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Search to the Fire - let's call the 1st-due engine's assignment what it really is,
Search to the Fire
It's a fact of life that most departments only have the manpower to choose between our two most high-priority assignments - Search and Rescue or Fire Attack. Look at any Command Post tactical board or handheld tactical worksheet/job aid, and you'll see those two priorities front and center.
For those of us that don't have enough first-arriving firefighters to do both at the same time, there's an answer. It is a compromise that may not completely accomplish both primary goals, but it's realistic for the average house fire. That assignment is "Search to the Fire'.
For a 1st-due engine company, that assignment means to do what usually happens anyway - the engine will select a line, take it inside, and drag it through a primary access-egress route until they find the seat of the fire and hit it. If, on the way to the fire, they find a victim or victims, they make the rescue, protecting themselves and the victim with the hoseline if they can.
If there is no EMS on the scene and the rescue is successful, the pump operator can provide basic patient care (oxygen, first aid) while the engine crew re-enters to do further Search to the Fire.
Engine companies are limited to primary access and egress routes most of the time - dragging hose is going to limit your route of travel. If you don't have a truck company or other unit close by to do the search without a hoseline, then you're going to be limited to the primary access route, anyway.
Most command post boards and tactical worksheets don't have Search to the Fire as an option. Maybe it's time that we recognized what the 1st due engine actually does a lot of the time and start calling it what it actually is.
If we assign the 1st engine to Primary Search, then they're going to be slowed if they drag a hoseline and unable to fight any real fire without it. If we assign them to Fire Attack, they sometimes get "Candlemoth" syndrome and go straight to the flames without looking around for victims that might otherwise be found.
Search to the Fire tools for a two-firefighter team include the following
Charged hoseline with appropriate nozzle
Married Irons
Thermal Imager
Personal tools (door chocks, lights, wire cutters, screwdrivers, etc.)
If you go heavier than that, you may have so much stuff that you'll be ineffective at both the search and fire attack assignments.
It's a fact of life that most departments only have the manpower to choose between our two most high-priority assignments - Search and Rescue or Fire Attack. Look at any Command Post tactical board or handheld tactical worksheet/job aid, and you'll see those two priorities front and center.
For those of us that don't have enough first-arriving firefighters to do both at the same time, there's an answer. It is a compromise that may not completely accomplish both primary goals, but it's realistic for the average house fire. That assignment is "Search to the Fire'.
For a 1st-due engine company, that assignment means to do what usually happens anyway - the engine will select a line, take it inside, and drag it through a primary access-egress route until they find the seat of the fire and hit it. If, on the way to the fire, they find a victim or victims, they make the rescue, protecting themselves and the victim with the hoseline if they can.
If there is no EMS on the scene and the rescue is successful, the pump operator can provide basic patient care (oxygen, first aid) while the engine crew re-enters to do further Search to the Fire.
Engine companies are limited to primary access and egress routes most of the time - dragging hose is going to limit your route of travel. If you don't have a truck company or other unit close by to do the search without a hoseline, then you're going to be limited to the primary access route, anyway.
Most command post boards and tactical worksheets don't have Search to the Fire as an option. Maybe it's time that we recognized what the 1st due engine actually does a lot of the time and start calling it what it actually is.
If we assign the 1st engine to Primary Search, then they're going to be slowed if they drag a hoseline and unable to fight any real fire without it. If we assign them to Fire Attack, they sometimes get "Candlemoth" syndrome and go straight to the flames without looking around for victims that might otherwise be found.
Search to the Fire tools for a two-firefighter team include the following
Charged hoseline with appropriate nozzle
Married Irons
Thermal Imager
Personal tools (door chocks, lights, wire cutters, screwdrivers, etc.)
If you go heavier than that, you may have so much stuff that you'll be ineffective at both the search and fire attack assignments.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Firefighter Nation WebChief on
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Moved to Strategy & Tactics forum,.
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Permalink Reply by T.J. on
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Well said Ben, my department can do all that and we pretty much do but not every call is the same so you need to be able to adjust to different things, but we're never affraid to call for help. :)
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Permalink Reply by Moose on
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Excellent points! I like the tactic and definitely agree. But heres something to think about. Regardless of who arrives on scene first, we need to remember our 3 fire scene priorities which are Life safety, incident stabilization, scene preservation. So If I get on scene to reports of trapped subjects...the engine just became the rescue. If there are no reports of trapped people or people are unsure, than this tactic comes into play. The other thing to remember is sometimes a quick knockdown of a small fire takes away the danger to the victims, followed by good ventilation you could than do a rapid search and get the victims out. Just a thought to add! Good Topic!!
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Permalink Reply by Brian Goodwin on
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With all that has been addressed in this thread. It just reinforces that there aren't any cookie cutter fires. You have to use common sense and judgment instilled in you through training. Only then can you decide what tactic to use on a fire. Very good thread here, all valid points and great thinking material. BG
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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Moose,
When I wrote this, I wasn't thinking about a fire with a report of persons trapped or the 1st-due engine being able to hear screams from the upstairs bedroom.
I was thinking of heavy smoke showing, fire from Side C at the C-D corner, the house buttoned up, 3:30 PM on a sunny spring day, and a car in the driveway.
Is someone home or not?
In other words, if we know we have an entrapment problem, the 1st company is searching for life, period.
The "Search to the Fire" assignment is more applicable to situations where it's uncertain if anyone is inside or not, but you know that the 1st-due engine will be fighting the fire at some point.
Thanks for your comments,
Ben
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