Reading a Pre-Incident Plan Under Time Pressure
A crew arrives at a three-story light-manufacturing building with smoke showing from a second-floor window. Before entry, the company officer reads the pre-incident plan posted at the door. The plan states: "Occupancy: furniture assembly. Second floor: open assembly area, two exit stairs at opposite corners, no sprinklers. First floor: storage of finished goods, loaded pallets. Third floor: offices, unoccupied after 1800. Knox box at main entrance. Utility shutoffs in first-floor mechanical room, northeast corner. Roof access via interior stair only." The time is 1900. The officer has 90 seconds to brief the crew before entry.
1. Using only the plan, list the three facts that most change the crew's tactics and explain each briefly.
Read the worked answer
The plan gives several decision-relevant facts; the three with the largest tactical effect:
- No sprinklers on the second floor. Fire will grow unchecked until hose lines are in place, so the crew should expect a well-developed fire and plan for a longer stretch and more water.
- Two exit stairs at opposite corners on the second floor. This gives the crew two ways in and out; the officer should assign one stair as the attack route and identify the other as the secondary egress and search route.
- Finished goods on loaded pallets on the first floor. Palletized storage burns hot and can block egress and collapse; the crew should not treat the first floor as a clear lobby and should watch for fire spread below the fire floor.
Also relevant: third floor unoccupied after 1800 (so searches there are lower priority than the fire floor and the floor above the fire), and utility shutoffs in the northeast mechanical room.
2. The plan says roof access is by interior stair only. How should that shape the officer's brief in the 90 seconds available?
Read the worked answer
Because there is no exterior roof access, any roof work must be done through the building, which means the roof team travels the same stairs as the attack and search teams.
Brief points:
- State that vertical ventilation, if needed, must be assigned through the interior stair, and that the stair must be kept clear for egress.
- Assign the roof/vent role only if the stair can be reached safely; do not commit a member up a stair that is also the only way out for the attack team without coordinating.
- Note the risk: a single interior route concentrates traffic and can be cut off by fire or smoke, so the officer should confirm the second exit stair is usable before committing members above the fire.
- Keep the brief short: fire floor, attack route, secondary egress, and who goes to the roof - nothing more in 90 seconds.