Wildland - Protecting Structures

1. INTRODUCTION

A. Purpose: This bulletin is to provide uniform procedures to assure personnel safety at a wildland fire.

Background: Wildland fire behavior is extremely predictable! Firefighters continue to die each year due to known wildland fire fighting errors.

2. PROCEDURES

You are the Captain of an engine company assigned to Strike Team XOR 1420 that has been deployed to a brush fire in the hills of Laguna Beach. It is a hot October day. The temperature is 89° , humidity is at 12%, and the Santa Ana winds are gusting up to 30 mph. When your strike team reaches its destination, your engine company is assigned structural protection of a 3,000 sf. Ranch style home. The house is located at the end of a 1,000 foot long driveway. The house has a huge circular driveway located on the leeward side. Access to the front door of the house is made from the circular driveway. The house is located on a hill with heavy brush below it on the windward side. The homeowner has provided 100 foot of clearance around the house. You have determined that this clearance gives you a "defensible space" to protect the house.

How are you going to properly position your apparatus for a "no move" situation in the event of an overrun by the fire?

 B. Spotting of apparatus

1. Position the apparatus so that the air filter intake is facing the leeward side of the fire. This will reduce the chance of smoke being drawn into the intake.
2. Spot apparatus close to the front doors of the house.
3. Don’t park in flammable fuels or under power lines.
4. Remove flammable items (hose packs, personal gear) from top of the apparatus.
5. Close windows and doors on apparatus.
6. Survey the area for hazards like holes, wire fences, slopes, propane tanks, and flammable fuels (including ornamental vegetation).
7. Locate a garden hose and place it in your tank filler. Top off your tank at every opportunity.
8. Establish a 13/4" firefighting line.
9. Establish an apparatus protection line.

1. Shut off the gas line; keep electrical on.
2. Close all doors inside the structure.
3. Turn on all lights.
4. Remove lightweight drapes and curtains.
5. Close all windows, shutters, blinds, or heavy drapes.
6. Disconnect garage door opening system.
7. Remove combustible materials away from structure (woodpiles, leaves, furniture, and trees).
8. Close or cover outside attic eaves or basement vents.
9. Clear the roof and gutters of leaves and debris.
10. Have a ladder available.

1. Take refuge in the house in the event of an overrun.
2. Have on full structural personal protective equipment and consider donning breathing apparatus.
3. Leave engine running and throttle-up to correct pump pressure. Have tank dumped and discharge gate (lever) open.
4. Maintain visual contact with your apparatus and your firefighting line outside. If embers fall on your apparatus or your firefighting line, extinguish them with the firefighting line. If you are unable to maintain visual contact with your firefighting line outside, close the discharge gate. Burns in the hose without visual contact could result in total loss of tank water, cavitation, and pump/engine damage.
5. Take firefighting line in leeward side of the house (front door). The first minute after being overrun is the most important. You will need the firefighting line to immediately extinguish fires. Save the last 100 gallons of water for firefighter safety.
6. After the fire has passed, take the firefighting line outside and check common ignition points on the structure (roof, exposed eaves, attic vents, gable vents, wood siding, and wood decking).