its 3:30am your pager goes off...."working structure fire , unknown occupants..two story residential a frame dwelling called in by passer by"
heavy smoke in area
what would u do from your point of view (rank/role or position)
I'll give a version for this scenario. We'd be paged for this as Structure fire Code 1 (that's lights and sirens for us), House fire, the address and which other Station has been turned out in support. Any structure fire for us has automatic support.
So for me personally, I'd be out of bed, dressing, and into the car and off. Possible on the first truck out, the Pumper. On turning the Pumper out, we'd get any further information available to dispatch. As soon as smoke was sighted in the area, we'd upgrade the call to a 'going fire' and make up to probably four pumpers (we don't use the 'Alarm' system, we just call for whatever extra assistance we require). On arrival there'd be the normal 'size-up' then we'd be into our standard procedure: RECEO... Rescue Exposures Containment Extinguish Overhaul.
(Notice how simple our acronym is Michael? And by the way, your home-grown one wouldn't be allowed here - sexist overtones.)
This is the approach taken in my area - suburban. Would be followed where possible in the rural areas, but their support can be some distance away. We're a State-wide FRS.
SCARIE-PMS to me means that hazmat calls are scary at night or paramedics are scary. Don't see nor wish to recognize the sexist overtone here... Yea, I know what you were thinking and if this is an issue, simply use SCARIE-PM and always be safe to share this and oh... don't forget to stage equipment. Regardless, it's now locked in your head. Things that are simple tend to do that.
RECEO is always going to be the bread and butter routine ops for handing fire suppression hands down. Everyone uses this. But as a company officer, this does not give you a simple step by step direction as to what you communicate over the radio for the initial size up and direction for the call. I'm sure that for you to have this opinion, you have to have had a number of responses where this philosophy has worked for you. The department that I work for is considered a full-risk department or in other words, what ever the call type is, we will handle it. So, out of necessity, and as a new Captain 7 years ago, I had to come up with something that helped me remember what it was that I was supposed to do as a Hazmat Fire Captain with both structure and wildland suppression responsibilities.
What RECEO is not addressing is the need to do a size up, establish command, get additional resources, isolate the incident if it involves hazardous materials, evacuate people, find someone to help you out, identify what you are working with and staging equipment while always thinking of safety.
Today's responses require a lot more to be done than fire suppression. Using the SCARIE acronym addresses these other concerns for company officers responsible for setting up a command system and organizing the incident. Fighting the fire is the easy part, giving everybody assignments, controlling your resources, staging equipment and working together as a team are the key ingredients that make this possible. RECEO simply does not handle all of this.
Yea, this is out of the box thinking and maybe a little too progressive, but it's cool to at least have the ability to share with one another how we do what we do. I respect your use of RECEO as a guide but implore you to consider thinking outside of the box. I've been doing this job now for 35-years and I have learned to always be open to new ideas. Thanks for listening... TCSS, Mike
PMS - PMT are pretty well interchangable here. That's where I see the sexist overtones, using a well known acronym for a different purpose. Maybe it's just here. And sorry if it seemed I was trying to teach you suck eggs with RECEO - I have no idea which of our numerous acronyms are ours and which have wider use.
Perhaps for the other, I was still in the mode of the original post, ie a house fire. I can see where you are with a Hazmat, and yes a house fire can become a Hazmat incident. But I was sticking with the OP. Perhaps what I wasn't too keen on with your acronym, is that you have to search for the words with the required 1st letter. The letters of the acronym don't jump out. And I'm also not keen on acronyms that lead into sentences. Just a personal preference.
Out of the box? Maybe, or just another acronym? Albeit one that could very well help some people. Too progressive? No, not really. The need for size-up, establishing command, additional resources, etc. are covered in our training right from the start. They are normal routine.
Safety is always our major concern, for us, for victims, for the general public.
go get engine get some other firefighters, pack up and do a search of the house, if the roof is still intact---if the roof has falling take a defensive approach to it.
Permalink Reply by T.J. on September 1, 2008 at 7:37am
I head to the station, pack up in the engine, get a game plan with my crew as we're enroute to the scene, as to who the rescue team is and who the attack team is, get on scene and check scene safety and determine if its a interior attack or defencive fire, and go from there.
I like your train of thought here. You are a fair and reasonable person, that is obvious. Getting the discussion out there, sharing thoughts and approaches to how we deal with things. There is no right way to do any of this. When we make those on the spot quick decisions, we use what works for us. After reading your post, I decided that I need to revise the acronym so there is no potential for offending anyone. I think I'll use RECEO from now on until I can think of something else... : ) Mike
Our initial dispatch for all reported structure fires is us and three mutual aide departments. we feel it's better to have the help coming.
Because at that time of the morning it takes longer to get trucks out the door. When we arrive on scene and do not think they are needed we either cancel them or have them stand by in station to cover us incase of another alarm.