Ch. 7 - Fighting Fires In Older Apartment Buildings Flashcards
What is the biggest threat of fire spread in older apartment buildings?
The dominant vertical channel, usually the interior stairway.
What will. It’s likely make or break you at a fire in an older apartment building?
The construction features.
What would indicate a true masonry building?
A header course.
What can you expect if no header courses are visible?
Wood studs in the exterior walls. (fire can and will spread through apparently brick walls).
What should be considered for early search in older apartment buildings?
Attic apartments.
What are the primary problems in older apartment buildings?
Civilian life safety, firefighter safety, and fire spread.
What are the most important strategic considerations in fires in older apartment buildings?
Cutting off spread and capturing the dominant vertical channel.
The dominant vertical channel is the main killer in these fires. What two tactics will serve to remedy this problem?
- roof ventilation directly over the fire.
2. must bring in a backup line.
What should the the ventilation crew’s immediate concern on arrival be?
The dominant vertical channel.
Unless needed elsewhere, where should the ventilation crew be, and why?
Remain on the roof in case the fire takes some other avenue and finds the cockloft.
Where do you determine the best way in and the area to start the search?
From the outside.
If the apartments are very large or very deep, what is the best way to search?
A modified oriented search may prove safer and more efficient.
One of the primary concerns is in maintaining _______________.
The most direct route inward for firefighters and the most direct route outward for evacuees.
If the first assignment made at the fire is backup, where should it be placed?
On the stairway.
What is the best indicator as to whether fire has entered the voids in walls?
Bare hands on walls.
