TRUCK COMPANY OPERATIONS

It Takes 2 … : Hooks at both ends of the ladder simplify roof operations

By Peter F. Kertzie

It’s easy to become enamored with the newest, fanciest and most technologically advanced products that fire service manufacturers can come up with—especially those being pitched with the most “flash” or displayed with the help of a model in a bikini top and bunker pants. The excitement caused by some of these new and shiny products is certainly warranted. I remember the first time I held a Zippo lighter to Nomex; I was amazed when the cloth-like material didn’t ignite. What a breakthrough!

Once we return from vendor shows or fire conferences—and we’re removed from all the product pageantry—we can take the time to determine which products really have the potential to improve our operations without incurring a great cost to our department. I recently came across one such product: the double-ended roof ladder. That’s right—a ladder with hooks at both ends.

The Status Quo: 1 Set of Hooks
Most of the aerial apparatus here in Buffalo have a 20' roof ladder mounted to the top fly of our aerial ladders. The 20-footers are too long to fit inside our ground ladder storage area, so the fly of the aerial became their home out of necessity.

Accessing the roof from the aerial usually involves extending the aerial device to the peak and then throwing a roof ladder onto the roof with the hooks over the peak to hold it in place. We can then work off the roof ladder to vent the building. The 20' roof ladder is usually more than long enough to accommodate our needs.

Our aerial-mounted roof ladders are stored with their tips (and hooks) toward the tip of the aerial. If we need to ladder the roof on the same side as the aerial ladder, we simply open the hooks, lift the ladder off of the side and drop it into position while hooking it on the peak.

If we want to ladder the opposite side of the roof, then we have to spin the ladder around over our heads to position the hooks on the opposite side of the ridge. If we’re working off an aerial platform, this job is awkward, but not terribly difficult because we’re standing on a flat surface and have the bucket’s railing to safely hold us in place. But if we’re working off a straight stick, things can be a bit more awkward. It’s hard to balance on the rungs of the aerial and simultaneously twirl the ladder around overhead.

When laddering a building at the peak, having the tip and hooks of the roof ladder mounted aiming downward toward the lower end of the aerial ladder would allow us to deploy the roof ladder straight off the end of the aerial, as placing the hooks over the ridge would be the last step in the process. If the hooks are located at the tip of the aerial, you’ll have to do some maneuvering to get the ladder into the correct position.

Another scenario where a double-ended roof ladder would help: Sometimes a roof ladder is on one side of the ridge, and we need to move it to the other side. If the ladder had hooks on both ends, we could just guide the ladder over the top. The hooks at the bottom of the ladder on the original side of the ridge would become the hooks used to attach the ladder to the top of the ridge on the other side. But with hooks at one end only, we must spin the ladder around overhead to move it to the other side of the ridge.

I was discussing this maneuver with some friends from the Milwaukee Fire Department, and they showed me a method of hand placement they’re taught in rookie school specifically for spinning roof ladders overhead on the ridge of peaked roofs. While sitting, straddling the ridge, the truckie pulls the ladder up the side of the roof so it’s centered on the ridge. He then crosses his arms and grasps two rungs in the middle of the ladder. As he lifts the ladder, he should rotate his arms and spin the ladder’s tip to the opposite side.

This maneuver is a nice way to spin the ladder around overhead, and it works pretty well. But don’t forget that the ladder is still swinging around and could hit obstructions or other firefighters working in the immediate area, so be careful.

Looking for a Solution
After awkwardly rotating a roof ladder around over my head one day, it became apparent that if hooks were at both ends, this entire process could be eliminated. So I approached our “Carpenter Shop” (which is responsible for testing and maintaining our ground ladders) about the viability of adding hooks to the butt end of one of our roof ladders.

We discussed the facts: A straight ladder is constructed in the same manner as a roof ladder, and a straight ladder is exactly the same forward or backward, except that it has two butts attached to one end and two rounded caps attached to the other end. You could easily remove the caps and butts and reattach them to the opposite ends of the ladder—it would still be the same ladder. So why can’t we attach hooks to both ends? It would be like “Push-Me-Pull-Me” from the movie “Dr. Doolittle”—functional on both ends.

Our carpenter shop agreed to attach the hooks on the other end—simple and quick and we were on our way. The ladder was put back in its nesting place on our aerial ladder. All platoons were briefed on the alteration and agreed that it was a big improvement.

For a couple years we went about our business using the double-ended roof ladder. In my travels and conversations with other firefighters, I told them about having hooks at both ends. Every single one of them showed interest in the hooks or indicated that they wanted a ladder like this.

Getting Compliance
I contacted a couple ladder manufacturers to determine if we could purchase a ladder with hooks at both ends. Duo-Safety Ladder told me that they’ve made a couple ladders like this as a special order for some departments. I got the impression from them, however, that having hooks and butts at both ends didn’t exactly follow with the wording in the NFPA description of an approved ground ladder. It’s not that the ladders are now unsafe; rather, the wording in the standard describes tips and butts, and a double-ended ladder would only have butts.

It seemed to me that they thought that ladders of this type wouldn’t meet NFPA guidelines, as the NFPA alludes to compliant roof ladders having both a tip and a butt. I’m guessing some interpreted that to mean that the tip and the butt had to be constructed differently. In my opinion, the double-ended roof ladder was not addressed in the standard because the concept had not been brought up yet. As a member of the NFPA Ground Ladder Committee, I plan to submit the double-ended roof ladder concept for inclusion in the next update of the standard.

Naysayers may argue that without a tip with rounded ends, the butts could snag or get jammed up into roofing materials. Understandable. I could see this happening, but only if you failed to open your roof hooks. Hooks in their opened position will allow the roof ladder to roll nicely over any roofing material. The only time the hooks would not help by rolling over roofing material would be if you were sliding the roof ladder up at a right angle to the roof on one of its beams. In this case, rounded caps on the end wouldn’t be of any help anyway, as they are as flat as the beam when the ladder is on its side.

When I was in rookie school we were required to push the roof ladder up a peaked roof on its side. I think this was the “official” way fire departments were supposed to teach this task—a task probably developed by someone who never had to actually do this or any related job (such as roofer, carpenter or chimney sweep) on a regular basis because it certainly was not the most efficient method. The tip would often catch on the bottom edges of the shingles or the tip would venture off in odd directions as I pushed.

Once I was working on a truck and pushing roof ladders up on a regular basis, I found that the roof ladder would topple over from the side, and I would end up pushing the ladder up with the upper tip resting on the hooks of the ladder. As it turned out, this was easier than fighting with the edge of the shingles and required less energy, which I am all about. After playing with this for a while, I found that if I was pushing the ladder up with my right arm, I would aim the tip to the left of my target slightly and the tip would end up just where I wanted it at the peak. The same happened when I would do the opposite with my left arm.

Anyway, not having the little rounded tips turned out to be a non-issue, and the absence of them does not impede our work. NFPA 1931 4.1.33 gives a description of the ladder tip as rounded. In my personal interpretation, once I open the hooks, the tip is rounded.

Finally, the Product I Want
Every once in while, I would inquire with the ladder manufacturers about the availability of a double-ended ladder constructed to comply with NFPA specifications. I usually expected to hear that it was not available. That was until one fateful day in the spring of 2008. I ran into a rep from Duo-Safety Ladder who told me that the double-ended ladder was now available and that its general construction is NFPA-compliant. A question over section 4.1.3.3 of NFPA 1931 requiring rounded tips applying to the double-ended ladder still loomed, so Duo-Safety labeled these ladders with a small sticker stating that these ladders were a special size and “not a standard model.”

A couple months ago, the East Amherst Fire Department in suburban Buffalo needed a roof ladder, and I suggested the double-ended version. They ordered one, and when it was delivered I met the truck at the firehouse to unload it. I used a Halligan (of course) to rip open the wood and cardboard crate. My eyes grew large as I pried chunks of wood away from it. I think it sparkled under the apparatus floor lighting.

At what cost does this innovation strike our tight budgets? It’s amazingly reasonable for something that will enhance our everyday operations, takes no extra space, requires little or no training and, most importantly, improves safety. The additional cost to a roof ladder is around $100.

Note: Ground ladder manufacturers do not condone end users altering ladders.

Final Thoughts
At a recent truck operations class I taught at a fire department conference, I asked for a show of hands from those attendees who had a wall or straight ladder. Not one hand went up. We simply don’t purchase these anymore. No more one-piece hookless ladders. We’ve evolved. We now purchase roof ladders. Fortunately, someone realized the senselessness of purchasing a 20' straight ladder when you could purchase a 20' roof ladder. Why not just order them as roof ladders? They do the same job and more and the cost is not that much more. The purpose of this column is to move us forward to a day when all roof ladders will be double-ended. Future generations will wonder how we ever got by with hooks at one end.

Peter F. Kertzie is a 20-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.