4- Initial Response S&T- Size-Up: Evaluation and Assessment Flashcards
The size-up process begins:
When the alarm is sounder or your pager is activated.
PRIOR to the arrival of fire personnel, some of the things you can verify immediately include:
*3 answers
-Time of day
-Weather conditions
-Capabilities of your department’s response
The facts of the situation are things that you know to be true. Facts are based on the following:
*4 answers
-Preincident survey of the site
-Knowledge of building construction and occupancy
-The current time of day/day of week and on-scene observations, including a 360 degree survey
-Knowledge of basic fire development
Your perceptions are based on observations influenced by your knowledge, biases, beliefs, and past experiences. Maintain _____ ____ and continually reassess the situation to prevent from developing tunnel vision.
Situational Awareness
*your emotions may influence your perceptions
Probabilities are things that are likely to occur based on a given situation. Your ability to predict what might happen next at a scene is based on your knowledge and experience of the following:
*3 answers
-Fire Behavior
-Building Construction
-Fire Fighting Activities
According to the AHJ, the ARRIVAL REPORT may contain:
*4 answers
-Unit number and update of address if needed
-Brief description of the scene (including the extent of fire conditions)
-Status of water supply
-Establish Command, define the strategy
A situational update report during a 360-degree survey may include:
*4 answers
-Special considerations and hazards
-Entrance and egress points
-Intended initial actions and assignments for incoming units
-Requests for any additional resources
Your arrival report provides other responding units with an idea of what they will encounter. You are describing the fire scene for crews who have not arrived yet. It should clearly portray what is to be expected by giving a description of the scene, including:
*6 answers
-Building type and size
-Extent and location of fire
-Life safety issues
-Occupancy type
-Water supply needs or availability
-Type and location of any special hazards (barriers that could impede access, location/condition of victims, downer power lines, etc.)
The ____ ____ includes: Command statement, location/type of command post, description of initial actions, and command option (investigation, offensive/defensive attack, rescue mode, etc.)
Arrival Report
Firefighters should learn how to “read” smoke at a fire. The quantity and movement of smoke will indicate factors, including:
*2 answers
-Potential fuels involved and potential hazards to responders
-Location and stage of the fire, and its direction of travel
Light ____ Smoke (color) indicates that pyrolysis is occurring in areas adjacent to the main body of fire. The color indicates moisture and gases are being released from the product.
White
____ Smoke (color) has lost particles because the particles have cooled from travel, water, and the addition of cold air. On cold days when the temperature is below freezing, smoke immediately turns ____ and turbulent on leaving the structure.
White
____ Smoke (color) explosion is rare.
White
_____ (color) wispy smoke can indicate pyrolysis in a compartment fire and should be considered unburned fuel.
White
____ (color) smoke is common in mid-stage heating as moisture mixes with gases and carbon as pyrolysis increases.
Brown
It is common in mid-to late-stage heating to see the ____ color brown smoke.
Caramel
_____ (color) smoke is an indication of burning wood, whether finished (attics) or unfinished (structural wood members).
Brown
____ (color) smoke indicates a combination of mixing. Can be mid-stage heating with white, brown, or black, or it can be when different smoke areas combine. Can indicate smoke production changes from mid-stage heating to high heat.
Gray
____ (color) smoke contains high quantities of carbon particles and is also an indicator of the amount of ventilation available at the seat of the fire. The THICKER the smoke, the LESS clean burning and the LESS oxygen available.
Black
Black smoke contains unburned fuels and is a good indicator of _____ _____ and many other flammable and toxic gases.
Carbon Monoxide
Thin ____ (color) smoke is the direct result of heat from a flame. When it’s fast-moving or otherwise active, it indicates the fire is nearby.
Black
Thick ____ (color) smoke suggests the fire is in the late stages of pyrolysis, which produces large amounts of carbon as unburned product. This indicates a high percentage of CO gas in smoke, creating a highly flammable and toxic atmosphere.
Black
____ ____ refers to dense, black smoke (fuel) that is ready to ignite, possibly at the vent point.
Black Fire
When black fire becomes ventilation controlled and fills its immediate area, it can become a ____ or ____ ____ hazard.
Backdraft or Smoke Explosion
When encountering black fire (thick, black smoke) the best way to reduce the potential for a flashover is to:
Apply water to cool the ceiling area
Unusual color smoke should give personnel an indication that:
Different extinguishing agents may be needed.
A high neutral plane may indicate that a fire is in the ____ stages of development. A higher neutral plane can indicate that you are _______ from the seat of the fire. A high neutral plane can also indicate a fire ____ your level.
Early stages of development
Further away from the seat of the fire
Fire above your level
When the neutral plane is roughly centered between the ceiling and floor, the fire is beginning to be ventilation controlled, and ____ conditions are developing. A neutral plane close to the floor may indicate that the compartment is reaching ____ conditions or that the fire is at a grade ____ the room being observed.
Flashover
Flashover
Below
_____ pushed smoke will usually flow, neither smooth nor turbulent. It floats out of openings, rising slowly.
Volume
The ____ the smoke, the lower the visibility, and the more likely that heat buildup indicates a pending flashover.
Denser
The movement of smoke can be described in terms of ____ and ____. When those two factors are considered at the same time, they are discussed in terms of velocity.
Speed and Direction
A rapid intake of fresh air can be an indicator of a fire reaching ____ conditions. A sudden and total rush of fresh air into a compartment can indicate that a ____ condition is imminent.
Flashover
Backdraft
Whistling noise created by the movement of air into the structure can indicate fire conditions approaching or at the ____ ____ phase. Take caution opening a structure with this indicator.
Ventilation-limited
Three common types of movement in smoke are:
-Floating/Hanging
-Volume Pushed
-Heat Pushed
HEAT PUSHED SMOKE is characterized by its speed and direction, which can be described as a ____ flow (bubbling, boiling, chaotic) or ____ flow (smooth, straight).
Turbulent = bubbling, boiling, chaotic
Laminar = smooth, straight
Black smoke indicates that a fire has a/an ___ area of travel; White smoke indicates a ____ area of travel.
Black smoke - open area of travel
White smoke- filtered area of travel
While following the progress of your IAP and continuing to size-up the scene, you can use the acronym “CARA,” which stands for:
Conditions
Actions
Resources
Air
A/An ____ ____ ____ is a type of size-up that should be employed to evaluate the potential of an occupant being alive within a structural fire environment.
Occupant Survival Profile
The environment within a modern structural fire can quickly exceed ___F with the potential for flashover (approximately ____F) to occur within minutes.
500*F
1,110*F
Originated by the air transportation industry, ____ ____ ____ is a system that optimizes the utilization of all available resources, personnel, procedures, and equipment to promote safety and improve operational efficiency.
Crew Resource Management (CRM)
CRM training achieves its goals of increasing scene safety and responder effectiveness by emphasizing the following topics:
*5 answers
-Communications
-Situational Awareness
-Decision Making
-Teamwork
-Barriers
Means of egress that you should consider are:
*5 answers
-Doors
-Windows
-Stairs
-Fire Escapes
-Dead End Corridors
Special hazardous conditions are rarely visible during your size-up. Your preincident plan should contain any information regarding these hazards, which can tell you:
*3 answers
-Alterations
-Change in occupancy or use
-Storage
The life hazard to occupants will be largely determined by _______ and _______.
The occupancy type and the time of day
Knowing firefighters’ life safety hazards is your primary concern. This knowledge includes:
*3 answers
-Air Management
-Rehabilitation
-Crew Resources
Hotels, motels, and guest accommodations are likely to be occupied by _____ residents who are unfamiliar with the structure, the exits, or the evacuation plan. Assistance in evacuating the structure may be NECESSARY.
Transient
The “two cylinder rule” determines when to send personnel to _____.
Rehab
In many situations at ______ occupancies, sheltering in place or protecting occupants where they are is more practical and effective than evacuation.
Institutional
(prisons, jails, drug rehab facilities, etc.)
An assembly occupancy is defined as a building or structure, or any portion thereof, that is used for the gather of __ or more persons.
50
Typically in assembly occupancies, exits are only required to be unlocked:
During business hours
Although the terms VACANT and ABANDONED may be used to describe the same conditions, the key difference is:
The length of time the structure has been unused or uninhabitable.
(abandoned has been longer)
