One Giant Step for Truckies: How to safely manage parapets

By Peter F. Kertzie

The amount of energy we exert scurrying up an aerial ladder to a roof can range from minimal to extreme, depending on the angle of the ladder, the load we’re carrying and the weather, smoke and fire conditions. One thing we can count on during our ascent: There will be sturdy, evenly spaced rungs under our feet the entire time. And if we’re using a platform or Snorkel and simply riding a bucket to the roof, we can be very confident in the safe little cage we occupy along the way.

But our sure-footedness will only remain as long as we’re on the aerial device, especially when parapets are involved. Parapets can range from several inches to many feet tall, meaning when we move from an aerial device onto a building with a parapet, we may be taking a big step down.

Not only can it be difficult to get down, but it can also be challenging to get back up. After all, you’re fully loaded with your PPE and tools, and you’re required to make a controlled descent from your aerial device down to the roof surface, then presumably perform some type of truck work on the roof’s surface. And then you’re required to fight gravity by maneuvering your way back up the parapet and onto your aerial device.

Basically, you need a game plan for safely getting onto and off of the roof.

Because we don’t all have the same types of aerial devices, I can’t explain exactly how to do this on each type. So it’s up to you and your crew to go out in your response district and train on moving from your aerial device to a parapet to a roof surface and back.

I’ve played around with some methods and would like to share what I’ve found. You certainly don’t have to do what I’ve done, but if you don’t want to devise your own methods, feel free to use mine—or start with mine and improve them.

Basic Aerials
For basic aerial ladders, throw your stick up to the rooftop so the ladder overlaps the visible roofline by about 5 feet. Ideally, you’ll have a roof ladder (or a straight ladder) mounted on the top fly of the aerial so it’s easily accessible and so you don’t need someone to get one of your ladders from the rig and send it up the aerial ladder—a labor-intensive and cumbersome job.

Once you have the selected ladder (roof, straight or ground ladder) at the top of the aerial ladder, slide it down the parapet until the butt reaches the roof’s surface. Tip: If you’re right-handed, work off the right side; if you’re left-handed, work off the left side.

One rail of the ground ladder will now rest against one rail of the aerial ladder. I like to tie off the ground ladder to the aerial so I can be somewhat certain that my ground ladder stays where I want it to as I descend to the roof’s surface.

It’s also important to foot the ladder as best possible. Try to do so using the roof’s surface or some other construction feature on the roof, such as a buttress. If there’s nothing to foot the ladder with, you’re probably OK. Tying off the tip, working at a steep angle and ensuring that the butts are pressed into the roof surface as best possible should provide you with a safe passage down. Once the first person is down, they can foot the ladder for the others. (For information on mechanically footing ladders, see “Put Your Best Footing Forward,” June 2006, FireRescue, p. 52.)

Platforms
Aerial platforms are great for getting us up to where we want to go, but once you open the bucket’s door, you may be faced with a formidable drop to the roof’s surface. Although it would be nice to have an escalator at this moment, a ladder will have to suffice.

I tried to find the perfect way to position the ground ladder so it’s not only secure but also easily accessible from the bucket’s gates. Of the buckets I have access to, I find that placing the ground ladder to the side of the gates and tying it off to the top railing affords both comfort of use and safety. Of course you should check that the ground ladder is sturdily planted in the roof’s surface or footed by some rooftop structural feature before transferring your weight from the safety of the bucket to the ladder.

If you have an articulated aerial device, moving up and over parapets will be much easier. Having spent my early fire years working on a Snorkel, I have firsthand knowledge of their unique ability to go up and over parapets. Unfortunately, this type of apparatus is rare today but there are a few articulated aerials currently on the market.

Here’s your history lesson for the day: Sometime around 1974, a patent was granted to John L. Grove for an aerial platform with an articulated jib. What does this mean? Well for one, you can add “jib” to your vocabulary. Couple it with “articulated,” use it in a sentence and you can impress your friends. Toward the end of the top fly of an aerial device, there is a section that articulates; this section is called a “jib.” Having this articulation means aerial devices can overshoot the parapet and then drop the jib section down, allowing the platform to get closer to the roof’s surface.

Parapet Brackets
A short while ago (pre-BC promotion), I was called into work at a station that had just received a new 100' midship tower. I put my turnout gear onto what would be my red-and-white-striped office for the next 15 hours, and a conscientious crewmember (“Chill Will” Holiday) began to show me around the rig so I could become a productive member of the four-person crew.

We got around to the back and I glanced up at the bucket. At first glance, it looked just like all of our other buckets I’ve seen. However, there were little silver appendages on the side of the bucket. I stared at them for a while, trying to figure out what they were without having to ask for help, but it never hit me so I just asked, “What is that?” The answer made so much sense that I wished I had held out a little longer to determine the answer on my own.

The strange-looking appendages—parapet brackets—were there to help attach a roof ladder (or straight ladder or double-ended roof ladder) to the side of the bucket so truckies could easily climb out of the bucket and down to the roof surface. Basically, they are two brackets attached to the side of the bucket—one at the top and one at the bottom. The distance from bucket to roof will dictate where on the brackets the ladder will attach. The ground ladder is set into the bottom bracket. The top bracket is folded down over the corresponding rung next to it and then locked into place with a pin. “And there you have it,” Holiday said. “You now have a safe and sturdy method for bridging the gap between the bucket and the roof.”

There are a couple different versions of the parapet bracket on the market. One removable, multi-use bracket that’s used for Stokes baskets, rappelling and parapets fastens to an aerial’s bucket. While I was writing this column, firefighter John Cetrino of Boston Fire Department’s Rescue-1 told me about a recent fire he responded to at an airplane hangar at Logan International Airport. The roof had a formidable parapet wall, so Boston’s Tower-3 used an attachable bracket to fasten a roof ladder and safely get to the roof.

In Sum
The purpose of this column: to bring attention to the fact that parapet walls can pose a problem when you’re working off an aerial device and to offer some viable solutions. As with most challenges we face, there are probably many right ways to safely access roofs where parapets and other obstructions get in our way. There are certainly wrong ways to handle these obstacles, too. Get out and try different methods—this is the only way to confidently say that you’re capable of taking a giant step off of a parapet.

Peter F. Kertzie is a 21-year veteran of the Buffalo (N.Y.) Fire Department. He is currently serving as a battalion chief and was formerly a lieutenant and captain at Truck-14. He is a New York State-certified Municipal Fire Training Officer and holds a bachelor’s degree in business and an associate’s degree in fire-protection technology.