At a fire you are sent to the sprinkler main stop valve, on arrival at the main balance you should do one of 2 things?
- Ensure valve is not closed
- Open valve if it’s closed
Both on orders of the IC
Where should the BA tally from a second set be placed when the emergency team passes through the ECB?
In the emergency board without the bodyguard key
Looking around the outside of a building for signs of fire, is one source of info that can help identify the fires location within the building. Describe 4 other sources of info that can be used before committing teams to the building
- Eye witness
- Consult AFA alarm panel
- location on smoke and heat damage
- Use of a tic can help locate
- Listen for cracking
- Characteristic odours
- Feel for hot doors and walls
In what 3 ways does tactical mode procedure support and enhance incident command risk management.
- Sharing the outcome of the IC’s ORA with staff involved with the incident, both locally and remotely.
- Ensuring that fire service operations being carried out by just a single crew or sector do not have adverse effects on the safety or effectiveness of firefighters in other crews or sectors.
- Recording the outcome of the IC’s ORA
Define incident command
A system to promote the safe and effective resolution of events through the deliberate allocation and direction of resources
6 of the command pump officers duties
- Notify LFB of call sign
- Maintain radio contact with IC on personal radio and LFB control on main scheme radio
- Collect nominal roll boards
- Place boards ICW
- Enter preliminary incident details on info board
- Receive nominal roll boards from incoming appliances and officers
- notify oncoming officers or crews of the requirements of the IC
- Continue as ICP until relieved by command unit
4 stages of fire development
1) Developing fire stage
2) Flashover stage
3) Fully developed fire stage
4) Decay stage
What is the purpose of a short pulse?
To provide a safe zone, cooling the fire gases in the immediate vicinity of the firefighting team.
What is the purpose of a long pulse?
To extinguish flaming combustion in the gas layer to allow firefighters to advance through the compartment
Define flashover
A sudden and sustained transition of a grounded fire into a fully developed fire. It is the transition phase of fire progression from a fire in a room to a room on fire
Signs of a flashover
- A ventilated fire with an adequate oxygen supply
- Flames visible in the fire gases at ceiling level
- Combustable material gassing off due to pyrolysis
- High temperatures and an increasing rate of combustion
- Neutral plane moving down
- Sudden increase in fire development
- Pyrolysis at floor level
Define backdraught
Deflagration caused by air being introduced to a fire compartment that is oxygen starved, has limited ventilation and where there is a build up of unburnt fire gases
Signs of a backdraught
- Fire with limited or no ventilation
- Fire has been burning for some time
- Fire gases being pushed out under pressure from gaps
- Windows blackened with no visible signs of flame
- Fire gases pulsing from gaps
Define fire gas explosion
A sudden deflagration or explosion caused by the ignition of fire gases outside of the compartment
