I saw this video on another blog and they used it as an example of victim survivability profiling. While it is a good tool for that purpose, I think there are alot more learning opportunities in this particular video. First off, this video clearly illustrates just how dynamic and rapid fire progression is with modern combustibles. Studies show that fire roughly doubles in size every minute and this video helps confirm that. At the start of the video, it was a perfect situation for an aggressive interior attack. By the time the first engine arrived and stretched a hoseline however, conditions had rapidly deteriorated.
If you open up the video on the Youtube page, you can see in the comments several people criticizing them for first attacking the fire from the exterior. I however, feel that a transitional attack was the right choice here. As the first engine arrived, the smoke conditions began to change rapidly. The smoke from the A-B windows quickly grew darker, more dense, and more turbulent. The smoke was telling us loud and clear that flashover was imminent in those rooms. This video reinforces that reading smoke is a critical skill. The color, density, and velocity of the smoke help tell us where the fire is, where it is going, and how fast it's progressing.
Notice that they stretched the first hoseline to the B side, not because that's where the most fire was, but because the B side exposure was immediately threatened. The D side exposure was also threatened, but not as imminently. Remember the tactical priorities of fire attack: contain the fire to the building of origin, confine the fire to the area of origin, then extinguish the fire. I think these guys did a pretty good job of that. Once they knocked down the bulk of the fire and assembled enough personnel on scene, they went interior and finished the job.
Think about the hoseline selection here. Two 1 3/4" hoselines did a decent job of knocking down the fire, but a single 2 1/2" would have made much quicker work of it. I don't know what their water supply situation was and that is definitely something that needs to be considered prior to pulling the 2 1/2, but a single 2 1/2" line gives much more knockdown power than even two 1 3/4" lines. Remember the acronym "ADULTS": advanced fire, defensive operations, unknown location of the fire, large buildings, tons of water needed, standpipe operations.
While I agree with most of the tactical decisions made here, the one I really can't agree with is the choice to use PPV after the initial knockdown. Nearly every window in the house had self-vented making positive pressure virtually impossible. The lack of effectiveness was clearly evident by smoke churning around the front of the house and visibility inside the door not improving. Also, the video clearly shows that fire auto-exposed to the eaves on the D side and smoke conditions confirm that the fire likely had extended into the attic. PPV is a NO-GO when you have extension into the attic.
Watch this video with your crew a few times. Each time I watch it I pick up on things I missed before. Pay particular attention to the smoke and what it's telling you. Discuss what tactics you would use.
