Fire research shows firefighting paradigm flaws

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FIRE OFFICER SAFETY

by Robert Avsec
Sponsored by Globe

Fire research shows firefighting paradigm

flaws
The old way of teaching and training firefighters is not only
irrelevant, it is dangerous; here's how to fix that
Aug 11, 2015

By Robert Avsec
A new reghter's introduction to re behavior has traditionally been an apprenticeship. The
reghter cadet learns the very basics during a three-hour class in Fireghter I the expectation
is that they will learn everything else about re behavior alongside a senior reghter in the eld
as they battle res together.
There's just one problem with that: the number of res each year has declined and continues to
do so. So the experiential aspect of a reghter's development has become more limited while the
risks of not understanding modern re behavior have taken quantum leaps forward.
In the late 1970s, reghter deaths due to traumatic reground injuries happened at a rate of 1.8
deaths per 100,000 res. By the late 2000s, the rate of reghter deaths had risen to 3.0 deaths
per 100,000 res. This trend is made more disturbing by an NFPA report from 2010 shows that
while the rate of reghter deaths was rising, the number of structure res for the same period
had declined by 53 percent.
Better re prevention, building codes, code
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enforcement, and more re suppression systems,

especially in residential structures, have done their
job to reduce the number of res.

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Video: Principles of Modern Fire

But the declining number of structure res and

Attack - SLICE-RS

less opportunities to learn about re behavior rst

Video series: NIST and UL research on

re dynamics

hand only provides one facet of the threat to

reghter safety during re control operations.
Over the last 40 years the reground itself has
changed dramatically.

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A different enemy
The fuel loads in residential structures are one of
those changes. Today's homes are constructed and
furnished with synthetic materials materials that
burn faster, deplete the available oxygen in a space
more quickly and generate more unburned hydrocarbons.
The way that homes are constructed and the materials used in that construction also have
changed. The engineered lumber and lightweight building construction techniques do not
maintain their structural integrity when exposed to re like the old dimensional lumber used
prior to the 1970s.
The technology available today to re behavior researchers like those at National Institute of
Standards and Technology and UL gives them an unprecedented ability to measure all aspects of
a re's behavior including temperature at various levels in a space, air ows within a space,
infrared imaging within a space, and video recording and editing capabilities that brings all the
data together.
And this is critical to reghter safety. While anecdotal evidence has been telling us for years that
the reground has changed, we've now got the empirical data necessary to make data-driven
decisions about how we train and how we tactically approach suppressing res.
A common theme in NIOSH investigations of reghter line-of-duty deaths is that the survivors
report, "Upon our arrival we only found smoke showing." Those survivors, and those who lost
their lives in the incidents, believed that they were encountering the re in its growth phase.
Instead, they were arriving with the re was already in its decay phase. The re had consumed the
available oxygen and the space was now lled with gaseous, heated fuel that was just waiting for
additional oxygen to be introduced into the space. These are ventilation-limited res.
Oxygen starved
That's why the next event that typically happened was that the reghters vented a window or

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opened a door, the re got the oxygen it craved and whoom it grew to a re of major
proportions with a rapid release of heat and an equally rapid rise in temperature in the space in a
few short minutes, or even seconds.
Crawling down a smoke-lled hallway in an attempt to locate the seat of the re must become a
thing of the past. Today's reghters are advancing not through smoke that's primarily composed
of the products of combustion, but rather through smoke that's laden with superheated
unburned hydrocarbons gaseous fuels headed for the nearest source of oxygen.
Increasingly, the re triangle of oxygen, heat and fuel comes together behind that advancing re
crew, cutting off their means of egress and trapping them in a highly volatile environment.
I'm trained as a hazardous materials specialist, and as such was taught that all tactical operations
at a hazmat incident must be predicated on the science of three things: the product, it's container
and the environment.
What is the product; what are its characteristics; how does it react with other substances?
What are the container's characteristics? Has it been damaged, and if so, how has the damage
affected its integrity?
What affect does the environment have on the product and responders?
This is just a synopsis of managing a hazardous materials incident. However, it's useful to help
understand how our approach to structural reghting must change based upon the emerging
science.
The new truths
Fire behavior research is going on around the globe and here in the United States the most
prominent and publicized research is being conducted by National Institute of Standards and
Technology and UL. This research has produced data that clearly demonstrates seven truths.

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Structure res are most likely in a ventilation-limited state than a fuel-limited state when we
arrive.
Ventilation does not have a cooling effect on a ventilation-limited re.
Exterior re attack is not strictly a defensive tactic.
Exterior re attack will not harm victims.
The best tactic for combating basement res is not using a top-down approach.
The long-accepted concept that re streams push re is a myth.
Venting the structure and searching before suppressing the re is not the best way to improve
victim survivability.
NIST and UL have now compiled more than 10 years of re-behavior data and the results are
conclusive. Before making entry into the structure for either rescue or re suppression
reghters must identify and control the re's ow path and begin to cool the volatile atmosphere
of superheated hydrocarbons.
This is the new paradigm for re suppression operations in structures.
The research has demonstrated time and again that this new paradigm will contribute greatly to
the survivability of any entrapped civilians and the safety of responding reghters by
dramatically reducing interior room temperatures and cooling those volatile hydrocarbons.
SLICE-RS
This paradigm shift needs to take place in both the training and operational venues of the re
service. The International Society of Fire Service Instructors developed the acronym SLICE-RS as a
teaching tool for instructors and an operational tool for the rst-arriving re company.
Size-up.
Locate the re.
Identify and control the ow path.
Cool from a safe location.
Extinguish the re.
These rst ve are to be done in sequence. Success depends on reghters and ocers

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completing these tactical objectives safely, effectively and eciently. The last two objectives
Rescue and Salvage are considered targets of opportunity to be acted upon at any time in the
SLICE sequence.
SLICE-ER addresses two key concepts that have arisen from the re-behavior research. First,
identifying and controlling the ow path is critical to keeping a ventilation-limited re from
attaining the oxygen it needs. Second, cooling the volatile atmosphere from the exterior will
rapidly decreasing temperature inside the structure and improving interior conditions for
occupants and reghters.
Beyond these operational changes, the re service is going to have to retool its entire approach to
the "what, why and how" of teaching re behavior and the associated re-control tactics. Teaching
materials including textbooks must be revised so that we can start teaching both entry-level and
incumbent reghters the new way to do business.
Moving beyond the classroom, signicant changes need to occur in how reghters are taught
practical reghting skills so that they're congruent with our current understanding of re
behavior.
Teaching new truths
First and foremost, re service leaders should aggressively move forward with these initiatives
within their departments. This means having SOGs congruent with SLICE-RS; educating
reghters, ocers and instructors on the SOGs; and enforcing the SOGs.
Second, existing physical training facilities such as burn buildings need to be recongured or
retrotted so that reghters and ocers can acquire initial and continuing training on the new
SOGs. There are some minimums requirements to achieve this.
Make sure all exterior windows and doors can be properly closed, or the airow through them
controlled, so that personnel can learn and develop re ow path skills.
Inside, make sure all interior rooms and spaces have doors that can be properly closed, or the
airow through them controlled. This will allow personnel to learn and develop interior re
isolation and re ow path skills.
Also, have the ability to create visible smoke escaping the structure in a manner, such as through
an open window, that replicates the smoke and superheated gases. This is where an initial
exterior re stream should be directed to initiate cooling the atmosphere in advance of
reghters entering the structure for search and suppression operations.

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Fire behavior research will continue to focus on data collection and analysis for res in structures,
particularly residential structures, to continue building the body of knowledge in that realm. The
research will continue to evaluate what impact new fuels and building construction techniques
have on re behavior in those occupancies.
It is incumbent upon re chiefs to keep abreast of new research and incorporate those ndings
that have stood up to repeated testing.

About the author

Sponsored by Globe
Battalion Chief Robert Avsec (Ret.) served with the Chestereld (Va.) Fire & EMS Department for 26 years. He was an active
instructor for re, EMS, and hazardous materials courses at the local, state, and federal levels, which included more than 10
years with the National Fire Academy. Chief Avsec earned his bachelor of science degree from the University of Cincinnati and
his master of science degree in executive re service leadership from Grand Canyon University. He is a 2001 graduate of the
National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Ocer Program. Since his retirement in 2007, he has continued to be a life-long learner
working in both the private and public sectors to further develop his "management sciences mechanic" credentials. He makes
his home near Charleston, W.Va. Contact Robert at Robert.Avsec@FireRescue1.com. The views of the author do not necessarily
reect those of the sponsor.

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