TB 106 - LCES Flashcards
Chief Paul Gleason of the United States Forest Service developed LCES after being involved in several fatal wildland fires.
These four critical actions provide the basis for initiating wildland operations as follows:
•LOOKOUT – A person(s) who can see what the fire is doing in relation to operating crews.
•COMMUNICATION – Immediate communications between all members in the crew and adjacent crews.
•ESCAPE ROUTE – Making sure the crew and the engine can get to a safety zone in a safe and timely manner.
•SAFETY ZONE – An area of safe refuge not requiring special protection to survive.
There are three additional direct causes of firefighter injury or death in the wildland and these were added to L.C.E.S.
The three additional considerations are:
•LOCATION – Where you are located in the brush (mid-slope, chimney, draw, etc.) in relation to the fire.
•CONDITIONS – Weather conditions, fire conditions and Campbell Prediction analysis.
•SAFETY EQUIPMENT – Proper personal safety equipment is not a recommendation, it is a requirement.
LOOKOUTS: A review of an engine company operating a hose line on the interior of a structure fire may be described as follows:
-The member operating the nozzle might be described as having _____ vision
-The member backing up the nozzle member may be described as having ______ vision.
-The company officer operating on a hoseline with their crew may be described as having ______ vision.
Tunnel vision
Funnel vision
surrounding vision
(If the engineer is operating immediately outside the structure, this person gets THE BIG PICTURE.)
LOCATION: Prior to initiating interior operations make sure you have established the BEST location for access. More importantly, identify the best location with sufficient area to EXIT the structure should conditions begin to deteriorate.
A sampling of Items to consider includes:
•Fight the fire from the uninvolved to the involved whenever possible.
•Building Construction – Is it balloon, conventional, pre-33, etc.? Does it have a lightweight roof or floors and if so what type? Be aware, complete truss failure could cause a large section to collapse.
•Facades - Is there a façade? If so, how is it supported? Is there an alternate location that does not require us to enter, and more importantly escape, by passing underneath it?
•Mezzanines – Is there a mezzanine inside that will allow the fire to burn unchecked and undiscovered above us? If so, retreat and reanalyze the situation.
•Company Placement – Where will we be most effective to limit the loss of life and property? Is there the potential for opposing hose lines?
Communication among members operating at incidents is always best when accomplished by?
face to face
(During interior operations within an IDLH area this often is the only method that works)
COMMUNICATIONS: Direct contact and communications by members operating hoselines while wearing breathing apparatus is critical to the survival of the crew. Radios are also critical.
An additional method of communicating to a company operating inside that the fire conditions are changing is by?
-pulling on the hoseline
Pulling back forcefully on the line should indicate to the crew that they need to retreat and investigate the cause for alarm.
Our department has also adopted the air horn signal as an adjunct to an OPERATIONAL RETREAT.
Sounding the air horn for ten seconds followed by ten seconds of silence and repeating this cycle three times for a total of ____ seconds indicates that all companies need to retreat to their safe area.
50 seconds
ESCAPE ROUTES:
A _______ should be set up to further highlight the doorway at the earliest convenience. This should be a standard procedure for ENGINEERS once the lines are in operation.
quartz light
(The hand-held spot lights are also excellent for leaving a “trail” of light at key intersections and/or doorways.)
Facades and mezzanines are not normally located above ______ doors, for this reason these openings should be considered for advancing firefighting lines provided this location does not compromise the strategy and tactics of the incident.
rolling steel doors
A safety zone or safe refuge is an area that does not require any protection for the members in order to survive.
-At a structure fire this will typically be the exterior.
-At a multi-story incident it may be?
-two floors below the fire
(IF possible a safe refuge for firefighters SHOULD NOT be located above the fire)
SAFETY EQUIPMENT:
P.A.S.S. devices have been instrumental in locating downed firefighters. You are required to check it each day and turn it on when?
When responding to designated incidents.
(Weird answer)
There are eighteen “watch out” situations that have been identified when working in the wildland, each one causing injury or death to firefighters.
How many structure fire “watch outs” are there?
14 watch outs
(In book 101 RIC it states there are 12 watchouts)
LCES Breakdown:
14 Structure Fire Watchouts Breakdown:
It is the responsibility of ________ operating at the scene of an emergency to maintain a visual AWARENESS of what is happening around them at all times.
all members
