The Porch Roof and the Third-Floor Window
At 19:40, Truck 8 is first due at a three-story brick rowhouse with smoke from a second-floor front window. A man stands on the first-floor porch roof, about 12 feet above grade, shouting that his mother is still inside on the third floor. The porch roof is 12 feet deep with a low railing. The curb lane in front of the porch is occupied by a parked car, the next section of sidewalk is soft from two days of rain, and a three-wire service drop runs from a pole to the house at about 15 feet above grade, crossing the front. The truck carries 24-foot and 35-foot extension ladders. The department sets ladders at about 75 degrees and requires at least 10 feet of clearance from energized wires. The third-floor window sill is roughly 24 feet above grade.
1. Choose the ladder and the placement to reach the man on the porch roof, and justify it with the numbers given. What must be done about the soft ground, the parked car, and the service drop?
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Reach. The porch roof is 12 feet above grade. A 24-foot extension ladder at about 75 degrees provides roughly 20–22 feet of working height, so it reaches the roof with several rungs above the edge - the right amount, because the man needs something to hold and step onto. The 35-foot is held for the third floor, whose sill at about 24 feet is beyond the 24-foot ladder's safe reach.
Angle and distance. At 75 degrees the butt sits about one-quarter of the working length from the building - for the 24-foot, roughly 6 feet out. That placement also keeps the upper rails on the house side of the service drop crossing at about 15 feet; the 10-foot wire rule means the ladder must be raised and carried so neither the tip nor the upper rails come within 10 feet of those wires. Pick the end of the porch away from the drop.
Ground and obstacles. The soft sidewalk section gets a ladder pad or board under both butt spurs, and the butt is heeled by two firefighters or tied off - a man may come down fast, and a ladder that kicks out turns one victim into three. The parked car blocks the ideal spot, so use the next clear bay, confirm the tip is on solid roof deck rather than on the railing, and sound the roof before anyone puts weight on it.
2. The man is shouting that he is going back inside for his mother. Give the words and the actions for the next minute.
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Words first - short and directive. "Sir, stop - stay where you are, we have you. Look at me. Firefighters are already inside for her. If you go back in, you will be in the smoke and we will have to come get you instead." Use his name once you learn it, give him one job ("keep both hands on the ladder rails"), and do not argue about whether his mother is alive.
Actions. The ladder is heeled and the tip is above the roof edge before anyone climbs. One firefighter goes up, stays below him on the ladder, and controls the descent: the man comes down facing the ladder, one rung at a time, with the firefighter between him and the window. A second firefighter holds the butt and takes him at the bottom; a third escorts him out of the collapse zone and keeps him from circling back to the front. Notify command and the interior crew immediately that the occupant reports an elderly woman on the third floor, front side - that reprioritizes their search.
Reasoning. The man on the roof is a rescue already in progress and the fastest one to complete; he is also the next casualty if he is left to make his own decision. Control him first, then convert the information he gave you into a search assignment for the crew that can actually act on it.
3. No interior crew has reached the third floor yet. Do you send a firefighter up the 35-foot ladder to the third-floor window? Explain the factors and your decision.
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Factors for going. A reported occupant on the third floor, an interior stairway that may be blocked or delayed, and a ladder to the window that does not depend on the stairs. Vent-enter-search through a window is a standard tool when the door to the fire area is uncontrolled.
Factors against. A firefighter climbing alone into a room with fire below and no line has no protection and one way out; the window may open into the fire room itself; the porch roof sits over the fire floor and is not a safe platform to work from; the 35-foot ladder needs clear, solid ground that the car and the service drop may not allow; and the interior crew may be seconds from the door.
Decision. Put the 35-foot to the third-floor window only if ground and wire clearance allow it and the officer assigns a two-firefighter team - one on the ladder, one at the base - with a line stretched to the stairs or a line at the window before entry. Otherwise, the better use of the truck is to hold the ladder ready at the window, pass the location to the interior crew, and give command the occupant's information. An uncoordinated ladder entry with no line creates a second mayday out of a rescue.
The deciding question is not "can we climb?" It is "if this goes wrong in the next 60 seconds, what is the way out?"