Firefighters Support Foundation

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Firefighters Support Foundation

• Wildland/Urban Interface Fires
• --------------
• Structural Preparation and Protection
• v1.0

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About FSF

• The Firefighters Support Foundation is a 501c3
  non-profit organization whose primary mission is
  to develop, produce and distribute training
  programs to firefighters and first responders.
  All of our programs are distributed free of
  charge.

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Permission

• Permission is granted to reproduce or distribute
  this material so long as the Firefighters Support
  Foundation is credited as the source

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Accompanying Video

• This PowerPoint presentation accompanies the
  video presentation of the same title.

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Presenter

• Scott Magers has over 34 years of public sector
  fire service experience. He currently holds the
  position of Battalion Chief with Hillsboro Fire
  and Rescue, Hillsboro Oregon. Additionally,
  Chief Magers is a Type 1 Incident Commander with
  the Oregon State Fire Marshals Office, overseeing
  one of their Incident Management Teams.

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Wildland/Urban Interface Fires
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Background

• In 2013 the National Interagency Fire Center saw
  more than 47,000 wildfires burn off 4.3 million
  acres.
• From 2004 2012 more than 13,000 primary
  structures were lost in the United States due to
  wild fires.
• According to the US Fire Administration In 2012,
  9,326,238 acres were burned in the United
  States. That is an area bigger than NJ,
  Connecticut and Delaware combined.

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Situational Awareness

• You cant determine how to fix the problem , if
  you dont know what the problem is!

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Situational Awareness

• Find out where the leading edge of the fire is,
  in reference to the location of the structures
  you are protecting.
• Know the fuel, weather, and topography of the
  area.
• Are there maps of the area or subdivision?
• How much time to do you have before the fire gets
  here?
• Has structural triage been done for the area?
• Is the area evacuated?
• Is electrical power working in the area?

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Situational Awareness

• Know the 10 Standard Firefighting orders and the
  18 Watch out Situations and how they apply to
  your area.
• What resources are available?

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Structural and Site Preparation

• Evacuate civilian personnel and animals (animals
  will require you to use your best judgment)
• Remove combustible objects from the perimeter of
  the home (boats, campers, trash receptacle, fire
  wood, etc.)
• Clear all vegetation from around the structure to
  a distance of a least two to three times the
  anticipated flame length.
• Prepare the structure by closing windows,
  removing light curtains, closing interior doors
  to limit fire spread, turning off fans and
  coolers, disconnecting any gas/LPG services,
  leaving on electricity, making sure all of the
  entrance doors can be opened, etc. In addition,
  make sure that a porch light and a central
  interior light are left on.

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Structural and Site Preparation

• Use garden hoses to fill engines tanks and
  buckets
• Pre-treat the structure with a class A foam, if
  available
• Ladder the roof. (Use homeowners ladder, if it
  is safe. If you will be staying with the
  structure, use the fire departments ladder)
• If the structure has an electric generator, start
  it
• If portable pumps or alternative water supplies
  are available, prepare them for use
• Close the garage door and disconnect the garage
  door openers, so that if you lose power you still
  can get in
• Note all hazards, including power lines, septic
  tanks, terrain features, private bridges and LPG
  tanks, roof mounted satellite dishes, or any
  structure on the roof

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Structural Protection

• Structural Fire Protection is divided into the
  following categories
• Apparatus Positioning
• Deployment for Structural Protection
• Mobility
• Methods of Confronting the Fire at the Structure
• Spotting situations
• Contain the fire fully
• Partial containment
• No containment possible
• Retreat
• Dont underestimate the value of a good exit
  strategy!

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Apparatus Positioning

• Note landmarks and hazards as you approach the
  scene
• Back your engine in from the last turnaround if
  the driveway is short
• Park your engine so it does not block traffic
• Avoid parking next to flammable vegetation, under
  power lines, near LPG tanks or other potential
  sources of intense heat
• Park engine to facilitate structural protection
  within reach of the hoselines
• Survey the area for hazards such as septic tanks
• Review maps and survey the area
• Identify and communicate escape
• routes and safety zones
• Monitor fire behavior

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Deployment for Structural Protection

• Check your personnel protective equipment (PPE),
  including fire shelters
• Brief the crew use the Look Outs,
  Communications, Escape Routes, and Safety Zones
  (LCES) principles
• Ensure that the occupants are apprised of the
  most current evacuation orders
• Quickly survey structure and surrounding areas
• Advance two 1 ½-inch hoselines in the direction
  the fire is coming from, around each side of the
  structure, not to exceed 200 feet
• Ladder the side of the structure away from the
  fire
• Advance a hoseline to the roof to extinguish any
  brands or small fires
• Place a garden hose in the engine tank filler or
  alternate water source
• Use hoselines on the ground to suppress or steer
  the fire around the structure
• Be prepared at all times to pick up and deploy as
  the threat passes

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Mobility

• Never allow your company to become tied down.
  Limit your hoselines to 200 feet.
• If you must retreat in a hurry , leave your hose
  and, if possible, take your fittings and nozzles.
  
• All hoselines should be taken off the same side
  of the engine and should not block egress. They
  should never block the street or cross in front
  of the apparatus.
• The roof may be protected by the pre-placement of
  a hoseline, or in some cases the residents
  garden hose.
• A hoseline should always be available for the
  protection of the apparatus.
• In large scale incidents an engine may be
  deployed to lay out hoselines for the protection
  of structures ahead of the fire. Engine
  companies will remove their nozzles and reconnect
  them and their engine to the preplaced hoselines.

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Confronting the Fire at the Structure

• Spotting Situations
• The biggest problem with spot fires is
  extinguishing the fire brands before they start a
  larger fire. Attempt to extinguish spot fire as
  quickly as possible before they grow.
• If you find yourself in a spot fire situation
  make sure you have a lookout in place. Lookouts
  will be able to see of the spot fire will cut off
  your egress if you need to leave in a hurry.

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Confronting the Fire at the Structure

• Contain the fire fully (extinguish and/or control
  the fire) as it approached the structure or the
  yard
• This technique may or may not involve the use of
  water
• In those cases where it does not require the use
  of water, the fire may be slowed significantly by
  removing the fuel and the extinguished with
  handtools

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Confronting the Fire at the Structure

• Partial Containment is used when you can control
  the fire prior to reaching your structure.
• This carries the most risk to your personnel
• The rear hoselines attack and split the fire from
  the rear of the structure
• The lines are then moved to the front of the
  structure where they control the fire at the
  sides of the building and peel the fire away from
  the building
• Then working back toward the rear of the
  structure
• As the main fire passes, hoselines are then used
  to extinguish spot and smoldering fires in the
  area of the structure
• Check for any extension into the structure

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Confronting the Fire at the Structure

• Should the fire be so large, or traveling so
  fast, that no direct attack can be mounted, a
  no-containment-possible mode is selected
• This mode is very dangerous to firefighters, YOU
  MUST have a safety zone identified and are ready
  to retreat, should it be necessary
• The objective is to cool the structure to
  withstand the heat as the fire passes
• You are also relying on any pre-treatment to the
  structure that your crew was able to perform
  prior to the fire reaching your area
• DO NOT STAY LONGER THAN IS SAFE. RETREAT TO YOUR
  SAFETY ZONE WITH PLENTY OF TIME TO DO SO!

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Confronting the Fire at the Structure

• As with any structural attack, these methods of
  defending a structure may be used in their purist
  sense, or they may be used in conjunction with
  each other.
• Make sure you have a good grasp on your
  situational awareness before determining what
  method you will use.

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Retreat

• Do not overstay your ability to safely meet your
  objective!
• At times it will become necessary to retreat due
  to the intensity of the fire
• Take care in retreating
• Other companies may be doing the same
• Civilians may also be leaving the area
• Your egress may have changed because of the fire
• Maintain your situational awareness during your
  retreat

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Suppression of the Wildfire

• Many structural fire departments are becoming
  increasingly involved in the suppression of
  Wildland or Wildland/Urban Interface Zone fires.
  There are two methods of attack
• Direct Attack
• Indirect Attack

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Direct Attack

• The direct attack method generally works best on
  fires burning in light fuels, or on low-intensity
  fire accessible to the firefighters, enabling
  them to work close to the fire edge to perimeter.
• Direct attack usually begins by selecting an
  anchor point and advancing hand lines directly
  around the fires edge or perimeter. Flames are
  knocked down with the water or throwing dirt on
  the fire.
• Crews then follow up behind scraping the
  vegetation to mineral soil along the edge
  creating a fire line.

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Indirect Attack

• A method where the control line is located a
  considerable distance from away from the fire
  active edge.
• Indirect attack is accomplished by building fire
  line some distance away from the fire edge or
  perimeter, and then burning the fuel between the
  fire line and the edge of the fire.
• Indirect attack also takes advantage of natural
  and manmade barriers and allows selection of the
  final perimeter control edge.

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The best Defense is a Good Offense!