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One Aspect of the 360
I understand that all buildings, for various reasons, will not get a 360 performed on it during a fire. But, for those that we do get to job around, we need to understand what we are looking for.
I recently spoke with an acting officer and asked him what he was looking for when performing a 360. His answer was "fire." I asked what else? The answer came, "ways in." We need to make sure we are taking advantage of the information being made available to us while we are circling the building.
This post is going to focus on some basement indicators. The pictures shown below are just examples of things you might see when making the round. Keep in mind that at night you need to take a hand light. For example, the wood behind the basement windows below may not be noticeable with shining a light in the windows on the way around.
We must pay attention to what we are looking for when conduction the 360. As you can see, we may be faced with some very challenging situations. Not only do we need to be aware during the initial arrival, but the RIT will need this information as well.
As always, follow you own operational guidelines and train hard.
This and other topics will be discussed during one of my presentations at Fire Rescue International 2011. I am presenting for the Company Officer Development track and hope to see you there.
Jason
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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It's been a long time since I had to fight a basement fire, but there are some basics:
1) Never trust the grates. They get old, rusty, and they won't stop heat, smoke, and fire from obscuring your vision, burning you, or even dropping you into the below-grade pit.
2) NEVER set up an aerial ladder outrigger/jack on a sidewalk grate. You're asking for the grate to fail and destabilize the truck or even tip it into the building.
3) Take a TIC as well as a flashlight. The flashlight won't help you see through smoke, steam, or vapors. If you have several basement windows in the below-grade pits, the TIC can tell you which one is hiding the seat of the fire at least some of the time.
4) If you remove a grate for a defensive attack, make sure that you establish a safety zone around the open pit with barricade tape, cones, other firefighters, etc. It's pretty easy to fall into those things with the grate gone, especially at night or in smoke.
5) Look for wierd stuff in the pit. I've seen gas meters, illegal electrical feeds, stored propane cylinders, old chemical containers, and lots of other craziness in those things. The lower rent the district, the more likely that you'll run into this type of problem.
6) Don't lett stuff fall on you from higher up while you're using your tunnel vision on the grate. Look up as you approach the grate, then look down. It's better to approach in pairs - one looking up and around, the other sizing up the grate and the basement fire problem.
You can eradicate this problem, though. Just move to the beach where the soil is sandy, the structures are built on concrete slabs, and people ask you "What is a basement?" :-)
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Permalink Reply by Roy Walker on
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On the side of safety as well as looking for means of entry it is imperative that you note means of egress. ONCE THE MAYDAY IS CALLED rit should own this valuable information. Exposures too must be evaluated and considered in your action plan.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Fey on
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While i agree the 360 needs to be done, once the RIT team arrives their officer in charge should complete their own 360 as well
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Is this based on RIT being a special service assignment in your area?
In some departments, every member is RIT trained and RIT is simply another fireground assignment, not something that only specially-trained companies can perform.
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Permalink Reply by Todd on
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We don't have a specific company assignment for RIT, instead either assigning an arriving company, or building a RIT team from arriving personnel. The times that I have been assigned as the OIC of RIT I do a 360 sweep as a team and we discuss what we see as we go.....points of entry, layout of the structure, what challenges we think we may encounter, etc. If we are activated I want everybody assigned to RIT duties to be as familiar with the structure as we can be because it's going to be confusing enough as it is. If we know that because of the small, frosted decorative window located midway down the C sector wall combined with pipe vents directly above that in all likelihood that is a bathroom we now have a reference point if someone advises they need help and are in the C sector. That is just a brief example of how a 360 can give you a leg up if the worst case scenario happens and you have to activate.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I agree with a RIT team doing their own 360 as well, foremost to have an idea of where companies are operating to locate the quickest means of egress, not just the way the attack team went in. Secondly conditions can rapidly change and routine 360's should be done on the fireground, RIT should also be watching for such changes in conditions, not just relying on the first in 360.
For us, every member is trained in RIT and anyone could be on the RIT team at any given time, even on the same fireground, you could be attack first, rehab, and become RIT. 360's are important, even for RIT to do. However, we try to watch corners of the building (size determined) with a RIT member at each corner and maintain visual contact with two other RIT members.
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We set up RIT in a very similar manner, but we try to keep the RIT staged with the cache as an intact team.
We usually have chief officers watching the structure unless it's early in the fire and the chiefs haven't arrived yet.
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We keep the cache staged near the main entry, but it can be easily deployed if needed elsewhere. The reasoning for RIT to watch the structure is to view conditions and also recognize different egress points for faster access. So if a MAYDAY was called on the second floor, it may be quicker to get a ladder up to a window and make entry than to go in through the entry used.
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I understand, but if you have a couple of extra chiefs, they can do the watching and direct RIT to the closest access point without the delay or wasted energy for the RIT team to assemble, pick up the cache, and go to the access point.
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We do a proactive RIT approach and the cache really isn't much to move. The biggest issue is getting air to a downed FF so that is the first priority. We don't have saws and jaws, and stokes, etc with the cache because there is a limitation on equipment. Our cache consists of air, rope, SKED, irons, TIC and whatever hand tools the crew takes with them. Priority is to get in and get air to a downed FF and from there the team can size up if more tools are needed or the best way to get the FF out.
By RIT being involved and proactive they are also aware of the conditions and building instead of sitting back and shooting the shit waiting for a MAYDAY. RIT can throw ladders, shut off gas, force entry to other egress points etc, just as long as they are ready to go if needed.
As for extra chiefs watching, yes it can and does happen, but why would there be any issue with a RIT team keeping an eye on the building as well? Afterall it is the RIT team that is going in and doing the task, not the chief. Ideas can be discussed with the RIT officer and chief, etc, but in the end, it would be the RIT team making the entry and knowing what they will need.
So you're RIT teams just stand around if they aren't needed?
Not ours. They will get the gear off the truck and assemble it by the entry the attack and back-up are using. They will ladder, shut off gas, force entry if needed in early operations and will monitor conditions, etc as the scene progresses.
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Permalink Reply by capcityff on
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That's exactly what I was looking for. Some think that you have to be standing there at all times ready to go. Personally, I don't see how throwing a ladder or cutting security bars off the window makes you not ready. Really it just makes the job more efficient and safer if something does go wrong. Good to hear your department recognizes that.
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