Fireground Geography

Most members of the fire service are aware of the importance of effective communication on the fireground.  However, as discussed in previous posts, sometimes we come up short in our fireground communications.  One area where I continuously note deficiency is the ability to effectively and consistently communicate fireground geography.  Fireground geography should be communicated effectively and consistently for a variety of reasons, as it may greatly influence strategic and tactical decision-making.

When I became a chief officer at my volunteer firehouse, one of the first classes I took focused on managing a Mayday event.  I travelled to Indianapolis, IN to take the FDTN(the Fire Department Training Network, a very squared away training company run by Lt. Jim McCormack of the IFD) course, “Commanding RIT Operations”.  The practical portion of our class ran concurrently with the practical session of a “RIT Operations” class and we were tasked with managing their scenarios.  During the first scenario, I asked the RIT companies for a progress report and their location.  The answer I received was that they were about 20’ from the front door and had located the trapped firefighter but needed further assistance.  The initial RIT company had not deployed with a search rope, so the only information I had on their location was that it was about 20’ from the front door.  Hopefully by now you’ve realized that this didn’t tell me a whole lot about their actual location.  With some prompting, I was able to gather enough information to determine the company was operating in the ”Bravo Quadrant” of the first floor and subsequently deploy companies to assist with removing the trapped firefighter.  After the scenario was complete, we shared our thoughts on the things that went well and the things that needed improvement.  I explained to the company that simply telling me the distance you think you are from the front door doesn’t really give me a good pinpoint on your actual location.  Instead, utilizing building quadrants would give me a much better idea of their location.  I was astonished when nobody in the class had any idea what I was talking about and I had to draw out the building quadrants on a piece of paper and explain the concept.  After a few minutes of explanation, the concept seemed to make a little more sense to the folks in the class and quadrants were successfully used in the remainder of the scenarios I managed.

By the middle part of the last decade, many fire departments across the country switched the way they designated the sides of a building from numbers to letters.  Instead of sides 1,2,3, and 4, they became sides Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.  As is the case with most changes in the fire service, there was an initial resistance to the change from many folks.  It was soon realized that simply stating the letter of the side could cause some confusion, as the letters “B” and “D” can sound very similar.  The solution was to utilize a phonetic alphabet to overcome this problem.  However, more problems arose as some departments wanted to use their own variations of a phonetic alphabet (Adam, Baker, Charlie, Delta, Edward, Frank, George, etc.).  Obviously, this somewhat defeats the purpose of using common language and terminology.  Recognizing this, most departments soon adopted use of the NATO phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, etc.).  The changes also apply to designating exposures and, in cases of attached exposures or multiple exposures on a specific side, a number will be designated after the letter (i.e. Bravo 1 Exposure).  Listen to fireground audio and you’ll quickly realize the importance of effectively and consistently designating sides of buildings and exposures.  If you listen to enough fireground audio, you will also quickly realize that folks often have a hard time getting this right.  When I say getting it right, I mean consistently using the system that your department has in place.  Just because my jurisdiction uses letters, doesn’t mean your jurisdiction has to.  Would it be nice if everybody did? Sure.  But reality tells us otherwise.  The bottom line is effective and consistent fireground communication will allow for efficient and effective fireground operations.

The last topic of fireground geography I am going to talk about deals with the number of floors in a building.  This is a huge pet peeve of mine and an area that we, the fire service, often come up short.  Anyone who’s been on a few incidents or done a few walk-throughs, can tell you that building isn’t always as it appears from the front. Areas that have significant grade changes, garden apartments, and townhouses are prime for having a different number of floors than what appears from the front.   Ideally, as quickly as possible somebody needs to determine how many floors the building is and communicate how they will be designated.  As a chief officer at my volunteer firehouse, when I was running a box alarm, odor of smoke, or gas leak, I tried to always obtain the number of floors and announce their designation to all responding units.  For instance, a 2-story in the front, 3-story in the rear townhouse would have: a basement, first floor, and second floor.  Identifying these designations early on will prevent confusion that may persist for the duration of the incident.  One-story houses that sit on a basement, also seem to cause great confusion.  I recently listened to a fire at work involving a one-story house on a basement.  The initial size-up called it a one-story house and it was later called a two story house by a chief officer.  During fireground operations, several different geographical terms were being used interchangeably to describe where companies were operating, none of which were consistent.  Thankfully it was a relatively small fire and the companies made quick work of it without incident.  However, had a Mayday been declared on the fireground, significant confusion may have occurred due to the inconsistent geographical designations being used on the fireground.  Several widely publicized fires have occurred within the US fire service that should drive home the importance of identifying the number of floors in a building and establishing consistent designations for the respective floors.

Effectively communicating fireground geography and keeping it consistent will allow us to operate more efficiently and effectively.  It allows for better accountability, may help you in maintaining orientation on the fireground, and assists in strategic and tactical decision-making.