .
▲

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▲

ADVISOR IN MEMORIAM
VICE PRESIDENT–AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
MARKETING
PRODUCTION MANAGER
SUBSCRIPTIONS
PENNWELL CORP.
CHAIRMAN
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SR. VICE PRESIDENT–GROUP PUBLISHER, BID
VICE PRESIDENT–GROUP PUBLISHER

1

EDITORIAL ADVISORS
AND CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

▲

▲

▲

▲

PHOTO EDITOR
ONLINE EDITOR

132.

▲

▲

. . .

▲

EDITOR IN CHIEF
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
PRESENTATION EDITOR
TECHNICAL EDITORS

▲

▲

▲

.

21-00 Route 208 South, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-2602
Tel.: (973) 251-5040, Fax: (973) 251-5065
Visit our Web site at: FireEngineering.com

.

▲


.

. . .

▲
8▲ ▲
▲
9
7
7-200

Chief (Ret.) Bobby Halton (roberth@pennwell.com)
Diane Feldman (dianef@pennwell.com)
Mary Jane Dittmar (maryjd@pennwell.com)
Robert J. Maloney (robertm@pennwell.com)
Derek Rosenfeld (derekr@pennwell.com)
Josh Troutman (josht@pennwell.com)
Glenn P. Corbett, P.E. (gcorbet1@ix.netcom.com)
John (Skip) Coleman (ch112ret@yahoo.com)
Mike McEvoy (mcevoymike@aol.com)
Nate DeMarse (ndemarse.fireeng@gmail.com)
Peter J. Prochilo (peterp@pennwell.com)
Anthony Avillo, Alan Brunacini, John M. Buckman, Michael N. Ciampo,
Paul T. Dansbach, Frank L. Fire, Richard A. Fritz, William Goldfeder,
Bill Gustin, Leigh T. Hollins, Arthur L. Jackson, Steve Kreis, Rick Lasky,
John M. Malecky, David McGrail, John W. Mittendorf, Frank C.
Montagna, Jack J. Murphy Jr., Mike Nasta, Gerard J. Naylis,
Gregory G. Noll, John P. O’Connell, William C. Peters, David Rhodes,
Rob Schnepp, William J. Shouldis, Michael A. Terpak, Jerry Tracy,
Andrea Zaferes
Thomas F. Brennan
Gloria Adams
Ron Kalusha
Wendy Lissau
Rae Lynn Cooper, Tulsa
Sharon Spencer (800) 582-6949 (sharons@pennwell.com)
P.O. Box 1260 • Tulsa, OK 74101 • (918) 835-3161
Frank T. Lauinger
Robert F. Biolchini
Lyle Hoyt
Eric Schlett

FIRE DEPARTMENT
INSTRUCTORS CONFERENCE
®

21-00 Route 208 South, Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-2602
Tel.: (888) TEL-FDIC, Fax: (888) FAX-FDIC
Visit our Web site at: http://www.fdic.org
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
EDUCATION DIRECTOR
CONFERENCE DIRECTOR
CONFERENCE MANAGER
CONFERENCE COORDINATOR
EVENT OPERATIONS MANAGERS
EXHIBIT MANAGERS
FIRE ENGINEERING SUBSCRIBER SERVICE
FIRE ENGINEERING ADVERTISING PRODUCTION
FIRE ENGINEERING BOOKS & VIDEOS
FDIC EXHIBITING
FDIC REGISTRATION


0901FE_10 10

Eric Schlett
Chief (Ret.) Bobby Halton
Diane Feldman
Mary Jane Dittmar
Ginger Mendolia
Allison Foster, Kay Baker
Lila Gillespie, Nanci Yulico
(800)
(918)
(800)
(888)
(888)

582-6949 • Fax: (918) 831-9482
831-9143 • Fax: (918) 831-9415
752-9768 • Fax: (918) 831-9555
TEL-FDIC • Fax: (888) FAX-FDIC
299-8016 • Fax: (888) 299-8057


1/7/09 9:10:58 AM

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1/7/09 9:11:03 AM

VOLUNTEERS CORNER

Developing Proficiency
in Today’s Firefighters
BY NORM CARROLL
EARS AGO, WE DID NOT NEED
to spend much time with extra
training because, after the
initial training, we were out there doing the job every day. Now, we are not
responding to as many fires; therefore,
we need to spend more time practicing
the skills so we can be proficient when
asked to perform on the fireground.
Over the past 24 years, I have developed some concepts that might help
your firefighters acquire the training
needed to maintain the proficiency level
your public expects.

Y

ing session exciting. It will take a lot of
work, but consider the result if you do
not provide the best training possible to
your firefighters. You do not want to become a statistic. So, you have to dazzle
your firefighters. Use the computers they
grew up with. Employ simulators, Power
Point®, and Webcasts to get them interested in being the best they can be.

DEVELOPING A SCHEDULE
What are we going to drill on tonight?
I don’t know if you have ever heard
that before. I have, and it is a very dif-

what the drill topic is, we can counter
with, “What do you need signed off in
your task book?”

WHY CONTINUAL TRAINING?
When I first started in the fire service,
volunteer firefighters worked in their
communities, and the business owners
were also firefighters. It was not uncommon to have a business close down so
all could go on the alarm. This was a
great service to the community. Unfortunately, times change; the firefighters
do not work in the community and even

Firefighters must feel that they have
ownership in the training program.
They should want to be there and to get involved.
Understanding the younger generation of firefighters is important in
determining how they learn tasks. The
latest generation has been brought up
with computers and video games. These
individuals expect everything to be
instantaneous. They also subscribe to the
concept that says, “If I do it wrong, I can
press the reset button and start all over.”
Unfortunately, there are no reset buttons in real life. We have to help them
understand that this is just not possible.
Because of technology, this generation
also has never used many of the hand
tools to which earlier generations have
become accustomed.
For instance, if you were trying to
explain to a new firefighter how to start
a positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) fan
or a chain saw and that the action would
be like starting a lawn mower, they might
look at you and ask, “Where is the button
to start it”? or they might even tell you,
“Someone else is going to start it for me.”
These are challenges you, as a trainer,
will have to overcome to teach these
firefighters.
You also have to make every train12 January 2009 FIRE ENGINEERING

0901FE_12 12

ficult question to answer half an hour
before the drill is supposed to start. Our
department has developed a task book,
a concept other departments use as well.
The drills cover firefighter skills required
by the state. Our combination department has a 12-member career staff and
45 volunteers. The state requires that a
career staff member meet a minimum
training level equal to 229 hours of training within one year of appointment. The
career staff must accomplish 100 hours
of in-service training annually.
Since the career and volunteers are
doing the same job, why is there a
difference in the requirements? Since
there was not a requirement for the
volunteer firefighters, I created one for
our department. I became a trainer and
was certified to teach all the courses
the state requires. As I started teaching
the courses, the firefighters kept asking for more courses. Eventually, the
firefighters met the 229 hours required
by the state. Once a few achieved that
level, they wrote the new standard,
saying, “If I can do it, everyone can.”
Now when someone comes up to ask

though you might own a business in the
community, you cannot close down for
every alarm because there has been a
marked increase in alarms. That is one
reason training needs to be done all the
time.
Many firefighters work shifts other
than 9 to 5. If they are working every
Tuesday night at 7 p.m., how do they
get their training? Create a schedule that
has all shifts in mind and makes training
a priority all the time. You can create a
lesson on ladders and tell all firefighters it will be offered different days and
nights throughout the week. If firefighters attend more than one session, what
would be the problem? You would then
have proficient firefighters. This should
be everyone’s goal.
I have seen trainers who are not there
for the firefighters. If you are not there
to train firefighters, why are you there?
You need to be the one that leads the
training. If the drill is to start at 10 a.m.,
be there and ready to go at 9:30 a.m.
Firefighters’ time is precious. If we are
not ready when they are, we are not taking care of their needs. Yes, there should


1/7/09 9:11:07 AM

Pierce Ultimate Conﬁguration
It’s called the PUC—a short name for a tall list of design breakthroughs.
By John Phillips

S

horter, lighter, lower center of
gravity, sharper turning radius,
increased agility—it sounds like a
to-do list created by engineers from
a major auto manufacturer. Except
this isn’t a passenger car or the
latest crossover SUV. It’s Pierce’s
new PUC, an acronym for Pierce
Ultimate Configuration.
The PUC isn’t a single piece of
hardware, nor a lone accessory.
Rather, it’s a whole new vehicle
layout—a bumper-to-bumper rethink—
that allows fire-and-rescue apparatus to
carry more equipment on a smaller, more
maneuverable, pump-and-roll platform.
The patent-pending PUC design
begins with the pumphouse. Traditional
pumps are mounted amidships, driven by
a split shaft off the transmission. That has
always meant that four or five feet of real
estate was consumed just by the pumphouse.
The PUC’s pump, on the other hand, is
driven off the engine’s flywheel—a rear
engine power take-off. That, in turn, has
allowed the pump housing to be moved
far forward, above the frame rails and under
the cab’s seat-box area.
“The pump drive system is simple,”
says Kevin Day, Fleet Services Manager for
Oregon’s awardwinning Tualatin
Valley Fire and
Rescue, “and it
eliminates the
need for additional
drivetrain
components used
in traditional
transfer-case
designs. It saves weight, reduces drivetrain
stress and, theoretically, reduces fuel
consumption during pumping operations.”
Day’s department, having purchased
their first Pierce product in 1980, now
operates a total of 80 response vehicles
serving 418,000 citizens. The department’s
Apparatus Committee, consisting of AOs,
firefighters, officers and mechanics, has

overseen the purchase of nine PUC pumpers.
Six units have been delivered; three of
those have already been introduced into
service. Three more PUCs are scheduled
for delivery next spring.
Moving the pumphouse forward and
downward accrued other benefits. For one
thing, the pump’s position lowered the
truck’s center of gravity, which made for
more nimble handling. “As urban density
increases, and streets and cul-de-sacs
become more congested,” says Day,
“maneuverability is a real consideration.”
The far-forward pump also freed up as
much as 30 percent extra storage space—up
to 500 cubic feet—while simultaneously
reducing the pumper’s wheelbase by as
much as 18 inches. Day says his current
187-inch-wheelbase PUCs can carry more
gear than the 212-inch-wheelbase pumpers
they’ve replaced. “All of our medical
equipment can now be located in one
compartment,” he points out. “If the unit
carries a full complement of extrication tools,
we can now place it in the compartment
more ergonomically for the crews.”
The PUC is designed for easy maintenance.
All of the pump’s plumbing and valving are
mounted on top. “Accessibility is greater
than any of our previous pumps,” Day says.
“The time it takes to access valves and
connections has been significantly reduced.”
Because all Pierce pumpers have tilt-forward
cabs, access is superb. “Any maintenance
or repair can be performed at ground level,
rather than on overhead lifts,” he adds.
On traditional pumpers, the area
reserved for crosslays was usually atop

the pumphouse. But with the
PUC’s pump moved forward,
the crosslays have been
relocated between the cab and
the truck’s body, and they’ve
been lowered to chest height.
“Lower crosslays are easier to
shoulder and easier to reload,”
Day notes. Ladders, stokes
baskets, and backboards are
also far lower, as is the hosebed.
“Firefighters risk injury to
their knees and backs when
shouldering a hose load and
stepping off the tailboard,” Day continues.
“The PUC body has a hosebed height
nearly 11 inches lower than our previous
pumper’s body. We anticipate that most of
our firefighters should be able to shoulder
the load from the ground.”
What’s more, the PUC’s pump uses
a large clutch that electrically engages the
impeller, so putting the pump into gear no
longer induces that awful grinding. And it’s
a quick two-step process. “The apparatus
engineer need only apply the parking brake
and activate the pump drive,” Day says.
Pump panels are available in
side-or top-mount positions, with the
operator standing next to hose connections
instead of over them. “The inlets and
discharge ports are low and easy to connect,”
Day adds, “and the pump panel is laid out
in an intuitive manner, with easy-to-use
controls. In addition, the pumper’s exhaust
stack is vertical, directed up and away from
ground level operations, which also reduces
noise at the pump panel.”
All PUCs are true pump-and-roll
designs, crucial for fighting a moving wildfire
or for when you simply need to reposition the
pumper for a better angle of attack. Since its
introduction 18 months ago, the PUC has
already accounted for more than 200 new
Pierce orders. It is available on all Pierce
custom chassis.
John Phillips has been writing
about cars since 1974, is the
author of two books, and has
been an editor at Car and
Driver for 20 years.

© 2008 Pierce Manufacturing. An Oshkosh Corporation Company.


0901FE_13 13

1/7/09 9:11:08 AM

be some accountability on their part:
They showed up when you told them to
be there, excited about doing some training to make them more proficient.
When you are instructing, you need
to make sure you incorporate your
department’s policies. What better way
to make sure everyone is on the same
page? Unfortunately, you may not agree
with all your department’s policies, but
they are the policies you have, so work
with them. Do not try to undermine the
authorities by telling everyone that the
policy is wrong. If you want to change
a policy, go to those making policy and
ask if they might review the policy for
revision. You will lose all credibility with
the firefighters and management if you
cannot follow policies.
•••
There are many great new techniques
for performing our jobs. Make sure
that these techniques are safe and will
work within your department and that
everyone is fully trained in them before
they are used at an incident. There is no
automatic guarantee that a technique
that works for one department will work
for another.
Instructors must demonstrate proficiency. They must be able to do the task
they are teaching perfectly before the
students. Firefighters must feel that they
have ownership in the training program.
They should want to be there and to get
involved. It is up to the instructor to create this atmosphere. ●
● NORM CARROLL is a firefighter/
paramedic with the Manlius (NY)
Fire Department. He has served
nine and a half years as a career
firefighter and six years as a volunteer in the same department. He has
an associate degree in public fire
protection from Rancho Santiago
Community College in Santa Ana,
CA. He has been with the New York
State Office of Fire Prevention and
Control since 2000 as a state fire
instructor, teaches outreach courses
in Onondaga County, and is an
adjunct instructor with the New York
State Academy of Fire Sciences and
the Utica (NY) Fire Department Fire
Academy.

0901FE_14 14


1/7/09 9:11:09 AM


0901FE_15 15

1/7/09 9:11:12 AM

TRAINING NOTEBOOK

Basic Fire School: A Teaching
Tool for Probies and Veterans
BY FRANK H. HAMMOND JR.
1

2

(1) Basic Fire School students attack a vehicle fire. The attack team approached at a 45° angle on the driver’s side front corner using
a ground-sweep water application; the crew then moved to the passenger area to complete extinguishment. (Photos by author.) (2)
A student is coaxed to the tip of Brewer (ME) Fire Department’s Ladder 1. Every student completed an aerial climb; many students
climbed a ladder for the first time and experienced “height discomfort” issues.

ROM RECRUIT SCHOOL TO
advanced training events, it is
almost a mantra: “Don’t forget
the basics!” Basic Fire School not only
provides an avenue to get your newest recruits up to speed; it can also
deliver, as individual or grouped sessions, recurrent fire training to a fire
department. Broken into 15 sessions,
Basic Fire School covers all aspects of
firefighting, from history to coordinated
live-fire training evolutions [that are set
up to conform to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1403, Standard
for Live Fire Training Evolutions]. Fire
service instructors, training officers, and
company officers who provide firefighter
training often look for a packaged, locally adaptable program that is easy to
work with and significantly weighted
with practical skills evolutions. Basic
Fire School can be used in a myriad of
applications, including regular company/
department training sessions, weekend
training programs, and a recruit academy. It is loaded with evolutions to help
your newest firefighter and challenge
your seasoned firefighters. Although this

F


0901FE_16 16

program is not a path to certification, it
can help firefighters achieve qualifications or enhance/renew skills they may
or may not use at each response.
As with most departments I have
visited across the country, many fire
departments in my area find it difficult
to answer the question “What should
we do for training this week or month?”
Although NFPA 1001, Standard for Fire
Fighter Professional Qualifications,
along with several other standards such
as those of the Insurance Service Office
(ISO) and the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration clearly outline
what needs to be done and, in some
instances, how much time must be
invested, few, if any, standards outline
how to get it all done. What may seem
rudimentary on the outside as far as
class development goes is quite a hurdle
whether you are a full-time training coordinator for a large department or the
training officer for a smaller department.
Time seems to be the largest obstacle
when it comes to planning, preparing,
and delivering quality, basic-level firefighter training. Basic Fire School makes

it quite easy: All the training is broken
down into four- and eight-hour sections
and grouped into 15 sessions of approximately 16 hours each. It is very possible
and very easy to take a section of the
program on the fly and deliver it to new
and veteran department members.
During the course of 15 sessions,
firefighters will don their personal
protective equipment (PPE) at least 100
times, probably more. Proper PPE and
SCBA donning procedures are covered
during the first session and continue to
the end of the program. Although this
may not quite work for your recurrent
training programs, I found it very helpful for getting the newer firefighters
used to donning and doffing their gear
safely and efficiently. For a mixed audience, you could set the newer firefighters up against the more experienced
firefighters for time (and perhaps some
bragging rights). Team building is one
of the many unwritten by-products of
Basic Fire School, along with training to
a standard within the context of actual
operations and learning in a safe, controlled environment.


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TRAINING NOTEBOOK
3

4

(3) Students are guided through roof operations—again, for the first time for most of them. The first trip was made without SCBA;
each subsequent operation followed the rule “off the ground—on air.” (4) “Marching Practice.” Students prepare for LP gas fires. Before working with live fires using LP gas, students engaged in practice runs using dry and wet lines. Once the fires were started, every
student completed nozzle duty for at least one evolution.

TRAINING SESSIONS
The sessions are as follows:
• Session I: Orientation—complete the
required paperwork, then review the
fire department’s history, organization
principles, fire department roles, firefighter guidelines, standard operating
procedures/guidelines and policies,

regulations, and working with other
agencies.
• Session II: Firefighter qualifications,
firefighter safety, firefighter rehabilitation, communications, self-contained
breathing apparatus, and personal
protective equipment.
• Session III: Review National Incident

Management System, fire behavior, fire
response, and size-up.
• Session IV: Fire extinguisher operations,
including fire suppression using Class
A, Class B, and simulated Class C fires.
We took an old meter box, stuffed it
with straw, and set the straw on fire; no
live electricity was used.

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0901FE_19 19

1/7/09 9:11:28 AM

TRAINING NOTEBOOK
• Session V: Firefighter tools and equipment identification, uses, and basic
maintenance; several forcible entry
techniques are practiced.
• Session VI: Search and rescue operations, including primary and secondary search operations, along with
patient carries and drags.
• Session VII: Ladder operations for
ground and aerial ladders.
• Session VIII: Water supply principles
and practices—fire hydrants, large-di-

ameter hose, portable tanks, and rural
hitch setups are covered.
• Session IX: Firefighter survival practices, such as what to do when you are
lost; calling a Mayday on a radio; rapid
egress over ground ladders; plus “Stay
low in the heat” and “If you cannot see
your feet, you should not be on them.”
• Session X: Hose, nozzle, streams, and
foam operations such as loads, advances, taking up, rolls, and producing
foam.

• Session XI: Ventilation, salvage, and
overhaul practices—on the roof with
an ax; practice with pallets; breaking
glass; and salvage cover rolls, folds,
and throws.
• Session XII: Complete ventilation, salvage, and overhaul practices; conduct
prefire briefings.
• Session XIII: Vehicle/refuse container
fire operations.
• Session XIV: Class B fire operations—
we use liquefied petroleum gas.
• Session XV: Class A fire operations.
We bring it all together for combined
operations—search, attack, backup,
ladders, and ventilation.

PROGRAM EASY TO ADAPT
The written portion of this program
provides information regarding the
intent of each session, props, supplies
needed, apparatus and tool needs,
and learning/performance objectives.
Although the framework of this program
is quite structured, it is still adaptable
to any department with any number
of tools that may be available—for
example, if your department does not
have access to an aerial device or a
50-foot Bangor ladder, omit the objectives involving those tools. On the other
hand, if you have a special tool or an
appliance that you use regularly, simply
plug it into the program at the spot that
is right for your department.
•••
From the newest recruit to the most
seasoned veteran, competency in basic
firefighting skills is a most critical asset.
As a stand-alone fire academy type delivery or section-by-section sessions for regularly scheduled training, the department
or company officers can use the Basic
Fire School training package to provide
safe, effective, and relevant fire training
to the firefighters in their charge. ●
● FRANK H. HAMMOND JR., a
25-year veteran of the fire service, is
a training program manager for the
Maine Fire Training Program. He is a
certified emergency medical technician, firefighter II, driver/operator,
airport firefighter, fire instructor II,
and fire officer II. He has an associate degree in fire science and
also serves as a lieutenant with the
Lincoln (ME) Fire Department.

0901FE_20 20


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1/7/09 9:11:41 AM

FIRE SERVICE EMS

Fire/EMS Training Tips
BY BARRY S. DASKAL
FFECTIVE IN-SERVICE EMS
training is one very critical
yet overlooked element in fire
service-based EMS organizations. In
many departments, EMS is considered a
by-product or backburner service to fire
suppression. With lower staffing levels,
more calls for service, and administrators’
demands to do more with less, time for
drilling and training is greatly reduced.
EMS is often the first area to be sacrificed
despite representing a disproportionately
higher percentage of responses. In the
volunteer environment, this is further
exacerbated by time spent attempting to
maintain necessary firefighting qualifications and Occupational Safety and Health
Administration mandates. EMS training
might only get brushed up on during the
periodic refresher course time or, worse
yet, might become nonexistent. Many
agencies rely on patient contact through
call volume as the way to keep their providers’ skills sharp.
Maintaining EMS skills is just as critical as maintaining fire suppression proficiency. Like any profession, fire service
trends run the gamut from basic firefighting operations to collapse rescue,
trench rescue, hybrid vehicle extrication,
hazardous materials, and weapons of
mass destruction. Like other industries,
our major focus in the fire service is
“back to basics” firefighting.
EMS responses are second nature. We
encounter patients all the time, and their
problems are generally the same. So
why do we train? Don’t train only when
a new intervention technique, medical
device, or procedure is introduced. Train
every day. Using skills on real patient
encounters is not training; it might actually reinforce bad habits without our
knowing it.
Many EMS drills are just a by-product
of firefighting drills. Vehicle extrication
leads to a patient (generally a mannequin) being removed and then verbalizing and stabilizing injuries or a man-

E


0901FE_22 22

nequin “rescued” from a structure fire or
collapse that is dropped at the feet of the
EMS crew relegated to “standby.”
For the fire/EMS officer who realizes, accepts, and embraces that EMS training must
be at regular intervals, the question then
becomes, “How do you accomplish this?”

WHERE DO WE START?
EMS drill planning essentially requires
the same procedure for firefighting drills,
with some subtle but distinct differences.
The first decision is what to train on.
Evaluate the patient types you regularly
encounter, such as cardiac complaints,
respiratory emergencies, diabetes patients,
general illness, syncope, and motor vehicle
crash patients. Develop a list of important
skills used on a routine basis. These are
your bread and butter responses.
Think about some of your more unique
responses—patient contacts where you
had to think just a little bit outside of
the box. Did the patient have an unusual
chief complaint? Was a rarely used skill or
piece of equipment called for?
Once you identify target areas or
subjects to train on, create a lesson plan.
Firefighting drill planning for many officers has become very familiar. There
are numerous premade templates and
even full drills available online. One of
the best resources for firefighters is provided by the Maryland Fire and Rescue
Institute Web site. I prefer to use the fire
service-based model resource, since this
is the format with which personnel in
combined fire/EMS agencies are most
familiar.
Take your topic list and write a brief
topic description and what you hope to
accomplish. Because we talk about inservice training with our members, we
know our target audience and the level
of instruction required. Here, there are
distinctions between writing an EMS drill
and planning a firefighting evolution.
Establish a spreadsheet and a topic
schedule. The first column lists the indi-

vidual lesson topic. Then have several
consecutive columns that include the
following: the type of drill (lecture vs.
hands-on or a combination of the two),
a detailed description of the drill’s main
focus and intention, the lead instructor
and assisting facilitators, and any special
notes (material resources, training locations, and any other pertinent information).

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES
Standard EMT and paramedic textbooks are your technical reference
material. Your state, regional, and local
policies and protocols are your detailed
information sources. Another great
resource is your standard patient care
sequence—from your scene survey to
transport. Your patient care report is
a great format for identifying different
areas on which to focus.
Obtaining available equipment resources
for EMS training can be more difficult
than for fire suppression training. For
fire training, securing a facility or other
training location is often the greatest
challenge. All the tools you need are on
the rig. For EMS training, there are a few
more intricacies; training materials tend
to be the greatest challenge.
What materials do you need? Are they
easily obtainable? For your training to be
effective, you require patients and some
patient care aids. Budget constraints
generally dictate what you can and can’t
obtain. A moulage kit costing several
hundred dollars may be too much of an
investment, but $20 worth of make-up
from the local pharmacy or big box store
can be effective. An advanced life support
(ALS) “mega-code” mannequin is ideal,
but the $5,000 needed may not be readily
available. You can convert the beat-up
rapid intervention team training mannequin into an unconscious, unresponsive
patient with simulated traumatic injuries with simple things such as various
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0901FE_23 23

1/7/09 9:11:45 AM

FIRE SERVICE EMS
chalk, and some old spare clothes.
Disposable supplies also present a
stumbling block. To bandage a wound
or stabilize a shoulder or limb, you must
use gauze, triangular bandages, and tape.
They cost money and must be restocked.
Set aside a 20- or 30-gallon plastic container to keep “disposable” items in for
reuse during training exercises.
Human patients are generally easy to
find. You can preprogram partners, crew,
and other station members as patients
using index cards with their chief complaint, history of the present illness or
injury, medications, medical history, and
other pertinent information. Conduct full
interviews, deliver oxygen to your patient via nonrebreathing mask, conduct
nebulizer treatments using water instead
of medications (always use local policy
and procedures as a guide), take vital
signs, and perform hands-on assessment.
For ALS scenarios, you can adapt and
overcome. If ALS arms and mannequins
are not available, you might consider
reverting to the real thing. Anyone taught
to establish an intravenous line practiced

on themselves and their classmates. Again,
follow local policy and procedures.
You can place EKG machines on patients and take and interpret three-lead
and 12-lead evaluations. For dysrhythmias that need attention, hand a Web
site printout to the student instead of a
rhythm strip. Use small sharps containers with IV tubing that has the injection
port facing out as your patient’s arm,
and administer medications. Place a
small (50 ml) spiked saline bag under
the patient and tape the tubing to the
arm to represent an established IV line.

MOTIVATION AND EXECUTION
When writing your lesson plans, come
up with a motivational statement—a brief
paragraph that explains to the students
the importance of mastering the skills
they are about to learn. The motivational
statement is generally interchangeable
with the detailed description you plugged
into your spreadsheet next to the topic.
The firehouse is a good general place
to perform your drills. The parking lot for
your personal vehicles, the apparatus bay,

lounges, offices, and inside or outside the
location will suffice. After all, you routinely
encounter patients in all of these locations.
Choose a location for a particular
evolution, and place your crew in that
remote area with the equipment they
would normally remove from the apparatus while you program and place the
patient. Brief the crew on the situation
they will respond to, and allow them to
grab any additional equipment they feel
they may require based on the dispatch
information you give them. Give the crew
a time limit (generally 10 minutes from
initial patient contact). The crew responds
to the patient location and begins care.
The scenarios must be straightforward
to start. You can throw every possible
situation at your providers. It’s never a
straightforward sick job with stable vital
signs where a thorough evaluation and
interview lead to an informed diagnosis
and treatable situation. Instead, offer
an acute pulmonary embolism patient
frothing at the mouth and gasping for air
or a motor vehicle collision victim who
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1/7/09 9:11:49 AM

FIRE SERVICE EMS
an open head wound, unequal pupils, a
hemopneumothorax, and unstable vitals.

EXPECTED OUTCOME
To determine if any training initiative
is effective, you must have quantifiable,
expected results. Run crews through
several similar evolutions to establish
whether they are consistently achieving a minimum standard. Evaluate the
students using standard objective patient
care criteria. An excellent resource is the
practical testing sheets from the National
Registry of EMTs or your local regional
certification agency. In addition, I prefer
to have the crews that are not involved in
a particular evolution watch the current
scenario. This allows them to observe
the performance of the crew in action,
critique their peers, and think about what
they might have done differently.
I find peer review more valuable
than corrections coming solely from
the instructor/evaluator. The majority
of critique points are typically verbalized by the students’ peers. This leaves
the instructor/evaluator room to add

additional points or summarize the main
learning points of the evolution.
After several varied training sessions,
look for patterns and see where improvement is needed. Are you bringing the right
equipment in to every call? Are your crews
working as a team, interacting with and
feeding off each other, or are they islands
unto themselves? Are your basic life support providers solid with assisted medication protocols? Are your ALS providers
able to properly perform and interpret a
12-lead EKG?
These regularly scheduled drill periods,
combined with your formal quality assurance/quality improvement, should paint
an accurate picture of the consistency and
quality of patient care. When you have
achieved this as your standard, it is time to
set the bar higher and challenge providers
to continue to advance their studies and
skills. For agencies that require continuing
education credits, the medical community
always has some type of continuing education session in progress at regular intervals
at various healthcare facilities. Your medical
director can serve as a bridge to access this

type of valuable training.
Success in the field is a direct result of
classroom training and preparation. Basic,
regularly scheduled field fire/EMS service
training will consistently improve your
skills and have a greater positive effect on
patient outcomes. ●
● BARRY S. DASKAL is a police
officer/aircraft rescue firefighter with
the Port Authority of New York and
New Jersey Police Department at
John F. Kennedy International Airport
in New York City. He is also a certified EMT-critical care and clinical lab
instructor at the Nassau County (NY)
EMS Academy and a member of the
Wantagh (NY) Fire Department. He
previously served as a police officer with the New York City Police
Department and as a supervising
fire alarm dispatcher with the Fire
Department of New York. He has
been a volunteer firefighter since
1990 and has served as a captain and
training officer. He is the creator and
host of “The Average Joe Firefighter
Podcast” on FireEngineering.com.


0901FE_26 26

1/7/09 9:11:50 AM

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1/7/09 9:11:56 AM

ROUNDTABLE
OPINIONS FROM
AROUND THE COUNTRY

Prefire Planning
INDSIGHT IS ALMOST ALWAYS
20/20, but there is no substitute for being prepared. I’m not
sure where preplans were invented. If it’s
like most things in the fire service, some
department had the idea of going out and
looking at buildings and coming up with
a few “preliminary” plans on what to do if
that specific building catches on fire. Then,
some firefighter on vacation or visiting
an aunt in that town talked to a local firefighter who told him the department was
very progressive, to the point that it went
out and made plans for fighting a fire—
before the fire occurred! The visiting firefighter then went back to his department
and discussed the idea with someone who
“bumped” it up through the food chain
until the chief of his department now had
a brilliant new idea!
In Toledo, commercial buildings that meet
specific hazard requirements are assigned to
house captains. The house captain divides
the preplans among the three shifts. Thursday is the designated preplan day. Company
officers and their crews are required to complete the preplan in a specific timeframe.
After new preplans are completed, companies update existing plans.
There are specific forms and criteria
for each preplan. Occupant name and
occupancy type, special or hazardous processes, built-in fire suppression features,
all fire department connections, hydrant
locations and flows, and the building’s
required fire flows are among some of the
information gathered. The company officer’s battalion chief reviews the completed
plans and then forwards them to headquarters, where they are again checked
and then put into the preplan book for
dissemination to all line companies. They
are carried on all apparatus and are listed
in alphabetical order by street address.
—John “Skip” Coleman retired
as assistant chief from the Toledo (OH)
Department of Fire and Rescue. He
is a technical editor of Fire Engineering; a member of the FDIC educational
advisory board; and author of Incident

H


0901FE_28 28

QUESTION: Do your fire suppression units conduct prefire planning?
If so, what information do they gather and where does the information end up?
M
Management f the S
for h Street-Smart Fi
S
Fire
Officer (Fire Engineering, 1997), Managing Major Fires (Fire Engineering, 2000),
and Incident Management for the StreetSmart Fire Officer, Second Edition (Fire
Engineering, 2008).
Thomas Dunne, deputy chief,
Fire Department of New York
Response: Our fire units conduct fire
prevention activities three times a week.
In a department with well over 300
companies, this creates a lot of opportunities to discover situations that call for
a prefire plan. The company officer can
initiate some elements of a prefire plan
and enter the information directly into
our computerized dispatch system.
Information gathered includes dangerous conditions, construction details,
and tactical recommendations. This
information is subsequently sent to
every responding unit when an alarm is
transmitted for that address.
High-rises, large commercial buildings,
and other complex occupancies may call
for a more detailed prefire plan, including
a building diagram along with response
requirements, water supply information,
tactical considerations, and any other
items that may be vital to establish a safe
firefighting strategy. Chief officers prepare
these plans based on information drawn
from our fire units. Chiefs can consult the
plan while responding to an incident or
when operating at the command post.
The development of a full prefire plan
may call for the experience and expertise
of a chief or company officer, but discovering the need for one does not. We
train our personnel to consider how they
would fight a fire every time they walk
into a building, whether they are there
to perform an inspection, handle a minor
emergency, or investigate a false alarm.

I h
In that way, our fire suppression units are
i
i
always conducting prefire plans.
Gary Seidel, chief,
Hillsboro (OR) Fire Department
Response: Our fire suppression
personnel work with our fire inspectors
to ensure that we have reviewed all appropriate occupancies, especially those
with unusual fire or safety hazards, for
construction type, occupancy type, fire
protection systems, utilities, fire loads,
storage, building inventory, exposures,
egress and access points, and water
supply. We look at existing building and
occupancy records and use the site plans
from our new construction inspectors.
Otherwise, we create them from the
beginning. Our inspections and prefire
tours are conducted with the cooperation of the owner/occupants.
Our preplans are entered into the department’s computers and are available to
the whole department and are also added
to our computer-aided dispatch (CAD)
system and are available on our mobile
data computers (MDCs); they are tied to
our in-vehicle mapping program for use
at an emergency scene. We also have hard
copies in the stations and on the apparatus, should the computer malfunction.
We revise our prefire plans periodically. If an occupancy or building changes,
we complete or revise our prefire plan
on the new certification of occupancy.
Craig H. Shelley, fire protection
advisor, Saudi Arabia
Response: Being an industrial fire
department, we perform preincident
response planning at all facilities and
buildings (other than residential areas)
to which we respond—structures and
vessels that make up the plant area,
response times, construction, detection


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ROUNDTABLE
and alarm systems, exposures, confined
spaces, hazardous materials, fixed and
semifixed extinguishing systems, contact
information, and a sketch of the area
to include hydrant locations and access
points. Preincident response planning
is the foundation of the incident action
plan (IAP). Mitigating fires or emergencies in an industrial setting requires
implementation of plans, preparation,
and proper use of resources coordinated
by an effective emergency management

organization. However, even with a plan
in place, success is not guaranteed.
When preincident planning, one way
to ensure all points are covered is to
use the 15-point size-up acronym COAL
TWAS WEALTHS and develop a checklist to ensure all points are considered.
Each letter represents an item to be
considered during size-up. By gathering
as much of this information during site
visits and preincident response planning,
the incident commander can format an

IAP much easier, and items to be addressed during size-up can be identified.
Jim Mason, lieutenant,
Chicago (IL) Fire Department
Response: We do prefire planning
with in-service suppression units. The
inspections are primarily on commercial
occupancies, schools, and the public
areas of mixed-use buildings like stores
with apartments. We don’t go into the
private dwelling areas of these buildings.
The primary reason for the inspections
is to look for building code violations.
The fire prevention section provides the
addresses for the companies. The information acquired goes to the fire prevention bureau for enforcement purposes.
We also do a “target hazard” inspection
in which the company determines the address to be examined. These are buildings
the company officers feel need to be gone
through much more closely than the average occupancies in the area. The decision
to inspect them is based on heavy occupancies like convalescent homes or even
high-rises, but it could also be for buildings maintained under current codes or
that have had occupancy changes over the
years. The prevention bureau does not necessarily know the criteria for these inspections, but the firefighters working in the
area know them. The inspectors look for
ways to improve the response, such as the
existence of installed systems, occupancy
problems, and initial placement of the firstdue companies. A written form is completed and turned into district headquarters.
The information is soon made available for
all units responding to the address.
David Rhodes, battalion chief,
Atlanta (GA) Fire Department
Response: Our department does not
have an organized preplan system. This
has been an on-again/off-again task that
is currently off. Preplans are now done
by self-initiative and include mostly target
hazards such as fuel storage facilities.
When we did preplans, our lack of a
central repository and distribution system
relegated the documents to a file cabinet
or maybe on the battalion chief’s vehicle.
Our department operates without mobile
data terminals, so the preplans we have
are paper copies and are limited to the
first-due station. Since our program is off


0901FE_30 30


1/7/09 9:12:07 AM


0901FE_31 31

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ROUNDTABLE
again, updated preplans are left to the initiative of the company officer or battalion
chief. Our fire companies do a minimum
of 10 building familiarizations per month,
but there is no system for capturing and
sharing the information gathered.
Bobby Shelton, firefighter,
Cincinnati (OH) Fire Department
Response: Every fire company in our
department is responsible for fire safety
inspections in their running areas. According to our procedures manual, it is the
company commanders’ responsibility to
do prefire plans of high-hazard occupancies such as medical facilities, industrial
occupancies, and educational institutions.
A copy of those plans and the information
that should be provided on the plans are
to be kept on the company level; a copy
is sent to the Fire Prevention Bureau. On
a regular basis, fire safety inspections are
performed to keep company members familiar with occupancies and any changes
that may occur within the structures. From
time to time, the district chief may have
a drill in a high-hazard occupancy in his

district so that all companies on the first
alarm can do a walk-through and discuss
strategy and tactics as well as any special
characteristics of the scene of which all
members should be aware.
Jeffrey Schwering, lieutenant,
Crestwood (MO) Department
of Fire Services
Response: We have incorporated our
prefire planning into our annual business inspection program, performed by
our engine companies. This enables all
members to take an active role in the preplanning process. The chief and assistant
chief/fire marshal approve all preplans.
The preplans are made readily available
to all platoons for training purposes. Preplans are used in company drills, including those with our automatic-aid companies, to keep all responders on the same
page. All preplans are based on a checklist
used by all personnel and contain the
size of the structure, utilities, construction,
nearest hydrant, and other information
that alerts our officers and members to
what they may face. Also, our equipment

may be on other assignments and an
automatic-aid company would be first due
to an incident in our city. The preplans are
in the vehicles of the chief and assistant
chief. Copies of the preplans are also in
the captain’s office. We are preparing to
make the preplan books available in the
apparatus for our engine companies.
The program has proven to be positive
for our community and our department. It
has been at least 10 years since our department has recorded a fire loss in a commercial business. The program will be updated
and changed as our buildings change, to
ensure the safety of all members.
Ethan Holmes, firefighter,
Wyomissing (PA) Fire Department
Response: Our department members
assist the fire commissioner in conducting
fire inspections and developing prefire
plans on the type of construction, utility
locations, emergency contact information for normal operating hours and after
hours, hydrant locations, alarm panel
locations with applicable codes, special
hazards (i.e., hazmats), fire protection sys-


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ROUNDTABLE
tems, and a drafted plan of the occupancy.
We enter all of the information into our
computers on our apparatus, where it can
be easily located by street address, occupant name, or preplan number. A current
hard copy of the plans is also kept in
three-ring binders in the cab. We annually
inspect our preplan guides and update
them as needed unless there is a change
of business prior to our annual updates.
Richard Wood, captain,
Enterprise Fire Company #1,
Phoenix, NY
Response: We did walk-throughs with
the department in the past, but no one
took notes or made a layout of the building. When I was voted in as captain in
charge of training, I made up a sheet and
gave one to all members going through
the building; if one person saw something, he could note it so that all members would know what we are looking
for in a building walk-through. After the
walk-through, we would sit down and talk
about what we saw and the problems we
found. The list of what we were looking

for was not the greatest, but it was a start.
The information gathered is kept in a
three-ring binder in the apparatus and the
chiefs’ vehicles so first-due vehicles have
the basic information on the building.
Mike Bucy, assistant chief,
Portage (IN) Fire Department
Response: We revised our prefire
planning process several times. We used
to require loads of time and data but
found the results were too “bulky” for our
needs. We have since revised the information to a one-page sheet (two sheets if a
map is included) that consists of the most
basic information—location and contacts,
hydrants in the area, size (which then
calculates needed fire flow), construction
type, hazards to personnel, and sprinkler
systems. They are put into PDF form and
added to the computers in the apparatus.
Mark K. Stigers, assistant chief,
Middletown Fire Protection District,
Louisville, KY
Response: We developed a multipage
information-gathering template for our

preplans that is included in the final preplan that gives the IC the detailed information he may need. We also put some of
the more important data on a one-sheet
“quick reference” page for the company
commanders to use on initial arrival.
Floor plans are added for new buildings
by obtaining PDF files and inserting various information on these drawings from
our preplan software. In cases where
floor plans are not available, we draw
them using the preplan software.
We now place the preplans in binders;
we recently acquired computers in the
apparatus and command vehicles and use
a thumb drive to access the preplans. It
is easier to update using this system than
going to each computer and updating;
the company commander goes to our
intranet site and downloads the updates.
Edward Moore Jr., lieutenant,
Jackson (NJ) Fire District 3
Response: We use a computer database program created by members of
the fire district. The program is broken
down into information screens for all

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ROUNDTABLE
four fire districts in town. The information gathered is also broken down into
categories: Street Preplan, Business Preplan, Residential Preplan, Fire Hydrants,
and Landing Zones.
Street Preplan shows a map of the
area along with directions from the fire
station, hydrant locations, listings of all
houses and all businesses on the street,
intersecting streets with address ranges,
and a map page overview graphic.
Business Preplan contains all informa-

tion for a commercial property. Information collected includes building construction, length, width and height, fire
hydrants, auxiliary appliances, utilities,
hazards, and pictures and maps. Contact
information includes business owner,
occupant, maintenance, and emergency
contact. Each business has a drawing of
the floor plan attached to the file along
with general pictures of the building. Each
preplan is updated annually, when the
crew performs annual fire inspections.

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Residential Preplan includes the number of stories, house type, fuel, primary
entrance, hazard information, basement,
truss roofs, and swimming pools for water
supply. A picture of Division A of the residence is also provided. Each fire apparatus
has a laptop computer with touch-screen
capability. The information is synchronized
with the main computer server at the fire
station. Responders can have access to
information about any location.
Brent Sanger, assistant chief,
Atkinson (GA) Volunteer Fire
Department
Response: Our small volunteer department has a limited number of members.
Our department conducts prefire plans
using members available at the time. Prior
to conducting prefire plans, all members
undergo a training class explaining what a
prefire plan is, how to conduct it, what to
look for, and how to address questions or
concerns from the business owners in the
area. Before we began our prefire planning, a letter was sent to all occupancies
in our district explaining what we would
be doing, why, and how our members
would be dressed. The last item was
included to help reduce security concerns
at some businesses. These occupancies include churches, schools, daycare
centers, as well as regular businesses. So
far there has been little resistance. After
all our plans are complete, full copies are
kept on all engines; simpler versions are
distributed to neighboring departments
that respond automatic aid to our district.
Susan M. Kirk, fire prevention
officer, Warren County (VA)
Fire and Rescue Services
Response: Three years ago when I
started preplanning, there were a few
plans in a file cabinet with some wellgathered information, but there was no
way to readily access it for use at an
incident. We realized that something had
to be done; I organized and revamped
this program.
Our fire suppression units now complete preplans and submit information
gathered to the fire administration, where
they get put into an organized three-tier
format. We have unit books for quick
access that include basic written information, a site drawing, and a floor plan.


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1/7/09 9:12:37 AM

ROUNDTABLE
Our second tier is our Command
book, which travels with all officers
for more in-depth material safety data
sheets on hazardous substances, aerial
and site photographs, emergency plans,
contractor blueprints, and alarm system
zone maps.
Our third tier is our digital program; the
chief, dispatch, or I can immediately e-mail
our preplans to anyone with computer access. If we should call a specialty team in,
we can e-mail them the information about

the incident with all the preplan information at a touch of a button. A team three
hours away will know the size and impact
of the incident before even leaving home
base. We have even placed these preplans
with our mutual-aid companies in two
separate jurisdictions and have made them
available to our local Sheriff’s Office Tactical Team.
Our fire suppression units gather this
information on a predetermined form so
all information is organized and uniform.

Information includes building address and
key holder information, key box information, building construction and features,
water supply and suppression information, utility shutoff locations, alarm system
features, exposures, concerns for life safety
and health, chemical and tank information,
and occupancy and hours of operation. A
written format streamlines the forms and
distribution. This program has decreased
on-scene call time and resulted in more
effective emergency mitigation. It has
strengthened our relationships with local
commercial businesses and has made us
visible to the public.
Richard Wilson, lieutenant,
Bartlett (IL) Fire District
Response: Our fire companies and
medic companies conduct fire preplans.
As we complete company inspections,
one of our members draws the exterior of
the building, noting entrances/exits, utilities, and special hazards. The preplans
are limited to the information needed
to make a great start at suppression if
needed. The problem we had before establishing this preplan committee, headed
by our Fire Prevention chief, was that
everyone wanted to see different requirements. After the information has been
gathered, it is now input into a computer
program. Our next step is to have the
information loaded to our laptops as well
as our battalion chief’s vehicle. Beyond
that, perhaps if other departments purchase that program, we may be able to
link the information so that neighboring
towns responding to our incidents will be
able to have a heads up as well.



0901FE_38 38

Paul Dove, fire marshal,
Coldwater (MI) Fire Department
Response: Our department’s platoon
members survey various buildings based
on training assignments and target hazards annually. We also create CAD preincident survey drawings based on fire
prevention inspections. These drawings
are used during the platoon’s on-site surveys; changes discovered in occupancy,
hazards, operations, and construction are
noted so the stored plans can be revised.
Information includes hazardous materials locations and products, utilities, fire
protection systems and details, emergency contacts, floor plans, hazards, acces-


1/7/09 9:12:38 AM


0901FE_39 39

1/7/09 9:12:43 AM

ROUNDTABLE
sibility, water supply, building construction, and egress points. The completed
surveys are stored electronically on our
city’s backed-up server; a copy is also
added to each platoon and the administration’s preincident survey book. The
plans are also loaded and updated to a
board laptop as necessary; updated paper
copies are distributed to all personnel as
needed. Access to the plans is available
through wireless Internet on the onboard
laptop; the plans are also accessible by
other jurisdictional agencies for use in
addition to accessible mapping and utility
plans for our jurisdiction.
Jay Womack, lieutenant,
Euclid (OH) Fire Department
Response: Our department distributes building inspection forms to
each company in the city monthly. The
company officer ensures that these
inspections are completed by the end
of the month and are turned over to
our Fire Prevention Bureau. The Bureau
conducts follow-ups when the fire company doing inspections issues a hazard

correction notice to the business owner.
The inspection cards have pertinent
information on one side: construction,
fire protection, and the emergency key
holders’ phone numbers. The reverse
side of the card has the following: a
plot plan that shows means of ingress
and egress, hazards, and utility shutoffs.
It is up to the crew to update the emergency contact information and to make
changes to the plot plan to reflect the
occupancy’s current layout.
All of the data collected on the inspection cards/preplans is entered into the
platoon chief’s computer, mounted in
the command vehicle, for easy reference
at the fire scene. These visits help us to
visualize fire conditions in the building
and run a hypothetical scenario of our
tactics. We have found it beneficial to
update our preplans. Just last week, for
example, we came across a rear door of
a commercial structure that appeared to
be a simple steel exterior door. A closer
look from the inside revealed a second
door constructed of metal bars that had
three deadbolts. This information went

on the inspection card preplan form; it
may one day save a life.
George Potter, fire protection
specialist (ret.), Board of Governors
of Spain’s Firefighters Association
Response: Prefire planning is a vital
part of the emergency response plan. This
document should include the following: accurate descriptions of the facility
including location, access, construction
information, and data on the activities
carried out; fuels present and their locations and quantities; specific hazards; fire
protection measures; resources available
(and those recommended/necessary); and
proposed emergency response actions to
be executed within the entity’s internal
structure (should you confirm alarms and
evacuate, leaving the situation for the local
emergency services to resolve, or stand
and fight according to their capabilities
and safety levels?). These internal response
documents make it possible for firefighters
and officers to foresee what could happen
and how to act before a relatively small
incident can become a disaster.


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ROUNDTABLE
One of the major faults, however, is
that often a business or an industry will
say that the emergency plan is in compliance with workplace safety legislation
and effect only minimum implementation, limited response personnel training,
little or no simulated emergency situation drills, and so on—without inviting
the local fire department to come, watch,
and participate.
However, if the fire department is
invited to take an active role in the

implementation of the plan, comment
on the results, and contribute suggestions for improvements, industry will
have a solid partner to work with if and
when an emergency should occur in
the establishment. A great number of
occupancies (industries, hospitals, commercial malls, high-rises, and so on) are
required to have emergency response or
self-protection plans. You should have
copies available for all personnel in the
department for consultation, to coordi-

nate visits and tours, and to participate
in the practical training of their personnel. Once you get these elements into
your response procedures, the chances
of successfully resolving emergencies
improve dramatically.
Thomas Sharpe, lieutenant,
Hilda (SC) Fire Department
Response: Ours is a small-town
department, but we do have preplans
on hydrant location and gallons per
minute (gpm) information, basic facility
information, type of construction, utility
disconnects, unusual hazards, exposures,
inside firefighting equipment information, needed fire flow, and after-hours
contact. The plans are for businesses and
places of public assembly.
Nick Morgan, firefighter,
St. Louis (MO) Fire Department
Response: All front-line companies
are required to conduct a prefire walkthrough inspection of buildings in their
first-in still district at least three times
per month on each shift. Of course,
not all of our companies take this as
seriously as they should. We have a
basic guideline for each inspection that
requires companies to record or update
information on building layout, fire suppression or detection systems, the number and locations of nearby hydrants, the
locations of utility shutoffs such as gas
and electric, the locations of annunciator
panels and emergency exits, a very basic
description of construction type, and a
brief narrative specifying which companies will respond to a first-alarm fire and
the positions they will take on arrival.
The information is compiled and kept
in binders, which are kept in the office
of each company’s captain. This is one
of the most important routine tasks
fire companies can perform. However,
I believe the information we require is
insufficient for the hazards presented by
modern methods of building construction and fire loading. With the many new
buildings being erected in our city, companies need to go out and walk through
these buildings while they are under
construction to see how they are being
built. Finished buildings are deceptive.
We are seeing increasing numbers of
buildings with lightweight components


0901FE_42 42


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0901FE_43 43

1/7/09 9:12:55 AM

ROUNDTABLE
such as trusses and wooden I-beams, tilt-up masonry walls,
and lightweight steel framing and wall studs. In addition, many
of the older buildings in the city are undergoing all types of
rehab work, which completely changes the layout and fire
loading of the structures, as well as adds lightweight building
components to buildings that previously did not have them.
On-duty companies should take every opportunity to visit
these buildings, especially during construction or rehab, and
become familiar with their layout and the hazards to firefighters created by the modern construction materials and practices.
This information should be assimilated into a computer-based
preplan system so that all of the companies in the city have
ready access to it if a fire should occur in one these structures.
Hugh Stott, deputy chief,
West Chicago (IL) Fire District
Response: For several years, our companies were out doing
prefire surveys—measurement of the footprint of the building,
the location of the key box, the location of the utility shutoffs,
building construction hazards, overhead wires, chemical storage, the direction and distances to hydrants, and the location
of alarm panels. That information was then entered into a
computer to be converted into a usable and consistent format.
We have been using mobile data computers for a few years
to bring mobile mapping and incident information from the
fire alarm office to our first-due apparatus. The data must be
kept current. The keyholder and contact information is kept
as current as practical by the alarm office, which receives the
information from the Fire Prevention Bureau.
Mike Reeves, captain,
Lynchburg (VA) Fire Department
Response: Our department conducted surveys in the past and
filed them away, never to be seen again. We are now revisiting them under the name of “fire safety surveys.” This time we
purchased a computer program in which to store the surveys.
When a company is dispatched to an address where one of these
surveys has been conducted, a pop-up on the responding unit’s
computer makes the information available to all responding
units. This program is in the early stages; it will take a long time
to cover all businesses in town for information on water supply,
hydrant location, key information, contacts, the building size and
occupancy, and much more. In addition to information, digital
photos and aerial views of the structures will be available.
Rick DeGroot, deputy chief,
Summit (NJ) Fire Department
Response: Our small municipal department protects a
suburban city of 25,000 in the NY/NJ metro area. We have
recently implemented a program in which the suppression
shifts are responsible for conducting preplans of commercial
and multifamily buildings. Each platoon is assigned two building locations a month and performs site visits as a group while
in service. One of the shift battalion chiefs is responsible for
coordinating the program with the four duty shifts. Information includes construction type, occupancy, building status,
emergency contacts, building size and layout, location of utility

0901FE_44 44


1/7/09 9:12:56 AM


0901FE_45 45

1/7/09 9:12:59 AM

ROUNDTABLE
shutoffs, fire suppression and detection
systems, exposure information, water
supply availability, access problems, and
any other hazards. The building is then
given a numerical rating based on all of
these factors, resulting in a risk assessment score.
The crews also take digital photos of
the building from all exposures and also
try to get a picture of the roof. A drawing is also prepared using CAD software
to produce interior floor plans and an

exterior plot plan of the building. We try
to secure floor plans from the building
owner, if available. All this information
is then uploaded into a commercially
available software program that allows
access via the Internet. We are also in
the process of equipping our front-line
apparatus with laptops to access this
information in the field. Our experience
has been very positive so far. Building intelligence is a critical component of what
we do, and many of us have overlooked

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it for years. Taking advantage of available
technology to get this critical information
to our firefighters at the emergency scene
can help to make our jobs safer and to
better protect the public.
Chris Stephens, lieutenant,
Decatur Township (IN)
Fire Department
Response: Unfortunately, our department has no formal prefire planning program. The administration will support
company officers who want to initiate
an aggressive prefire planning program
within their companies.
The company with which I operate
began an aggressive prefire planning
program two years ago. We began with
the buildings in our immediate response
area and then spread out into our seconddue areas. We looked at several types of
preplan sheets and chose one used by
a neighboring department. It includes
address, occupancy, building construction type, box assignment, exposures, fire
flows, predicted strategies, and anticipated
problems. We use the reverse side of the
sheet, which is blank, to draw a rough
sketch of the building layout. If the building is a simple structure, we record all
interior walls, doors, etc. The more complex the structure, the more we do not do
this. At the least, we record the building’s
shape, egress/ingress points, hydrant locations, and gas/electric meter location. If a
building has standpipe or sprinkler connections, we record their locations along
with the location of the riser rooms.
Once the information is finalized, we
put the preplan sheet into a binder that is
kept on our engine. We do this to allow
the first-due officer to refer to the information or to pass the binder on to the IC
if it is a working incident. The final step
is to pass the information on to the other
shifts; this is done verbally, or the officer/
firefighter reviews the preplan sheets. If
there is a serious building hazard or code
violation, we notify our code/prevention
department immediately.
Andy Krajewski, battalion chief,
Golden Gate Fire Control
Rescue District, Naples, FL
Response: We have prefire plans
on every front-line apparatus, reserve
pumper, and shift battalion chief’s ve-


1/7/09 9:13:00 AM

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