Promotional Scenario #6

Promotional Scenario #6

Private Dwelling Fires; What Are Assessors Looking For?

Test development agencies are constantly challenged to create scenarios that measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities of a company or chief officer arriving and working at an emergency incident. Oral assessment exercises that involve structure fire incidents will often focus around the more common challenges presented in the community or mutual aid area of responsibility. From a wood frame private dwelling to a fire resistive high-rise structure; if you have them in your town or city, expect exercises that will assess your ability to go to work at them.

To assist you in the preparation process, we have provided you with a list of assessment cues (signals/hints) for a structure fire exercise involving a private dwelling. The outlined list of sensory cues is designed to not only assist with your decision-making and direction in an assessment exercise; they are also designed to enhance your scoring opportunity. From the identification of strategic test-taking cues for the Incident Commander, to basic duties for the Engine and Ladder Company officer, the enclosed is designed to enhance your presentation as assessors measure your knowledge, skills and abilities.

Private Dwelling Exercises:

When individual members of the fire service refer to the term private dwelling, many thoughts may come to mind depending upon the area they are required to protect. Private dwellings can be identified as anything from a 15′ x 30′ mobile home to a 10,000 plus, square foot single-family dwelling. If your range of responsibility fits this profile, then you need to be prepared to respond to an assessment exercise that could encompass the vast challenges that each can present. To unify our assessment cues for a potential private dwelling exercise, our list will reflect the more common two and half story frame of old and new construction.

EXERCISE STRATEGY:

• Building Construction/Location and Extent of Fire: In your exercise, pay specific attention the age and construction of the building. This information, combined with the location of the fire within the building will significantly influence your responses both strategically and tactically. Exercises that involve older frame structures will present challenges simply based on their age and design characteristics. The most common being the anticipated framing methods of the structure. If you have many older built structures in your community, you can expect that test developers will purposely create a promotional exercise that contains a balloon or braced frame designed structure. Additionally, if your area of responsibility has newer, larger and more modern framed structures, you have to also be prepared for structural exercises that will require you to identify and act on the probability of a light-weight designed floor and roof system. In addition to the building design, the location and probable extent of the fire within the structure will further dictate the keyed strategical responses. The assessment board will definitely be interested in hearing about how you conducted a 360 degree view of the structure, assessed any smoke and fire visual cues, if you utilized thermal imaging to identify the fires location, and ultimately how you safely assigned your resources. With that being said, it is also important to note that you must get rid of the concept that fires in private dwellings are “bread and butter” type incidents. This is inadequate assessment of the challenges presented in these type structures. From the increased use of plastics and synthetics in the home, energy efficient windows, to the older verses the newer styles construction; there is nothing simple and routine about these fires anymore! Significant weight in a promotional exam will be placed on the candidate’s technical knowledge, anticipation and adaptability abilities. This is an area of your assessment that is designed to measure your ability to identify and anticipate the fire spread and collapse potential in the exercise.On a personal note: Test designers will often present a candidate with either a basement or a kitchen fire. They seem to be two of the most common fire location areas in an exercise. We say this due to the challenges that they can present in both older and newer styles of construction.
• Incident Time and Occupant Life Hazard: Private dwelling exercises will always include a specific time of the day combined with either a known, or possible life hazard. For promotional exercises that involve a private dwelling, it is safe to assume that you will have an increased occupant life hazard concern in the building when your scenario takes place late at night or early in the morning. Ensure that you assign members to search and ladder all areas.
• 
  Exposures/Terrain and Obstacles: Specific exercises might present additional challenges a candidate may need to identify and address. Whether in the scenario text or presented in the scenario diagrams or simulation, candidates need to note and act on such concerns as closely spaced exposure buildings, buildings built on sloped or difficult terrain and overhead utility wires to name a few. All of the mentioned are placed in an exercise to challenge, interfere, delay, or even eliminate certain task options. When you are presented with these challenges; assessors will score you in scene safety, your composure as you attempt to handle the difficulties, adaptability, decisiveness, and overall decision-making. These are all necessary qualities of a fire officer. Be prepared to be challenged and measured here.
• Scene Management: Incident Commanders must demonstrate their ability to assign, track, and monitor resources at a private dwelling fire. This will involve not only your ability to account for all resources at any given time; it will also include sound strategy and tactics for the particular exercise. Depending upon the private dwellings square footage; resources can often be assigned into Fire Attack, Search and Vent groups, or an Interior Division with an exterior Vent group to meet the expected management challenges presented in a private dwelling assessment exercise. Unless you are challenged by attached, or closely spaced exposure buildings, buildings of this size and square footage generally don’t require a comprehensive management plan. Keep it simple and realistic. Assign and account for your people in order to meet the objectives of the exercise.
• Resource Requests: Depending upon the resources given to you in the exercise, candidates must obviously ensure that there are enough resources to handle the assigned/required tasks, as well as request:
  • A tactical reserve – by transmitting and staging additional alarm
  • Requesting the Utility Company – for control of the gas, electric and water if necessary.
  • Police – for traffic and crowd control
  • Emergency Medical Services – for firefighter and occupant triage, treatment and transportation needs.
  • Rapid Intervention Company(s)
  • Safety Officer
  • All of the above are to be considered minimum resource requests. Specific scenario challenges may require others.

EXERCISE TACTICS

Engine Company Operations:

Task based responsibilities for the engine company officer within an assessment center exercise will focus around eight primary responsibilities. For your promotional preparation we recommend you use the following acronym as a study guide:

(Acronym WASS-POCC)

1. Establishing a Water Supply
2. Apparatus Placement
3. Hose line Selection
4. Hose line Stretch
5. Hose line Placement
6. Hose line Objective(s)
7. In Coordination with the Ladder Company
8. Providing a Progress Report to Command

Basic tactical considerations for the engine company at a private dwelling assessment exercise must focus around the following actions or orders:

• Establishing a primary water supply.
• Placing the apparatus past the fire building to facilitate hose stretch and use.
• Identifying that you would stretch or order a medium size hose line (i.e. 1-3/4 inch hose line) to protect any trapped occupants and firefighters involved in the search all while attempting to confine and extinguish the fire.
• Be confident and clear with above statement to the assessment board as you also emphasis that your deployed hoselines will be required to protect the primary means of egress, which in a multi-floored building will be the interior stair.Student Note: Your actions or statements must be well calculated and weighed. The last thing you want to do is place a hose line into an area of the building that has the possibility to push fire to uninvolved areas, on top of firefighters searching, as well as between occupants and their means of escape. Experienced engine company officers will tell that a stretched hose line can accomplish more than one objective. Advise the assessment board of all of them.
• Order or stretch a second hose line to either back up the initially stretched hose line, or go to the floor above to halt any fire extension. Unless there is information in the exercise that indicates that the first hose line is going to have difficulty, it is also acceptable to assign multiple objectives to the second hose line.Student Note: Hose line deployment at actual structure fires is determined by the fire officer’s knowledge of building construction, the inherent structural features of the building, the fires location within the building and most notably, the occupant life hazard. With the above said, hose line deployment can be further influenced by actual reconnaissance reports from interior search and vent crews, as well as from exterior observations. Subscribing to a fixed theory on hose line placement in an assessment exercise can limit a potential company or chief officer candidate’s ability to score critical points. Remember such scoring dimensions as “technical knowledge”, “adaptability” and “deciveness”. Avoid being sucked into a situation/exercise that presents limited information and then responding to scenario with the same degree of vagueness. Assessment exercises will often give you just enough information to initiate a measurable action. In many assessment exercises test developers will create vagueness into an exercise to measure your potential. By giving you limited information (written or visual) they are actually measuring your ability to seek additional information to assist you in your decision-making. When a scenario/exercise presents vagueness, top-scoring students will tell you that their responses included numerous considerations and objectives.
• Ensure all operations are coordinated with the ladder companies movement
• Provide progress reports to Command

Ladder Company Operations:

Task based responsibilities within an assessment center for the ladder company officer will focus around ten primary responsibilities. For your promotional preparation we recommend you use the following acronym as a study guide:

(Acronym AL-VES-SCOUP)

1. Apparatus Placement
2. Ladders
3. Ventilation
4. Forcible Entry
5. Search
6. Salvage
7. In Coordination with the Engine Company
8. Overhaul
9. Utilities
10. Provide a Progress Report to Command

Basic tactical considerations for the ladder company for a private dwelling assessment exercise must focus around the following actions or orders:

• Placing the apparatus for aerial/ground ladder use.
• Having a number of ground ladders strategically placed for occupant and firefighter egress. Placing ladders to the fire floor and floors above are point gatherers. The more the better!
• Ventilate the fire building. The location and extent of the fire will be the influencing factor that will affect your response here. Generally assessors will be looking for tactics that identify horizontal ventilation assignments opposite the push of any deployed hoselines, with added assignments intended to remove smoke from key arteries in the building. (again, be specific)
• Force entry for the engine company where needed.
• Conduct primary and secondary searches. (Secondary searches are to be completed once the fire is under control) Keep in consideration such technical knowledge as the location of the fire, the building construction and design, as well as the time of the day as additional factors that may affect your response.
• Target known or anticipated bedroom areas in ladder and search assignments.
• Conduct salvage. Be passionate and enthusiastic about the need to protect an occupant’s belongings. View this as an opportunity to show the fire department’s customer service responsibilities.
• Ensure all operations are coordinated with the engine companies movement
• Overhaul all suspected areas.
• Control the utilities. All of them.
• Provide/request progress reports to Command.

The above is meant to be an introduction to your promotional assessment. As indicated, although the enclosed is measurable reference guide, candidates will still need to pay attention to the content of each individual exercise and respond to the specific questions and challenges that are presented within the exercise. We hope this helps as you prepare for a “private dwelling” exercise. Good luck!

For additional information:

• Promotionalprep.com
• Fireopsonline.com
• Firegroundsizeup.com

Text Books:

• Assessment Center Strategy and Tactics from Fire Engineering Books
• Fire Ground Operational Guides from Fire Engineering Books
• Fire Ground Size-Up from Fire Engineering Books