The Sunday Preach

The Sunday Preach

The Backup

An often overlooked and under-appreciated job on the fireground that if not executed with perfection will hamper any fire attack. To be a pro understand what you need to do, not what you want to do and this tip can help you accomplish that on your next job:

"To perform the backup well is to understand and facilitate the pace of
the fire attack. If the backup is operating in a hallway, the focus is to push the hose up the hallway so it snakes in an “S” formation against the two interior walls. As the line advances, you will see the “S” return to a straight line. If another turn is not made and there is no need for the backup to slide up the line, maintain the “S” in front of you until the conditions demonstrate a knock on the fire.Do not push. Hopefully that is clear enough. This is not a technique to see how quickly you can push the nozzle operator into the fire. Nor do you want the one firefighter who will be in the most dangerous position, the seat of the fire, to lose the lifeline (the nozzle) because you pushed it out of his or her hands. It can be difficult to relocate even a charged hoseline once you become separated from it, and the guilt of causing an injury or death is not worth the display of your strength. Facilitated and honed through training and demonstrated on the fireground, the backup and nozzle operator must know each other’s pace and have that firm trust between one another." Page 160

What's the most important tip you share with your fellow firefighters so they can be combat ready as the Backup Firefighter?