Are you in a fire department that's fortunate enough to be fully staffed with both firefighters and officers? Then these words will not be to your benefit. Instead, this is for the chief whose organization has to hope that enough of its members appear on the fireground to take their places and bring satisfaction to the operation at hand.

Given the size of our nation and the nature of its fire service, this description covers thousands of fire departments, mainly small town volunteers. It's no secret that this section of our organizational makeup is hurting both for firefighters and officers. It's sad that the spirit of public service, which was once a national resource for us for decades, has fallen out of favor with our younger folk.

Well-placed resources

So we often find ourselves on location at a fire that might be within our capability, but we must not squander any portion of our resource package on secondary matters. To those officers who fall into that category I offer advice that I have used myself to advantage.

A quick but potent strike is required. Don't make a feeble opening. To make first-strike evolutions, information is required: Building category components, size of structure, occupancy and other like matters, plus the extent of fire and its location within and without. How do you acquire the bulk of this data in the shortest possible time?

Make a 360; walk around the fire building. Now I know that you can't do this in all cases, nor do you need to. Large industrial, mercantile or institutional properties are too vast, but the the average type of building fire, such as a detached dwelling, is a perfect candidate.

Why do I advise you to go this route? In so many cases you try to make your estimate or size-up from the front, based on what's showing. As you approach you may get a quick look at one side and the front, but that's all. Time after time I see early decisions made based on a look at one side and the front. My photographic slide file is full of front shots followed by rear shots, and they differ so much that it's hard to believe you're looking at the same structure and the same fire.

If I arrive at a fire and see the front fully charged and the windows black, I want to know if that fire is blowing out the back windows because I might change my tactics. The real old-timers used to solve this problem by a system known as “send a man.” In other words, send a firefighter or officer to the rear to observe and report. That was when you had the luxury of full staffing and you could spare a hand. Today the string is too thin to do this. Everyone has a job to do, and another as soon as the first is accomplished.

One of the things not perfect with the above system is that all eyes are not your eyes. Remember the old saying that if you want something done right, do it yourself? That does not apply to manual tasks, so you don't need to chop your own hole or squirt your own water. Observations, however, are too crucial to you. The responsibility is on your hands or head, not anyone else's.

Whither ICS?

You may be thinking that I've never heard of the incident command system. Well, I remind you that the roles required to fill it out are not yet at hand early on. It is you and a small band trying to solve a bigger problem than you have souls at hand. You are looking for vital moves that will be effective immediately with your small staff. Twenty minutes into the incident you might have hands a plenty, but that's not the case early on.

Given the incident, a fast look at one side and the front may not give you the big picture you need, as in the fully charged front with fire roaring unseen out the rear windows. Contemporary thinking is through the front door with an attack line and push out the back. Is your hose line big enough to fight that much fire? Can your line get around all the unseen obstacles in the form of davenports, lounge chairs and TV sets? Even with the windows out, the atmosphere won't clear fast enough to allow you to even get up on your knees.

If you had done a 360 and seen the extent of the combustion, you might have decided that a direct attack at the back was the best solution. If you're thinking that will push the fire toward the front, remember that our hose lines and nozzles are used to fight and extinguish fire, not push it. If you expect pushing rather than extinguishing, it is because your line is too small or not giving you the shape the fire will yield to. Perhaps the nozzle isn't fully open.

Have I gone adrift here? No. What I'm saying is that by circling the burning structure yourself, key factors may appear that better steer you in the right direction. A direct attack as opposed to a probe, for example.

Tips for the 360

If you have a good frame dwelling fully charged, look for black windows; if you have a cellar, put your bare hand on the window pane. I have seen cellar fires overlooked for the lack of this action.

Check the peaks to see if smoke is oozing from them and look for heat marks on any of the outside walls. From those you can often plot the path of the fire upward.

In a rural setting you may have propane tanks situated out of sight. Mostly they are legislated a distance from the structure, but a few sit close.

The unseen topography also can be checked in your rounds. I recently saw a wood pile at a fire that was burning alongside the burning house. It was ignored during the operation for so long that it set another section of the house going. You can bet that the fireground commander would have liked to have had that bit of intelligence before the side wall went up.

The process of the 360 can be compromised in the dark of night. For this you need a good hand light. Your progress should be a little slower because of ground uncertainty. A white house is easiest to read, day or night.

Full-sized fire departments that have the luxury of a full force from the start don't know how lonely it is out there where the hay is long and the firefighters short. It can be an awesome time to be in a task where you end up with more fire than you have buckets.

A fellow firefighter I know was just coming into a hamlet as the fire siren sounded and a good sized 2-story frame house was going. He had his hitch with him. He identified himself to the chief and asked if he could help. The reply was, “Somebody better. There are only three of us.” The opening moments of any working fire are arduous, but more so when the problems are so many and you are lucky if you can scrape together a trio when a full chorus is needed. Mutual aid filled out the ranks in time.

The next time you find yourself in such a position, don't jump into a ditch and cover your head. Instead take a 360. A little walk never hurt anybody.

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Prior to his retirement, Donald L. Loeb served the Dunkirk (N.Y.) Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter, assistant chief and chief. His experience spans six decades of military and civilian firefighting, teaching, and writing.