Firefighter 101

[E.Raven 11]

Reserved for table of contents 

1.1 Introduction and History

2.1 Department Organization.

2.2 Company Organization.

3.1 Firefighter Safety

3.2 Firefighter PPE.

4.1 Fire Behavior.

Edited March 12, 2020 by E.Raven

[E.Raven 11]

Introduction and History (1.1)

The first fire departments were organized in Rome, first as groups of slaves and then as a part of the Roman military. The fire service has evolved from community
organized volunteer departments, to private owned companies paid by insurance companies, to government run entities providing all hazards protection from fires,
medical emergencies, technical emergencies, hazmat emergencies, and other disasters. Above all else the fire department's mission is to save lives and protect
property.

This guide is intended to give basic information to someone with no firefighting knowledge so that they can role play on the site with some sense of direction. You can
always pop in the discord to ask more specific questions. This guide may get fairly in depth, but funny enough there is a decent video you can watch from a kid's
series to get a good overview of what fire departments do and some of the special equipment they have. You can find it here. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9UGtiyeVQk

 

Edited March 12, 2020 by E.Raven

[E.Raven 11]

Department Organization (2.1)

Classically the fire department is a paramilitary organization, meaning that it mimics military rank and structure, as well as accomplishing tasks as a team. Typically
departments try to staff a truck with some sort of supervisor, when this cannot be done the person riding in the front passenger seat is the acting officer. He or she
is in charge of making all decisions on the truck and is ultimately responsible for any successes or failures of the crew.

Maintaining crew integrity is paramount. Doing things off the cuff or "freelancing" is incredibly dangerous and is the primary killer of firefighters inside fires.
Always listen to your acting officer, obedience during an emergency situation is critical. In the case of receiving conflicting orders, tell the supervisor that gave
you the conflicting order that you are already performing orders. If the supervisor that gave you the conflicting order reaffirms the order, carry it out. It is the
duty of all firefighters to report any and all unsafe conditions. Firefighters may also refuse to follow orders that are negligently unsafe. 

The game's fire department rank structure can be found here.
 

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Company Organization (2.2)

Fire companies are organized by the tasks that the perform. This guide will reflect the companies available in game. In real life, nomenclature will vary by regions and
department. The trucks that fire companies are on are called apparatus. 

Engine companies are the bread and butter of the fire department. Engines carry a pump, water, and hoses to fight fire, they also carry an assortment of hand and power
tools to perform all essential functions on the fire ground. 

Ladder companies classically do not carry water or hoses on their trucks. Ladder companies primarily perform ventilation, search and rescue, and supporting tasks on
the fire ground. If a ladder company is a "quint" it carries a small compliment of water, hoses, and a pump in order to function like an engine in addition to a large aerial ladder device. You may also see a ladder company called a "truck company". 

Squad companies in ERT provide advanced life support paramedics in addition to a medium assortment of specialized rescue equipment and a basic compliment of
firefighting tools. In game they respond to serious medical calls, technical rescues, and fires. 

Rescue companies are considered to be the special forces of the fire department. Rescue companies provide highly knowledgeable, skilled, and equipped firefighters to
accomplish the most difficult tasks. They are typically assigned to carry out rope rescues, difficult extrication, confined space rescues, trench collapses, water
rescues, building collapses, and HAZMAT operations. On the scenes of fires they operate in a similar capacity to ladder companies and will typically perform search and
rescue capabilities.

ARFF companies are very unique companies. ARFF, or Aircraft Rescue Firefighting companies handle aircraft and ramp emergencies that are typically very low frequency
high risk events. They drive specialized vehicles that can pump water and foam while moving and can operate on all terrain. 

The fire department also maintains other apparatus. In ERT the fire department has tankers, brush trucks, and support vehicles. Tankers are large trucks that carry
several thousand gallons of water to areas where fire hydrants may not be available. Brush trucks are all terrain vehicles with a small pump and a few hundred gallons
of water to reach fires that are off road or difficult to access, such as a fire in a field or a forest. The department has support vehicles as well, these transport
command staff or firefighters around or perform a very specific purpose. You can find details on the apparatus ERT has here.

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Firefighter Safety (3.1)

Firefighter safety is paramount. In real life hiring a firefighter is typically seen as an investment by a community, and it is in the interest of a department to make
sure that employees do not wantonly injure themselves in the line of duty as this is a huge monetary loss. While the everyday slips, trips, fall prevention, and
cancer prevention doesn't necessarily make it into a role playing game as there are liberties taken into account as we are playing a TV show like game, aspects of
ensuring scene safety, wearing the correct PPE, no freelancing, maintaining crew integrity, and safe driving can make or break a story line. 

Your officer should always know where you are and what you are doing at all times. This is referred to as Personal Accountability. Command may request at anytime a
Personal Accountability Report or PAR Check, where the firefighter reports where they are, what they are doing, and their progress or status if applicable. 
 

 

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Firefighter PPE (3.2)

Personal protective equipment, or PPE, is what keeps firefighters safe while performing their duties. PPE is not just turnout gear and helmets, it goes as far as the day to day
uniform they wear to complete their job. 

-The Station Uniform-

The firefighter's station uniform consists of boots, pants, belt, and a shirt. Many times firefighters will respond to EMS calls or other non life threatening calls
while wearing their station uniform. Generally boots are rated for NFPA 1977 use, which is the standard for protective clothing many departments adopt. They are steel
toed and have a zipper instead of laces to get the boot on and off for fast transition into structure boots, and they are typically rated to be used in wild land
operations. Pants and shirts are typically all cotton and non synthetic to ensure that they do not melt when exposed to high heat conditions. Many firefighters now
wear tactical belts, known as riggers belts, that allow the firefighter to have an emergency harness and tourniquet to use at a moment's notice.

-Structure gear-

Often referred to as bunker gear or turnout gear, this is the equipment that firefighters wear in situations that may be dangerous such as fires, technical rescues, or
HAZMAT calls. It should not be worn in or around bodies of water. It consists of fire resistant boots, pants with suspenders, coat, flash hood, helmet, and gloves. In
ultra hazardous environments it is worn with a self contained breathing apparatus. It is important to note that the clothing is fire resistant, not fire proof. It will
not protect the wearer from more than a few seconds of direct flame contact. Rather it protects the wearer from the extreme ambient temperatures for a short time so
that they can perform their job. While training or in "hard hat" areas, the firefighter should wear their structure helmet and some sort of gloves. All firefighters
also carry a portable radio while operating on scene. This may be worn in an outside pocket of the jacket, or more popularly under the coat with a radio strap. 

-SCBA-

The self contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA is a closed circuit air tank that allows the wearer to breathe clean air in an environment that may otherwise be
dangerous to breath in. Such as in a fire, or in an environment that is low in atmospheric oxygen. It consists of a pack that resembles a SCUBA tank, a regulator,
mask, and PASS device. The user opens the tank valve on their back, clips the regulator in, and then takes in a breath, ensuring that the mask has a seal. The mask is
sucked to the user's face and has a one way valve that vents carbon dioxide outside of the mask. The tank has a low air alarm that triggers when the tank is below a
certain pressure. There is also an integrated PASS, or personal alert safety system, that starts to trigger every 30 seconds that the firefighter doesn't move in case
the firefighter becomes incapacitated. The amount of air in the bottle will vary by the user's physical condition. Typically while under extreme stress you will have
15-25 minutes of air before running out. 

-Extrication Gear-

Structural firefighting gear is often times bulky and hard to work in. Extrication gear provides protection from cuts, glass, and flash fires. It is also usually
approved to fight wild land fires in due to its flash fire resistance. Extrication gear is similar to structure gear but typically comes without suspenders, or as a jump
suit. The wearer wears their normal station boots with it. While performing a rescue the wearer will also typically wear extrication or special rescue gloves to
maintain dexterity.

-Other PPE-

During EMS calls or when dealing with patients firefighters should wear sterile nitrile gloves to prevent infectious disease exposure, if working with a dead body or
with the possibility of other airborne hazards a N95 mask should be worn. While operating at scenes on or near bodies of water a PFD, also known as a life vest, should
be used. On scene of any vehicle accident that does not involve firefighting a reflective safety vest should be worn. When operating a chainsaw in non fire conditions
chainsaw chaps should be used. Some additional PPE may be worn at other calls depending on the nature, such as earplugs, safety glasses, HAZMAT suits, or body armor.

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Fire Behavior (4.1)

Fighting fire is a specialized profession, and making a quick summary of such a profession is difficult. However, understanding how to fight fire can begin with
understanding what fire is and how it behaves. 

Fire, or combustion, is a rapid exothermic chemical reaction that produces heat and light. When an object's atoms have enough energy applied to them they turn into a gaseous state rapidly, expelling stored energy causing a chain reaction to nearby atoms that results in fire. Solids and liquids do not burn, an object must be in a gaseous state to burn. In order to burn, a fire must have heat, fuel, oxygen, and an unbroken chemical chain reaction to ignite and burn. If any of these four things are not present, the fire will be unable to ignite or continue burning, and this is how we fight fire. 

We cool burning materials with water, taking away the heat.
We smother burning materials with foam or through another means of mechanical asphyxiation, taking away oxygen.
We remove fuel from the fire's path by making a fire break.
And we stop the ability of the fire to continue the chemical process through chemical flame inhibition. 

Fire is sometimes referred to being "unpredictable" which is actually incorrect. In identical circumstances fire will behave the same way at all times. What we truly
cannot predict are all the variables associated with fire, from atmospheric conditions to the strength of atomic bonds in a fuel. But fire follows some general
behaviors. 

Fire releases smoke. Smoke is composed of unburned solid particles and gasses that have not ignited, generally due to having a fuel to air ratio not favorable for ignition.
Fire usually spreads in the direction that the smoke goes and is a good visual indicator for how a fire may spread. Generally the faster smoke moves, the hotter the
fire is. The path smoke, heat, and flames take out of a structure is known as a flow path, and will generally define the spread of a fire. The color of smoke will also indicate what is burning, and how intense the fire is. For an overview of reading smoke click here.

In an enclosed space a fire will grow until until it reaches a point where the ambient temperature is so high that all of the materials in the room spontaneously
ignite in just a few seconds. The massive release of energy is almost always fatal, even to a fully encapsulated firefighter. 

When a fire has its oxygen supply cut off it will die down, if the fire finds a new supply of oxygen, such as through a door being opened or a window being broken, the
sudden intake of air combined with the heat will cause the smoke that has built up to ignite, sometimes violently. This is known as a back draft. 

Fires are classified into five different classes, A,B,C,D, and K, and each class is extinguished a specific way. 

• Class A fires are ordinary combustibles, such as wood, fabrics, and rubber. They can be extinguished with water or certain types of fire extinguishers.
• Class B fires are flammable liquids. Their specific gravity is different than water, so they actually float when water is applied. While water may initially cool the burning flammable, it will spread the unburned liquid around. This type of fire is extinguished by using a class B foam or certain types of fire extinguishers. 
• Class C fires involve energized electrical equipment. Typically the power should be cut before extinguishing these fires, however some certain types of extinguishers may be used on smaller fires.
• Class D fires involve burning metal materials. Extinguishing agents are generally specific for the product involved and are therefore found on site, and typically these extinguishing powders are applied via extinguisher or by shoveling the material onto a fire. The exception to this is ARFF units, which carry class D extinguishers for magnesium and other common metals used on aircraft.
• Class K fires involve burning animal fats, such as a deep fryer. Special extinguishers are used to turn the burning fats into a soapy mix that smothers, cools, and inhibits the fire from growing. These extinguishers are found on site. 

Edited March 12, 2020 by E.Raven