NEW WEAPON
FOR HIGH-RISE
BY: JIM GRAS
H
igh-rise fires are high-hazard situations
that pose unique operational challenges
for firefighters compared to our more
routine fires. The risks to occupants from deadly
smoke and heat rapidly migrating upward and laterally, limited
ability to ventilate, high fuel loads, extended reflex times (time
it takes to get water on the fire), standpipes we assume will
function correctly, evacuation and search & rescue of occupants, difficulty maintaining accountability, multiple tactical
channels and limited resources are but a few of the unique
challenges that account for the complexities at a high-rise
event.
It has been said that the critical essential operations of the
first on scene engine company will literally define the outcome
of most fire incidents. Classic phrases such as “the fire goes
as the first hand line goes” emphasize the importance of that
first-arriving crew. It has also been said that more lives can be
saved by a properly placed hand line than by any other fire
ground strategy or tactic.
General firefighting principles have always stressed the fact
that rescue should take precedence over all other concerns.
But as John Norman states in The Fire Officers Handbook Of
Tactics, rescue may be