Older Large Apartment Building

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Comment by Skip Coleman on February 2, 2014 at 11:28am

Good comments and I will.

Comment by Justin Renner on February 2, 2014 at 11:04am

On scene search size up would show a 2nd, 3rd and 4th floor involved structure. Smoke out of the sky light relays that the common hallway is compromised. With heavy fire in the living room (front) the bedrooms and kitchen are between the fire and the rear exit. I normally would not stuff a two man hose team and a three man search crew into the same apartment but I think this would be a good exception to that rule. There is a high probability that if there are victims in the fire apartment they would have been overcome on their way towards the fire escape. Having all three search members to get victim/victims down a fire escape will help out. With smoke comprimising the common hallway I like the idea of a truck company setting up on the "C" side. It is a good idea due to the size of the structure alone but it will also aide in the removal of concious and unconcious victims until the main stairwell and "A" side exit can be used. I would then focus my search attention in the oposite 2nd floor apartment. Then moving up to the 3rd and 4rth floor my main foucus will be on the search of "B" side apartments. If the inside apartment doors are intacked and locked I will likely pass them up untill my return trip back down or for a secondary crew. "B" side apartments should be forced and search with a standard oriented search. The officer can stage the search from the living room while the FF's search the bedrooms and kitchen area, the bathroom should be and easy peek(with a TIC) and swipe by the officer. As stated by Jon, I too look foward to these "posts" every month, please keep them coming.

Comment by Jon Nickerson on January 23, 2014 at 10:07am

Yes sir. I have found if you have a strong "base" plan, that makes it easier to make decisions in the field faster. I love these articles, and I wish more people would comment on them, as its a good learning tool for everyone. Everyone can take something away from it and it allows people to see how others do things.

Comment by Skip Coleman on January 22, 2014 at 5:48pm

Great start Jon. Are you getting comfortable with "developing a search plan".

Comment by Jon Nickerson on January 22, 2014 at 3:31pm

I feel like every one of my answers is going to start out by saying water on the fire is the first course of action. There is a good amount of fire pushing out of division 2 A/B side. I would start my search by entering the front door and working my way to the fire floor with the hoseline crew. Let the attack crew take the apt to the left while we search the one on the right. Depending on how fast knockdown occurs would take us to our next option of either searching the fire room or continuing to division 3, 4. I think as far as rescue operations are concerned, a ladder truck on the AB side of the structure would be ideal to allow for pick offs with the aerial. Check for extension into the other side of the building sooner than later. As far as search technique, I think most would agree that TIC directed/lead search might be the first option in this scenario.