Swampscott Fire Department

 

 

Common Questions and Misnomers

Why does it seem like some firefighters
just stand around and watch a fire?

It is not uncommon to see photographs or television reports on a structure fire and it seems like the place is still burning and a number of firefighters are "just standing around watching." Why is this? If you've never worked as a firefighter, it is understandable that this appears to be what is going on.

Before answering this question, we should first explain what happens at a fire and what is required to put it out.

First, in Swampscott we have the minimum manpower to keep two different firefighting vehicles in service at all times (or what is referred to as "apparatus"). One is an engine (or "pumper"), the other is a ladder truck. Above, is a picture of Engine-21.

For now, we will cover the roles and responsibilities of the engine crew (details on what the ladder crew does will be covered in the future).

Four firefighters ride in the engine, one of whom is the officer in charge (or the Captain).

The firefighter who drives the engine is also the pump-operator, who controls the amount and pressure of water that is used to extinguish the fire. If that particular engine is being used to put water on the flames, then the pump-operator stays at the control panel and in contact with the crew inside the building by radio.

Being the pump-operator may sound like a boring or unimportant job, but it is an extremely crucial role and can result in the fire being extinguished quickly and effectively or if carried out poorly, can result in serious injuries or death of both firefighters and residents.

If the pump-operator does not get enough water, the firefighters holding the hose can be burned or killed because they have no protection from the fire other than their heat-resistant clothing ("bunker gear").

If the pump-operator makes the mistake of providing too much water, it can cause the one or two firefighters at the end of the hose to be thrown in the air, and/or to lose control of it and be hit by the violent swing of an out of control hose. Being hit by a nozzle could easily kill or seriously injure anyone in its path.

Even though there is 750 gallons of water in the tank of the engine, it will only last a matter of minutes when just one hose is being used to extinguish a fire (less time if more than one hose is being used to attack the fire). For that reason, one firefighter (who rides on one of the backseats of the engine) will have the role of hooking up hose from a hydrant to create a continuous supply of water to the engine.

This "backstep" firefighter will get out at the hydrant nearest the fire, wrap a large diameter hose around the hydrant, and then watch the rest of the engine crew drive down the street (maybe around a corner and quite a distance) to the fire. Then he/she will use tools to attach the hose to the hydrant and wait for a signal by radio to open the hydrant and let water flow, at an extremely high pressure, to the engine. Once this job has been completed, the firefighter will hurry to the scene of the fire, grab a different set of tools and get to work at helping to rescue victims and extinguish the blaze.

In the meantime, the remaining people (or Captain if there are only a total of three firefighters on the engine rather than four) get to work to attack the fire itself.

At the fire location, they have to make sure they have all their safety equipment on, which weighs no less than 85lbs, as well as a tool (the hose, or an axe, pike pole, Haligen, as well as heat-detection camera for locating victims, and/or gas detectors) before approaching the fire.

A handline (hose) varies in width. . . The wider the hose, the larger the volume of water it can deliver, and the more cumbersome it will be to move once it is full of water. Virtually any firefighting hose that is "charged" with water is very heavy to move and takes at least two firefighters to control. At the Massachusetts State Academy, the average drill calls for four firefighters to carry a charged hose; whereas in Swampscott, we often only one or two firefighters available.

If the firefighter who hooked up the hydrant is not at the fire scene by the time the firefighter using the hose to extinguish the fire is ready to go in for the attack, that firefighter will either have to go alone (if possible) and find the best place to drag a dry hose before it is charged (otherwise they cannot move it on their own); otherwise, he/she will have to wait for another firefighter to help.

It is not uncommon that when manpower is lacking that the Captain of the fire company engine, will abandon his/her role as the eyes and ears of the fire from outside the structure to help actually fight it. It is important to have an experienced firefighter outside of the fire (and not consumed by the role as pump-operator) to watch for signs that the roof or structure of the burning building is failing. If everyone is inside the building, it may be too late to realize that it is time to evacuate before the roof collapses and injures or kills those inside.

(image courtesy of Jimmy Daly)

Even if the fire is being fought from outside only, it is important to have someone who is a bit removed keeping an eye on the entire scene... Watching to see if the fire might cause an adjacent building to ignite (not by a spark but by the mere heat of the original fire), if there is anything suspicious about the fire, if there are any indications that victims might still be inside the building, if the appropriate method of attack is being used and is effective, if there are dangers such as falling power lines that he/she needs to prevent from hurting onlookers or firefighters who might be too focused to notice, among many other concerns.

(image courtesy of Jimmy Daly)

So back to the original question: Why does it seem like so many firefighters are just standing around at the scene of a fire? In this photo, the firefighter on the left is reporting back to his Captain (on the right) as to what he found when he went into the burning building (which is why he is covered by insulation and debris). The information he shares from having been inside the building will help determine what may be the cause, how to more effectively extinguish it, and any other concerns about the fire.

In cases where the building is not salvageable or poses too great of danger for firefighters to fight from within, the crews will exercise what is known as an "external attack" or "surround and drown," which simply means to spray as much water onto the blaze as possible to keep it from spreading to neighboring buildings and to extinguish it as quickly as possible.

One may think it only takes several hundred or a few thousand gallons of water to extinguish a fire, when in reality it often takes hundreds of thousands and even millions. The recent fire in Lynn at 14 Andrew Street is an example of how amazingly persistent fire is. It is estimated that at that incident, firefighters sprayed well over a million gallons of water onto it, only to have it destroy multiple buildings and continue for more than twelve hours.

At the fire photographed above, the property at 225 Humphrey Street burned vigorously and was a severe threat to the buildings that sat only a matter of yards away. Most of this fire was fought using an external attack, which takes a lot of water and a long time to extinguish.

In most instances, more than one engine and one ladder truck will be called to scene because things do go wrong and it is critical to have Rescue Intervention Teams (RITs) on hand in case the original firefighters responding to the call get injured, trapped, or severely fatigued. Particularly for long-fought fires, extra manpower is needed to help maintain the intensity of extinguishing the fire. This additional help is also needed to do what is called "overhaul", which is to ensure the fire is not continuing to burn within walls and ceilings just because exposed flames have been extinguished.

Overhauling requires a great deal of physical labor. While the exposed flames are burning these firefighters and relief crews are on scene conserving energy for this second phase of work. This is why it looks like there is a surplus of people on hand to fight the fire (who seem to "just be standing around"), when in truth, there are usually only the bare minimum.

Remember the Storm of 1978?

Some Fire Department facts about the storm
that shutdown Massachusetts from February 6 - 13, 1978

- At the height of the storm, there was a false telephone alarm of a house fire on fire with people trapped on Rockland Street.

- Oil tanks ruptured on Puritan Road and Burrill Street.

- Numerous medical aid emergencies were responded to, including treatment of a man who developed frostbite from being stranded on Humphrey Street in snow; another man shoveling snow on Burrill Street suffered chest pains; and a person on Middlesex Avenue had their fingers amputated by a snowblower.

- A roof collapsed on Laurel Road.

- Two outside fires were extinguished on Tedesco Country Club property.

- Over the course of the storm, several calls were received of arcing wires, wires down, trees that had fallen on houses, and ruptured water pipes within homes.

- Two vehicles caught fire and were extinguished.

- Fortunately, there was only one auto accident, and it was minor.

- Three oil burner blowbacks caused smoke inside their buildings.

- Aluminum row-boats were used to evacuate those residents who lived on beachfront property, and whose homes were flooded. Some homes reportedly had over 5 feet of sand and water inside. The evacuees were brought to a temporary shelter set up at Swampscott High School on Forest Avenue. Emergency cots and food were provided for by the Red Cross.

- Firefighters had to shut down many homes' utillities due to flooding.

- Two electrical and one chimney fire added to the chaos in Swampscott.

- Engine-3 and Ladder-1 worked mutual aid calls in Lynn on 4th alarm fires on February 8th, and 13th.

- For nearly a week after the state of emergency was lifted, Swampscott firefighters shoveled out fire hydrants and pumped out cellars. (Unfortunately, the department no longer has the equipment or manpower to pump out flooded basements.)