It has been a couple of weeks since we’ve had a good series of comments about any particular subject… I was looking through some old comments and decided to bring this one up front so everyone could read it again. It originally appeared under the “Vertical Vent… Whatever it Takes!†discussion a few weeks ago. I didn’t want this important topic to get lost in the weeds.
The effective search is quickly becoming another “lost art of the fire service.†With the availability of thermal imagers, and other changes throughout the fire service, searches are either not being done efficiently, effectively, or sometimes not being done at all. Ask yourself this… On the last search you preformed, if the thermal imager malfunctioned, would you have been able to complete the search, or even find your way out?
Or how about this question…(Regardless of the interpretations of the highly misunderstood rule of two in/two out) You pull up to a residential structure in the middle of the night, a small room and contents fire, car in the driveway, bikes in the yard, no-one outside, DO YOU GO IN AND SEARCH? I think the answer should be obvious….But you’d be surprised.
The first comment to this post is a cut and paste of one of our reader’s opinions of the importance of the search…. What’s your opinion? –Jimm-
Originally posted by Hey Boss on August 15th, 2006
Ok, now that we have achieved the vertical vent let’s get inside and find someone. Wait that could be a dangerous act that might place firefighters at RISK. Is this not what our job is a calculated risk, hell why train if we are not going to take risk? I have and we do fight fire from the safety of the outside. Will this save your loved ones, NO will it save your brother firefighter the one that new he would have to take a risk someday? NO it will not, our job much like the men and women who have fought for this country and any other country that their Commander has told them we will defend. Has had to take some risk now I’m not saying we should have a death wish. But this is why we train so that we can reduce the RISK and place the odds on our side.
Search – how do we know that the building whatever size or type is vacant, empty or that no one is home? We won’t or don’t until we get inside and search!!! If you lack the skills, knowledge and most of all training to do this then take as many classes as you can. I know you have the equipment to do it hell you work for the fire service; even COPS carry scba’s and extinguishers. So now we must decide who is going to take on this risky task. It doesn’t matter what vehicle he came on and we know what I’m talking about. It just needs to be a dedicated spot or seat with the right tools for the job (bigger hammer isn’t the answer). If your department has guidelines for search then you follow them. If your training provides you with knowledge greater than what your guidelines tell you, which would you, rely on? I’m not telling you to disobey an order by any means. But if my training has taught me to size up smoke and fire conditions within the building. Then why would you follow the guidelines knowing that it is not the quickest path to possible victims?
This is the start of the plan we have decided to search based on our size-up. If we can’t decide which direction to travel then we must use our guidelines. Don’t add to the confusion in stead make an impact to turn things in your favor. Remember we are not always going to use the front door or any other door for that matter. But people are creatures of habit I quit using the windows to get in and out of my house many moons ago. So remember our training has taught us to size-up the building. The hose team is going in through the door we hope from the unburned side. They might find someone that attempted to make the door that same door they use day in and day out.
But what about the other means to gain entry yes I am talking about VES. Just the other day at the firehouse we were talking or as in most cases trying to solve all of the departments problems. It was being discussed as to why sometimes VES is done in areas other than bedrooms. Remember we should be doing VES for bedroom areas that more than likely are cut off from the doors that people use on a daily bases. Yes this applies to Office buildings or any other type of building or room that would not allow access to the door.
This is where I’m sure we will not agree do we work in pairs or by ourselves? Yes I know there are standards and regulations that require us to work in pairs for safety. Last time I looked fire is a dynamic thing ever changing based on its surroundings. It does not follow some standard or regulation. If we cannot adapt then we will not overcome, so maybe we should have just stayed home or better yet find another job! Your department’s manpower, number of units including mutual aid ones should dictate your search procedures. We must think of our job as that of a pit crew we only have seconds to clear the building if we want to make a difference. Remember the 4-minute clock started when the fire started. Each fire fighter must cover as much area as possible. So why do we always see the search train one guy holding on the foot of the other?
We are not looking for someone’s engagement ring we are looking for bodies and better yet we are hoping to find that someone that is still alive.
Ok so I have vented long enough and yes I may not have covered the whole search thing from front to back. But I guess this will give me something else to write about. I always give Jeff a hard time to for being so long winded and then look what I have done. I apologize for my lack of writing, grammar and spelling. Hell I think that’s why I joined the fire service thinking I would not have to write, boy was I wrong! Just wish I had paid as much attention then as I do now when taking classes that may save my life or someone else.
The Boss put it pretty well! Educate yourself and train your ass off. That will enable you to calculate these risks on the fireground. I’ve said it before…”Damn I love this site”!
1st lets discuss the TIC. The TIC was primarily used for the military but know of course has made its way into the fire service with relative inexpensive compared to the value of life. But in the same instance we are creating very bad habits by depending on the Tic as the best thing sense sliced bread. Lets face it all of are guilty of this at some point there career. We take the camera and walk right through the house while not conforming to traditional search patterns I.E. right and left hand crawling searches. The victims are at the floor there not gonna be standing waiting for you to save them in structure fire. I have personally heard at my own department that TIC’s failed with a white out screen because the camera had gotten to hot. That’s right to hot! We were looking into purchasing several new ones and we tested Bullard, Morning Pride, MSA, and Scott. What we found was that some failed in a burn room. The Morning Pride helmet mounted Tic literally became inoperable to due the excess amount of heat it was placed against like the others. That’s just one example. TIC’s provide for a quicker more efficient search when applied with the correct uses of search techniques. We have brothers dying because they became complacent with a camera in the hands. Also, the cameras do provide excellent picture when working properly, but they do not show depth perception IE: stairs. They will also get you deeper into the structures with a short amount of time. That’s great but if you do not have enough time to get out what do you now? When it comes to engine attack are becoming more popular because they can lead you directly to the fire in a shorter amount time for quicker extinguishment, great, but if you abandon traditional ways to locate the fire where are you now. The TIC’s are not perfect remember human error applies somewhere in here. The only way good searches are done by getting your rear in gear get in a do what others have been doing before us. TIC’s should be used to augment all avenues of the fireground, but not replace it. When applied to RIT teams same principles apply but, who’s more important the victims or our brothers? Lets face it, when activated as a RIT team, crap has already gone seriously wrong grab the TIC, your tools, and yes a search line because the 1st thing is just to find them, then get them out.
Tics are great, but please be reminded that they can will fail at anytime without warning!
Well said guys! Unfortunately, complacency and relying on technology has become a big problem these days. We have less fires therefore the troops have less “real life” experience. Therefore, training has become even more critical!
Great Post, Had a T.I.C. go down on me while doing a first in primary with one of the new guy’s. His question to me was, what do we do now Capt.? My answer was, we don’t rely 100% on technology, we rely on what we learn on drill night.
Bikes outside, car in the driveway, after dark household- and no one outside of the house on fire. Do we go in? A resounding yes should be our answer. In the limited manpower arena, with having three personnel on scene for a good while, then an adequate hoseline needs placement to stop and/or extinguish the fire. Where we have the luxury of having a stronger manpower base to arrive, then a soon to arrive crew needs to be in there finding the folks who expect us to find them. One consideration, dare I say it, is “nozzleman, stay here and finish this off- I’m heading to the bedrooms to get the search…” We signed on to this job to save lives and protect property. Obviously we do so, with the proper risk assessment. But sometimes the “safe” trend is to assess the risk to the point where it’s so safe, we might as well have not bothered to respond. We might not get paid much (at least not what we are worth, but will we ever?) but the pay is for being firefighters. We are given gear, training and apparatus to respond on. The citizens we are tasked to protect have a romantic vision of what firefighters are. Sometimes, we blur that vision with a member getting a DUI, or getting in a fight or worse. But we should never let them down by not doing our duty to protect them. To save them from what man fears most-fire. To not do so, we might as well consider ourselves well-dressed spectators to emergencies.
One comment on the TIC.
Usually when a department trains with a TIC it is non-fire conditions. It may be in smokey conditions, but no fire.
Because there is no heat in the atmosphere a firefighter or victim will show up what color on the TIC??? White. Correct. This is becasue the firefighter or victim is hotter thatn the ambient atmosphere.
Now take the TIC to a fire. We train our people to look for white images that look like people. WRONG!!! In a fire the victim is usually cooler than the atmosphere and therefore shows up darker on the screen.
Keep this in mind while you train. Ensure you get this point across to your personnel, otherwise may crawl right over the very person you are there to rescue.
Some camera manufacturers have a reverse polarity option on the camera. This can be used for training where there is no heat. With the reverse polarity feature hot objects show dark, and cooler objects show white. This simulates aactual fire conditions and will give you a true look at what you are searching for.
I have had a TIC go down on me as well… first in to a heavy box alarm at a huge 6 story office building. Second floor was filled with smoke from what turned out to be an electrical short. We had bailed off into this building without paying a whole lot of attention to the basics only to get a kick in the ass and brought back to reality. Until then I hadnt realized just how much stock I put into the TI. I’ll admit I was caught with my pants around my ankles and the wind a whistlin’ but I wont do it again!
This is more of a question about search or when search is indicated and maybe can be posted as another topic.
I’m pretty new to the fire service. I was wondering…if we pull up on scene and the “occupants” are standing outside of the house and tell us there is nobody still inside, do we still do a search right away? I’m a firm believer that our first job is life safety. The question I pose to you is, what if the people standing outside don’t really live there or are homicidal? Should a search be done on every fire scene if conditions allow it to be done?
I love this site. I have learned a lot from it.
J,
Great question! Here’s my take on it. The building is only clear when the Fire Department says it is! I’ll give you a more probable scenario then the homicidal maniacs out front (although you get extra points for creativity on that one!) Look outside your house right now, if your backyard neighbor’s house was on fire, would you go try to help? Is it possible that you could make entry through the back side of the house, only to find out that your neighbors evacuated out the front? They could be outside telling the arriving units that the house was clear, yet you would be inside, and could have become a victim yourself. It’s not as uncommon as you think, I have seen it many times, and fortunately no-one was hurt. Although I do believe Orlando had a civilian fire death because of this exact scenario. I’ll check and have one of those guys chime in…
Of course, there are many factors that may influence the decision, but as a rule of thumb, it’s only clear when we say it is! -Jimm-
Never, Ever assume on the fireground. Do the search. Who knows, maybe you can safely rescue the family pet that nobody thought to grab on the way out.Just remember, your safety comes first.
After a lawsuit made us drop the term “ALL CLEAR” our department changed to “Primary Search”. Once the initial search is complete companies report “Primary search Complete”. A primary search must be conducted at each and every working incident. As stated above, daddy homeowner may not really know who is out or still in the house. Indeed, others may be inside without his knowledge ie the off-duty fireman, daughter’s late night study partner, other kids from a slumber party etc etc. Worse yet, homeowner may be under the influence and has no clue. When initial units roll up and are met by a homeowner who states all is well, trust or gut feeling or whatever comes into play. Does this person seem credible? If so, then we can gait back a little and continue with a search. I report “occupant advises that all are out”. I am still going to conduct a primary search. If intuition tells me somethings out of place, then we most certainly continue with a search. Only after a primary search is complete can a secondary search be conducted. This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised at how many people want to report a primary and secondary search are complete in the same radio txmission. Secondary searches should also be assigned to a company that did not conduct a primary in the same area. This prevents the same areas being searched in the exact same way, lessening the chance of discovering that which may have be missed
One thing I remembered from one of my first calls about 15 years ago when I was a junior firefighter….
We rolled up on the classic scene–first in on a residential fire in a neighborhood with closely spaced houses, heavy smoke and a frantic woman who came running up to the engine yelling “my baby is in there”.
“Baby” turned out to be the annoying, yapping mutt that followed the engine company around for quite a while during the search for the small child that didn’t exist. Ironically, had the homeowner said her dog was in there and everybody else was out, the freaking mutt would have been pulled out in about a minute flat, as the first-in team and the dog found each other within a couple minutes.
On an unrelated note–when you have a high-energy wirey pooch running around inside the place, what is your normal response? I remember a humerous incident watching one of our crews try and wrangle a 30-odd pound furball-on-speed, as firefighters in SCBA practically dove onto the floor trying to catch him. Anyone have any encounters with pitbulls or other agressive dogs inside a structure? What were the results?
One of the guys just showed me the site, I think this is great, wish I would have known about it awhile ago.
My 2 cents… the terminology we use is “Primary search complete – nothing found”, “Secondary search complete – nothing found”. Only then can the IC report an “All Clear”. We have been using it for over ten years and it works well.
As far as using the TIC inside; I used one on a rescue of a 70’s y/o woman last Feb. I don’t remember if her image on the TIC screen was light or dark compared to the surroundings, but what I do remember was that her image stood out clear as a bell. The TIC worked as well or better than advertised!! (or at least it did for me in this particular situation). I also agree with what most of you have said, you can’t relay on the machine. We have to be proficient at our basic skills to be good at this job. One of my favorite quotes that relates to this topic is “Some guys are so busy learning the tricks of the trade, they forget to take the time to learn the trade.” – Anonymous.
The TIC is tool, it can be helpful. But it also can be relyed on more then our senses. I believe a fire fighters best friend is instinct. I am from a rural department with no truck company. Yeah…im sad about that one. But, in performing the same type of operations on fire scenes, I see the TIC utlized and relyed on to a degree for which it was not ment for. I agree with others in saying that we must not forget the basics. Maybe other departments have instances similar to this. The TIC is a great extension of our senses and I would encourage more training on search techniques before throwing complex machines. As far as search and rescue go, we have three goals on the job. Life safety, incident stabilization and property conservation. People come first, so dont wait. Pull em out!! Be safe and god bless
When I first started I had a Lt. that once told me that you have to train mentally and Physically. One of things that he was big on, besides staying fit, was air comsumption drills and blind searches. I must say that I have never forgotten those principles and the meaning behind them. I currnetly go over them with our guys at my house. The drills I go over has helped guys keep a track record on index cards of the amount time on air while working (30 min btle) and giving them self initiative to do better and be more controlled each time. Searches have gotten guys mentally sound to where they can focus on other things in a calm manner. If you do these drills though we also cannot forget about buddy breathing practice, mayday calls, how to find a secure spot if needed to by time, and how to get of entangled wires, that kind of stuff. I agree the “TICK” is a great tool and we train with it as much as we can, but we should never forget that it is just a tool and that it can break or stop working at any given time. It makes me sad to see that some of guys have beocme to dependant on it instead of utilizing it as an extension as once described. BLS before ALS. Most importantly “EVERYONE GOES HOME”. God Bless and Be Safe out there. Love the website and appreciate the information.
Respectfully,
Eng. Ken Blanton III #204
Being a firefighter for 15 years, I have seen a good amount. One thing I have experienced, is finding bodies of people and pets well after the fire has been knocked and the smoke has cleared. There have been a few incidents around my county where these people have been crawled on and walked over and firemen not known that they were there. In all incidents, these people were probably dead well before the first units were even there. They have been charred or under a mattress or dresser that had fallen.
The most recent grab that I made with my partners was on a secondary search. The primary searcher stated he went into the bathroom, but must have not gone all the way in. Even though she and her child succumbed shortly after being found, it was aggressive S&R by the crew in no visibilty and moderate that found her. TI’s are good but nothing is better than the basics.
In regards to the fire scenario mentioned – our default mode as a truck company would be to gain entry, initiate a search and confine the fire. That being said, we are very fortunate in our department to have the ability to put an adequate number of well-staffed companies on a fire in a very short period of time, barring unusual circumstances. Any type of company that we operate (engine, truck and rescue) is generally very quickly and aggressively supported by the other companies.
The first-due truck will gain entry and start a search of the fire floor, barring unusual circumstances. The inside team consists of the officer with a hand tool and TIC, irons man (irons) and can man (6′ hook and can). The tool assignments leave us well equipped to perform a search prior to the first line being placed into operation. The can in particular proves itself invaluable on a regular basis; we are often able to slow the growth of a fire, confine it to a limited area or extinguish it as the engine company runs their line. The can has also provided essential time to perform a search prior to the arrival of a line.
The caveat to all of this is to not assume anything. While we almost always have an engine company arriving simultaneously or right behind us, there have been instances where companies have been responding ‘out of position’ or where the regular box alarm companies have been committed to other incidents. Members need to pay attention to whom is responding and from where, particularly if you’re working in the first-due truck.
While the can is often affectionately (and accurately) nicknamed the ‘Silver Bullet’, like everything else, it does have limitations. Doors confining the fire can (and will) burn through, TIC batteries can die and the can will eventually run out of water. Members performing a search when the can is being used need to be aware of this and the can man needs to keep everyone appraised of how much time they’ve got remaining to make their moves.
All of this being said, these thoughts are based on my department’s staffing, deployment, tactics and the area that we operate in.
As far as TICs are concerned, they’re a tremendous tool, but at the end of the day, a TIC is an electronic instrument with a battery. Electronics can fail and batteries have a finite lifespan. All ‘moving parts’ eventually fail. We teach recruit firefighters that they shouldn’t be doing anything with a TIC that would result in their disorientation if the TIC suddenly disappeared. These units should be used in unbreakable conjunction with traditional search, suppression, overhaul and orientation techniques.
For our purposes, the officer carries the TIC and will direct the other members as needed in a ‘camera-directed’ search. This also allows the officer to supervise the troops. We’ve found these units invaluable in master stream operations, both in accurately directing streams and monitoring fire/building conditions through smoke when performing water tower operations and for engine companies working at ground level. From a defensive standpoint, the cameras can greatly reduce the amount of time (and danger) put into exterior operations.
As far as checking for extension, PLEASE don’t just rely on the camera. When in doubt, look, listen and feel. Look for blackened paint, smoke, steam, embers. Listen for crackling, hissing, etc. Feel with an ungloved hand for some heat. OPEN STUFF UP. The hook has never been wrong – if you’re not sure, make a hole and be sure. It’s cheaper to replace some sheetrock than to replace what’s left of a building. If we’re not sure about (possible) extension, the only way to completely be sure is to expose the area of concern.
As always, you guys are doing a tremendous job on a great site.
Be safe.
During a recent residential fire, we encountered a nasty pitbull. It bit me twice, once on entry and once when we were trying to remove it from the fire building. Eventually we waited until the smoke put the dog down and then wrapped her head in a sheet from the bed and carried her out to the waiting family.
Here’s one on aggressive dogs a brother firefighter related to me. We work in a less than desirable neighborhood, lots of criminally challenged individuals conducting “business” out of row homes. Apparently, some of these enterprising gentlemen have taken to removing the larynx (voice box) from pitt bulls or rottweilers, and leaving the dog inside the residence. The result is a big bite with NO BARK!!
In regards to the TIC and an effective search, aren’t we taught to search without the camera first in probie school, then add in other tools? Let’s remember the basic principles, then build on them with technology. We can’t let a car drive itself just because it has cruise control… that same theory applies to firefighting: do it right, the way you learned it, and use the tools available to you to supplement.
Stay safe, and stay smart!
In regards to the aggresive pit bull there is nothing like a baseball swing with a Halligan to do the trick!!!
I think Jeff Matthews made a good point a while back about using TIC for searches. A person will be a little darker considering the fire will raise ambient temperature in the room. Thus, making it easier for a person to be mistaking for a typical object in the household.
Technology these days has gone way too far. It has helped dramatically but what you have to look at, are the side effects. Yea, because everything these days comes with side effects. You could miss someone completely by mistaking them because they aren’t coming up as white as you think they should.