14 Special Vent Ops Flashcards
Physical exertion of crews to reach the fire floor will mean
They may have less energy to perform firefighting functions
Truck crews should never enter high rise empty handed. Of they aren’t carrying forced entry tools or vent equipment they should have
Space Scba cylinders
Hose
Tools
Lights
Moving large amounts of tools is generally coordinated by those assigned to
Lobby control
Low rise elevators
Floors 1-10
Mid rise elevators
Only floors between low and high elevators ex, floor 1 and floor 10-20
Highrise elevators
Serve only upper floors, ex.. Floor 1 and 20-30
Express elevators
Ground floor to upper most floor. Ex. Floor 1 and 31 or whatever highest floor is
Freight elevators
Serve some or all floors
Freight elevators should be used whenever possible if approved by officer in charge because
They can handle the additional weight of ff’s in full ppe along with extra tools and equipment, weighting more than a ton
Dangers of using elevators in a fire
Malfunction or damage from heat could recall elevator car to the fire floor or strand the elevator between floors in the shaft.
Fire behavior in highrises is mostly affected by
Stack effect and mushrooming
Stack effect
Natural vertical mvnt of air, or heat and smoke, in tall structures based on differences of air density inside and outside the buildings due to temp differences. Strong vertical column of mvnt.
With the stack effect, the greater difference between the inside and outside temp and the greater the building height,
The greater the stack effect will be
If temp is lower outside and hotter inside highrise the stack effect moves up. If it’s hotter outside and cooler inside it moves
Down and out, called reverse stack.
Mushrooming, aka ceiling jets
Smoke rising until it hit barrier, then move horizontally until same. Then banks down and fills
When smoke reaches the same temp as ambient air in the highrise, it loses its buoyancy and
Stratifies, forming layers of smoke in the building.
Stratification can occur near the top floor and
Or several floors down below.
Most ppv positioned at street level are only effective up to how many floors up
22
If the building is higher than 22 floors, how do you vent with fans
Add more fans at the 22 floor or around there, or add smoke ejectors at the top most floor to be vented, or both
Highrise vent options
Vertical or top ventilation
Horizontal fire floor
Horizontal above and below fire floor
If vertical vent may endanger fleeing occupants, what might have to be used
Horizontal vent
Fire and smoke should be vented vertically through stairwells and other vertical shafts, taking advantage of
The stack effect
Vertical venting in highrises can prevent
Mushrooming on upper floors and does not promote lapping
One of the biggest challenges to vertical or top venting is
Getting ff and equipment to the roof
If the roof is within reach of an aerial on a highrise, it is the preferred method for
Moving manpower and equipment to the roof for venting
If an aerial does not reach the roof, how can it be used to gain access
Reach the farthest floor it can, enter through a fire escape or window and use stair and elevators the rest of the way to the roof
Although highrises usually have more than one stairway, few have more than one that
Terminates at the roof.
During a fire, a stairwell can be relatively free of smoke but congested with
Occupants, attack lines and ff