Emergency Vehicle Operations, Apparatus Placement and Purchasing

At the scene of a three story wood frame dwelling fire the engine company is making a push into the attic to cut off the fire extension into this area. For some unknown reason the attack line goes limp and the engine crew is without water. Due to the high heat conditions they back down to the second floor stairwell where they attempt to regroup, radio to the engine chauffer to call for water and prepare to make another push into the cockloft area. Over their portable radio they here numerous radio transmissions about the loss of water from a supply line and realize that they are now cut off from the first floor due to heavy fire below them that is now advancing up the stairwell. The engine officer radios to the truck officer that they are now trapped on the second floor stairwell and need a portable ladder positioned on side B to escape from the advancing fire. The outside truck crew who was in the process of throwing ladders to the third floor on side C rapidly deploy a 24 foot extension ladder from their apparatus and assist the engine crew thru the window to a safe position outside.

What happened here? A set of circumstances that can and will occur at just about any working fire where portable ground ladders are utilized at every incident to not only provide a means of escape for trapped occupants, but most importantly and more often for our own personnel as well. There have been many friendly station kitchen table debates over who is more important on the fire ground; the engine company or the truck. One thing is for certain, there is probably no more important tool at the scene of a working fire than a properly positioned aerial or portable ground ladder that could be used by fire fighters to permit their rapid and safe egress from a structure when conditions deteriorate and things begin to go wrong.

Ground ladders have been carried on fire apparatus since the horse drawn era and over the years has become a lost art in most fire departments. While the deployment and positioning of ground ladders at various types of structures requires constant training and the development of basic fire ground SOP’s, in many cases we find that the responding truck companies do not even carry an appropriate array of portable ladders to adequately cover all four sides of residential structure. There are several reasons for this which we will explore further.

In many departments, staffing levels on ladder companies is minimal and upon arrival at the fire ground there are simply insufficient personnel to simultaneously conduct a primary search, outside ventilation, control utilities and position a sufficient number of ground ladders and the aerial device to cover all four sides of the structure. If your departments running assignments do not consistently provide for a minimum of 20 personnel on the first alarm chances are there are important fire ground task that are not getting done, leaving our personnel at risk. (Insert the Chart here).

If your department does not operate a ladder company or the unit is not staffed then it is imperative that the responding units carry a sufficient number of portable ladders to cover the buildings in your response area. This may require having the engine company equipped with several extension ladders or having a special service unit outfitted with a compliment of ground ladders including a 28 foot 35 foot extension ladder and several roof ladders of different lengths to supplement the ground ladder capability of the department.

Since 1914 when the first edition of the NFPA 1901 standard on Fire Apparatus was published, this document has guided fire departments on the minimum design requirements for new units. Remember here that the standard is a minimum standard and that your department should be looking to exceed this benchmark. Going back into history, less than forty years ago the minimum requirement for ground ladders on aerial devices was a total of 228 feet. Over the years the minimum standard compliment for ground ladders has been reduced to the current level of 115 feet on aerial devices and 85 feet for quint apparatus. Additionally NFPA 1901 states that the 115 foot compliment should include one folding ladder, two roof ladders and three extension ladders. In many cases the fire apparatus manufactures have designed their standard aerial ladder bodies around this requirement with some options to increase the number of ladders carried either inside of the body or mounted on the aerial device itself.

Quint style aerial devices are further complicated that the packaging of the fire pump, water tank, hose bed and ground ladder storage are all competing for the same space and weight considerations in the overall design of the unit. For this reason there are fewer options available for increasing the ground ladder compliment on these devices without sacrificing either compartment space or water tank capacity. On single axle quint units there is a tendency to overload these devices as there is a practical limit to the amount of apparatus components together with the NFPA equipment allowance of 2500 pounds that can safely be carried on a single axle. It is not uncommon for a well equipped ladder company to carry equipment that will total more than the 2500 pound minimum payload. It is incumbent for the fire department to provide an equipment inventory with weights to prospective bidders so that an appropriate allowance can be made for the required fixed equipment, portable tools and other components on the finished vehicle. The Fire Apparatus Manufactures Association website can be a valuable help in this endeavor
(www.fama.org) as well as individual tool and equipment vendors.

Beyond the minimum ground ladder compliment as outlined in the NFPA 1901 standard any department that operates a ladder company should have a good idea as to what ground ladders are needed to properly serve their area. One way to accomplish this is to go out and visit the residential and commercial buildings in the first due area and with the building owners permission place ground ladders at various points on each building to determine what type and length of ladder will be needed to properly cover all sides and elevations on the building. You may find for example that a 28 foot or 30 foot extension ladder will work just fine at one point, saving that 35 foot extension ladder to go to the roof or balcony of a structure where the aerial ladder cannot be positioned to reach that objective. After you have completed several of these scenarios you can begin to determine how many wall, roof and extension ladders will be required on the fire ground to cover all of the building exposures. Once you total up the required footage of ladders required you may find that the 85 foot or 115 foot minimum standards will not meet you needs. Not to worry! You now have the information required when you sit down with the apparatus builders representative to determine how best to outfit your new aerial device with the compliment of ground ladders that will protect your personnel and provide sufficient ground ladder deployment at the incident scene.

As a practical example, several months ago a fire department in upstate New York decided to hold a multi unit drill at an apartment complex in their first due area. The host company operated a single axle quint as the first due unit, followed by several engines and one rear mount tower from a neighboring company. The units entered the complex as they would during an alarm with the rear mount quint arriving on the scene and establishing a water supply by laying a large diameter hose line and positioning the aerial to reach the roof. At this point several problems ensued including having the supply line catch under the wheels of a POV in the parking lot and damaging the rear of the apparatus tailboard. The design of the supply line hose bed on the quint was such that the hose passed under the turntable thru a chute and when the apparatus turned the corner the hose coupling got hung up causing the hose to drag behind the apparatus.

After initially positioning the quint in the crowded parking area there was limited room to spot the apparatus and after deploying the outriggers and raise the 75 foot aerial it became apparent that there was insufficient horizontal reach to make the roof or any of the upper story balconies on the building. Several lessons were learned as follows:

1. It was difficult for the quint apparatus to lay a supply line around several corners without having problems with vehicles and other obstacles. In addition, positioning the unit for use of the aerial ladder offers trade offs with positioning the unit to operate as an engine company and would ultimately block access for the first due Ladder Company.

2. The 75 foot aerial device while sufficient for single family dwellings and structures where the unit can be positioned within 25 to 30 feet from the curb line was inadequate for buildings with greater set backs and green space around the property.

3. While the quint carried 115 feet of ground ladders they were inadequate to cover all four sides and elevations of the structure in this instance.

As a result of this training exercise the fire department decided to change the running order for their apparatus and assigned an engine as the first due unit and had the mutual aid ladder company respond on the initial alarm as the first due ladder apparatus. This rear mounted 100 foot aerial tower carried additional ground ladders and had sufficient horizontal reach to provide adequate scrub area on the building. The Scrub area being defined as that area of the building that can be touched by the basket of a tower ladder or the tip of an aerial device. Also you must determine the operational foot print of the apparatus, how much real estate is going to be needed to properly position and set the apparatus up.
In the next installment of the Apparatus Architect we will discus the various types of aerial devices and how ground ladder banking can impact the overall design of the apparatus. We will also highlight several fire departments and their ground ladder capabilities on their apparatus.