chief concerns richard marinucci

Truck company operations involve most activities on the fireground that support applying water on the fire.

Truck companies do what they can to give engine companies the best opportunity to complete their mission of water application. This involves forcible entry, ventilation, and searching for victims. Included are ladder operations to get firefighters to positions where they can do their job and also to provide a means of escape should traditional ways out be blocked. We may have not included everything here but suffice to say, the truck companies are “jacks of all trades” and vital components of any successful operation.

Modern research should cause fire departments to reevaluate truck company functions and perform those that will assist in mitigating the issues while allowing for reasonable personnel safety. As an example, ventilation on the fireground is an important function. For the most part, this has involved vertical ventilation, which means getting to the roof to open it up. It could also include horizontal options like breaking windows (my personal favorite). There can also be some mechanical options involving fans and such. But in today’s world with the information at hand, there must be more consideration of flow path and how ventilation will affect fire spread. In addition, modern construction techniques make roofs very untenable in a short period of time when supporting substructures are under fire conditions.

Current Research Impact

My time in the fire service has seen many changes resulting from research, with more occurring in the past couple of years than ever before. I have been part of many approaches to ventilation. There have been roof functions that mandated opening a roof on virtually all structure fires, airing of the structure by breaking every window that you could (my personal favorite), and using a positive-pressure fan. There was and is a time and a place for all. But, recent research on flow paths indicates that there needs to be much more thought into the best way to ventilate a structure, and that method must be coordinated with hose placement.

It seems that the arbitrary introduction of air into a structure fire will make things worse. So, the objective would be to greatly coordinate water application with ventilation. This means that forcible entry will wait for the engine crew to get to the access point. Of course, life safety and rescue opportunities will trump this. Roof operations for ventilation, horizontal considerations, and positive-pressure tactics must be done within the right time frame. There can be some standard options, but coordinating operations is essential.

Flow path is the most critical element in fire spread. Intuitively, we know that adding air to a fire will accelerate its growth. It works on simple things like campfires. We blow on them, fan them, or use bellows to get the fire development we desire. Uncontrolled air entrainment will make the fire less predictable and potentially more dangerous to occupants and firefighters. Some departments have changed their approach and are finding success. Simple things like assigning a door person to control air flow will allow for more tactics coordination. Any choices should not be arbitrary and should be based on sound knowledge o