Where firefighters come to talk training

Peaked Roof Ventilation

What is your department's policy on peaked roof ventilation? Does the policy differ for peaked roofs in Single Family Dwellings versus other types of structures?

We don't currently have a policy but there is one in the works.

Please include a brief synopsis of your department including the typical response to a residential fire.

We respond with 3 Engines, 1 Ladder and a Chief. A confirmed working fire gets another engine and EMS. Engines are staffed with 3 or 4, ladders usually 4 but sometimes 3 or 5.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jamie Morelock on January 29, 2009 at 3:26pm

Ventilation always, but how is up to the IC or the company officer when the IC is not specific. Peaked roofs are usually cut on well advanced top floor fires in private dwellings, and as a pre-emptive measure on garden apartments, which has been found to make a huge difference in our success saving the building in this type of structure. Our SOP only covers the tactic of ventilation, not how.

Permalink Reply by Mike Hochstetler on February 22, 2009 at 6:16pm

Our first alarm is 4 Engines, 1 Ladder, 1 Battalion Chief, 1 Safety Officer, and 1 Medic unit. Engines are staffed with 3, ladders 4, and Medics with 2. We don't have a written policy but on single family dwellings we generally start with horizontal ventilation unless the fire appears to be in the attic. There are 2 reasons for this, 1 it is less labor intensive and faster, 2 on a single family dwelling if the h*** in the roof is off by a few feet it can miss the fire room entirely. The engineer of the truck and his firefighter generally are assigned the task of ventilation on our dept. However if there is a chance that the fire has reached the attic we do use vertical ventilation. When we go to a peaked roof we are supposed to take a roof ladder for safety. I hope this helps. Stay Safe.

RSS

Welcome to
Fire Engineering Training Community

Sign Up
or Sign In

Or sign in with:

Policy Page

PLEASE NOTE

The login above DOES NOT provide access to Fire Engineering magazine archives. Please go here for our archives.

CONTRIBUTORS NOTE

Our contributors' posts are not vetted by the Fire Engineering technical board, and reflect the views and opinions of the individual authors. Anyone is welcome to participate.

For vetted content, please go to www.fireengineering.com/issues.

We are excited to have you participate in our discussions and interactive forums. Before you begin posting, please take a moment to read our community policy page.

Be Alert for Spam
We actively monitor the community for spam, however some does slip through. Please use common sense and caution when clicking links. If you suspect you've been hit by spam, e-mail peter.prochilo@clarionevents.com.