Ch 10 Reading Buildings Flashcards
As applied to building size-up, _____ refers to likelihood that people are occupying a given structure
Building status
The primary difference between a vacant building and an abandoned building is vacant buildings are ______
- Likely to still be in an acceptable condition in terms of structural integrity and marketability
- absence of contents and window treatments, removed signage, and empty parking lot
Boarded up windows and doors, vegetation, overgrowth, vermin, infestation, and obvious structural degradation or visual clues. This may lead you to classify a building as vacant or abandoned?
Abandoned
What sign indicates to Firefighters that the structure may be sound but interior operations should be limited to a quick search for squatters by permission of the Incident Commander only?
A red placard with a single white diagonal slash
Specific to the building, the building size-up Factors or Clue should include? (5)
- size and Use
classification (initial
size-up) - basic Construction
considerations (360) (verify & amend) - building Status (360)
- what is Burning
(180/360) - fireground Clock (360)
UCSBC
Of all of the factors that should be included under the heading of important size-up considerations, the determination of this should be of PARAMOUNT importance.
What is burning?
If fire is exposing _____ structural MEMBERS for more than _____ minutes, rethink interior and/or roof operations
Lightweight – 5 minutes
Conventional – 15 to 20 minutes
What are the four terms used for building status?
- Occupied
- Unoccupied
- Vacant
- Abandoned
The six tactical challenges are?
- forcible Entry
- Fire spread
- Search
- Ventilation
- Collapse
- specific Hazards
EFSVCH
Three factors dictate fire spread
- internal Geometry of
building - Fire load
- The heat (exhaust) and
air (intake) flow path
GeFiFlow
This involves the process of EVALUATING current and changing conditions and making JUDGEMENTS about the risks and integrity of the various portions of a building. This also sets the stage for predicting partial, localized, and general collapses.
Building triage
The human life threshold is _____ degrees Fahrenheit for _____ minute(s)
- 300°F
- 1 minute
Two kinds of size up
- Initial – 180
- Expanded – 360
During suppression operations, there are three factors that are working against fireground personnel:
- Gravity wants to flatten
the building - The fire is weakening the
building - Water weighs 8.35 lbs
per gallon
When evaluating your elapsed time (step 4) concerning predicting collapse, this includes two clocks:
- Pre-arrival clock –
unknown - Fire ground clock –
known
The first building size-up clue you’ll receive when dispatched to a reported building fire is the ___.
Building address
As part of a 360 or three-sided walk around, a good officer will visually scan the building exterior with attention to what 3 things:
- Building construction
considerations - Smoke and fire
conditions - Status of the building
Of UCSBC, this is CSB
Of all the items that the author recommends you look for in your initial size-up, this is one of the most visible attributes of a building that can be readily identifiable from the street.
Facade (false mansard)
The process of predicting collapse at an actual incident becomes a cyclic activity that is akin to an algorithm. What are the four analytical inputs the algorithm uses?
1) Classifying the
CONSTRUCTION
2) Determining structural
INVOLVEMENT
3) Visualizing and tracing
LOADS
4) Evaluating elapsed TIME
Collapse will C.I.L.T us
When discussing building collapse, these types of buildings are basically losers during fires, should be treated as collapse-ready and a defensive strategy should be pushed for?
- Buildings undergoing
construction - Buildings undergoing
demolition - Buildings undergoing
extensive remodeling
What is an appropriate collapse zone for wood structures but may not be adequate for unreinforced masonry construction?
At least 1.5 times the height of the element that is anticipated to fall P. 279
(mentions falling unreinforced masonry wall propelling bricks 3 times the height of the wall)
Closely related to the fireground clock is judgment on _____ . The 360° building size up provides an opportunity to gauge smoke changes. Simply applied, is the smoke getting better or worse,
in seconds or in minutes?
Rate of Change
The judgment about what two items can help the fire officer understand the time window that is available (or not available) for safe INTERIOR operations?
- Rate of Change
(combined with) - Fireground Clock
This use type is for those buildings that are used for civic or societal needs. Schools, jails courts, hospitals and other human service facilities are included.
Institutional
This use type is for buildings used for the purpose of human gathering that present the risk of large loss of life when fire strikes. Some of the most stringent (fire resistive) building coded have been developed for public assembly occupancies to help prevent the reoccurrence of large loss-of-life tragedies that have scarred our histories.
- Stadium, theaters, churches (large)
- Restaurants, churches (small/
medium)
Public assemblies
When a building has been judged occupied, the fire officer must look at smoke and fire conditions and make a further judgment about survivable spaces. The condition of ____ can help in making these survivable space judgment.
Windows
This type of building are those that have outlived their usefulness, fallen into disrepair, and show signs that the owner has basically given up on the building
Abandoned
Abandoned buildings present numerous challenges for Firefighters. These challenges include: (3)
- Dangerous interior conditions
- High potential for criminal related
hazards - Potential for unlawful occupants
A common marking system includes posting a sign with this to denote buildings that are too dangerous (structurally) for interior firefighting operations. These placards are usually accompanied by “No Trespassing”warning to others that the building will not be searched by Firefighters.
A large white “X” across a red background
The combination of what two elements of building size up will help you form a strong impression of the CHALLENGES the incident will present?
Considerations and Status
uCSbc
This is defined as once personnel arrive on scene, how long will it take to make a visible impact on the fire?
Fireground clock
This is defined as once personnel arrive on scene, this is a combination of the time it will take to apply the first drop of water IN ADDITION to the time it will take for extinguishment.
PERCEPTION of fireground time
This is defined as: is the smoke getting better or worse, in seconds or in minutes?
Rate of Change
(goes with fireground Clock)
When discussing visual warning for signs of collapse, the author feels most of these signs are late warning signs. There are dozens of investigative reports where firefighters reported the building “collapse without warning”. A better process to predict collapse is?
By using a mental one. Branigan states the warning is the brain.
When discussing forcible entry with the building sizeup factors or clues, the author suggest that forcible entry should be viewed as what?
A two-part operation that consist of forcible entry and forcible exit
PRIORITIZING search is an exercise in combining which of our building size-up factors? (4)
- Use (& size)
- Status
- Burning
- Clock
no Construction
Within the 6 Tactical Challenges, what are some of the special Hazards?
(efsvcH)
- Hazmat
- Hoarding
- Overhead powerlines
- Challenging access/egress
- Previous fires and collapses
- Aging/lack of maintenance
- Windowless buildings
- Multiple entry levels or sloping grade
In addition to the specific hazards previously listed, the author feels there are significant GAME CHANGING hazards worthy of mention:
- Base of operations
- Green movement (solar/antennas)
- Façades
- Access/egress (exit other than front door)
- Name/utilities
(One of easiest size-up indicators - sign on front of building)
Key to remembering the process of size up your next building is:
Unconscious competence
In most organizations, the responsibility of reading the whole building after the first-due has gone to work is assumed by the incident commander. For the IC, ____ can limit the ability to continually read the building. For this reason, the author supports what to counteract those limits?
- The strategic and stationary nature
of the IC responsibilities - The designation of an Incident Safety
Officer (ISO) or IC assistant who has
the flexibility to roam the incident
scene and continually read the
building.
Chief Joe Castro of the Los Angeles Fire Department uses two primary assessments for his fire triage and risk management program and they are:
- When to consider NOT entering a
building - When to consider GETTING OUT of a
building
The process of predicting collapse at an actual incident becomes a cyclic activity that is akin to an algorithm. The algorithm uses ___ analytical inputs and ___ important output.
- 4 inputs (C.I.L.T.)
- 1 output (predicting collapse)
When using the algorithm for predicting collapse, what are the four inputs?
1) Classifying the CONSTRUCTION
2) Determining structural
INVOLVEMENT
3) Visualizing and tracing LOADS
4) Evaluating elapsed TIME
When using the process of predicting collapse, which input is “imperative”?
Input 2) Determining structural involvement
When referencing the five parts of building size up, which of them influence SEARCH CHALLENGES?
- Use/size
- Status
- Fireground Clock
(No construction or burning)
Search challenges versus prioritizing search?
Challenges: Use/size, Status, Fireground clock
Prioritizing: Use/size, Status, What’s burning, Fireground clock
