Firefighting Tactics and Procedures: Containment, Boundary Cooling, Ventilation Control and Extinguishing Methods
Tactics questions give a scenario and expect a sequence: alarm, isolate, contain, cool, rescue, extinguish, watch.
Order of priorities
- Raise the alarm and inform the bridge; locate the fire and identify its class.
- Isolate fuel and electrical supply; stop ventilation and close fire dampers and doors - but never trap people.
- Start boundary cooling before attacking, and run the search for missing persons in parallel.
- Attack with a team of two plus a backup team in BA, charged hose, correct medium.
Ventilation and boundaries
Closing the space starves the fire of oxygen and limits smoke spread, but opening a door to a fire room can produce a backdraught or flashover. Cool the boundary from a protected position with a spray; do not put a jet onto hot steel - it can distort or fracture it.
Extinguishing methods
A direct attack puts the medium on the seat of the fire. An indirect attack uses fog into the hot gas layer to cool it and knock down flames. Gas cooling with short pulses of spray reduces steam burns to the team.
Worked example
Galley deep-fat fryer fire. Isolate the power or gas, cover with a fire blanket or apply wet chemical; water would flash to steam and throw burning oil. Shut down the exhaust fan but do not open the ducting; cool the exhaust trunk from outside; keep a watch on the fryer afterwards.
Traps
- Opening the door 'to see' before the team is ready.
- No re-flash watch after the fire is out.
- Playing a jet on a bulkhead and steaming the compartment.
- Forgetting the headcount and the search for missing persons.