HARRY R. CARTER, Ph.D., MIFireE

Again this week, we have paused to ponder the death of yet another firefighter. West Deptford New Jersey's Firefighter James Heenan, 37, died Sunday March 25 after a three-month struggle to survive fourth-degree burns suffered over 80 percent of his body in a New Year's Eve blaze. The injuries were such that both of his hands had been amputated.

This is the most recent of a series of fire-related deaths involving serious burn injuries, sudden collapses, and flaming environments. Last week saw the death of Firefighter Bill Ellison from Anderson Township, Ohio. In addition, before that there were two deaths each at structural fires in Missouri and Illinois. All cause the pangs of grief to eat away at my soul.

I am working to study the reasons for these deaths. It is my intention to create a knowledge base that can be used to help teach us all, so that we can become better at what we do. As I have said in past commentaries, I am not a Monday Morning Quarterback. That is the sort of person who comes in to a sad and tragic event and starts pointing fingers and telling everyone how this would never have happened if THEY were in charge.

My function in life is altogether different. I am a gatherer of data. I like to study these events to glean lessons from them. I then use those lessons to write and teach about how to keep our troops safe from the ravages of fire. Remember that I am a realist when it comes to death and injuries from firefighting operations. I am of the opinion that we will never totally eliminate the specter of death from firefighting; human beings are involved and all are subject to the foibles of human nature.

However, that does not mean that I have to throw my hands up and tell you that we cannot do things in a safer fashion. Each of us has to work at becoming a better practitioner of the whole range of firefighting skills. We owe that to ourselves, our fellow firefighters, and most certainly to our families.

As I was going over the facts regarding the story on Firefighter James Heenan of the Verga Fire Company, an email message arrived on my electronic doorstep that truly touched my heart. One of my regular correspondents from South Jersey sent me a most touching message regarding the loss of Firefighter Heenan.

This fellow is a regular reader and correspondent, who frequently tweaks my nose when the mood strikes him. However, in this email, he bared his aching soul to me. After several tortured sentences filled with grief and heartache, he wrote, "… please write something, to stop us from being killed. I hate this. Maybe I should say, what can I do to save my fellow FF" OK my friend, here goes.

Maybe there is something I can say or do that will stimulate people to pay closer attention to their tasks as we do this dangerous business of firefighting. My review of the statistics indicates that well over 20 firefighters died during the first three months of 2001. The list that covers the cause of each death seems to be vaguely familiar. Like maybe we have seem them all too often. The obvious question is, of course, why?

Is it possible that we, as a fire service, have lost our way? Has our focus been so diffused by the wide range of tasks that the fire service has been forced to assume over the past several years, that we have lost our skill as structural firefighters? There is only so much time available, so we tend to prioritize our efforts.

Since the incidence of fires has been on the down swing, and EMS responses have gone through the roof, priorities have been skewed by the operational realities of our daily lives. While this explains what is happening, it does not excuse the fact that we are leaving the most dangerous and least controlled component of our operational aspect to chance.

My generation was forged in the fires of the 1970’s and 1980’s. We combined a great deal of book knowledge with frequent firefighting episodes. Much of what my associates and I know was learned by rote repetition. In my 1998 text, Firefighting Strategy and Tactics – The Eight Step Method, I spent a great deal of time in the early chapters of the text sharing some very simple operational rules, concerns, and operational hints. I am of the opinion that it is the simple things, or ignorance of them that is killing our people.

Let me share a few of my clues for safe fireground operation with you.

1. Human Life is your primary concern
2. BIG FIRE – BIG WATER
3. Make sure you have an adequate source of water
4. Never pass a fire
5. Engine companies must work as a team
6. Do not shoot water at smoke
7. Vent high, vent low, vent often
8. No one goes in alone!

While these may seem like simple little hints that EVERYBODY already knows, trust me, they are frequently overlooked. It is my opinion that much of our institutional knowledge in the critical area of fireground operations is not being passed on from generation to generation.

Far too many officers simply assume that everyone knows what they know. What a ridiculous thought? Imagine how much worse off the fire service would be if Deputy Chief Vincent Dunn had adopted that approach to structural collapse, and firefighter safety. Think of how little we would now know if he had chosen to selfishly assume that everyone was possessed of his encyclopedic knowledge of this life and death topic. Thank God that he has shared his encyclopedic knowledge gained through 42 years of dedicated service and research. What a great contribution he has made. Nevertheless, unless we, who follow, share what he has taught us with those who are climbing the fire service ladder, what he has taught us all will be lost.

How many more people would have been crushed to death in building collapses if my friend Frank Brannigan had not taken up the banner of building construction problems? It is rare for me to pass a building in New Jersey that has been marked, posted and registered for its truss floors and roofs, and not think of Frank.

We all need to become concerned with learning as much as we can about structural firefighting. We must then become zealous in our sharing of knowledge. I would hate to learn that someone had died because I had failed to properly train them for their job. Let me offer a few questions to stimulate your thinking processes. I want you to ponder these and find the answers on your own. That will reinforce the learning process.

1. As you roll up in front of a burning three-story building, you see smoke coming from all three floors. Where is the fire probably located?
2. As your company is moving an attack hoseline into a burning structure, you feel the flow of air come rushing in behind you. What is about to occur?
3. As your company is moving into the deep, murky depths of a smoky dwelling fire, the temperature of the area suddenly spikes up. What may happen?
4. As you approach the front of a building where there is an obviously heavy smoke condition, you not that the color of the smoke is a deep, dark, mustard-colored or brown. Is this an important clue?
5. Your sector commander has ordered your company out of the building. You think that you have a chance at darkening down the fire and think that he is a bit of a worrier anyway, so you ignore him. Is this a smart thing to do?
6. It is the policy of your fire department to attack cellar fires by means of a direct attack down the rear stairs of an involved structure. You do not like this and decide to adopt a policy of your own that says to attack down the front stairs. Is this a dangerous thing to do?
7. You note that there is a heavy body of fire blowing out of the second floor windows in a suburban home. As your company moves into the first floor and approaches the stairway to the second floor, knowing you have a great shot at the fire, you note a small fire in the living room to the right of the stairway. You do not want to lose your shot at the raging fire on the second floor, so you direct a short burst at the first floor fire and then charge up to where the real fire is. Should you be surprised when you are later cut off and trapped by the first floor fire?

The list could go on and on. I will leave it to you to find the answers to these questions. Moreover, I do not care which text you use to find the answers. Whether it is the Skip Coleman, Alan Brunacini, John Norman, Fire Chief’s Handbook or Harry Carter version of Firefighting 101, nothing can happen until you acquire the book and commit the knowledge to the inner recesses of your cranial regions. As I have said on more than one occasion, knowledge is good and ignorance is bad; the choice of which you use is yours alone.

We will probably never achieve a zero death year in the world of fire suppression. I am not a pessimist, I am a realist. We are dealing with human beings and uncontrolled environments. The interaction between the two is fraught with danger.

However, our quest to lower the annual death rate cannot begin until we stop wringing our hands and complaining about fate. We have to stop bragging about how dangerous firefighting is and start acting on the steps that I have identified in this article. I have talked about a number of things. Whether it involves living healthier, training more realistically, training more safely, or committing the classics of structural firefighting to memory, you are the one who must begin the journey. I have done this, at least in the area of health and welfare.

I call upon you to begin the journey to a safer fire department. Like the famous journey of ten thousand steps, nothing happens until you take the first step. In addition, unless thousands of you begin to take those fateful first steps, we, as the fire service, will be condemned to paying a never-ending, ever-increasing tribute at the Fallen Firefighter’s Monument in Emmetsburg, Maryland.

Please try the safe way. Knowledge is a critical element that lies at the basis of all that we do. I hope I have helped my associate in Southern New Jersey with a few firefighting points to ponder.

The commentary in this column does not necessarily reflect those of Firehouse.Com, Firehouse Magazine, their employees or parent company Cygnus Business Media. Harry R. Carter, Ph.D., MIFireE, is an internationally known municipal fire protection consultant and contributing editor to Firehouse Magazine. He recently retired as a Battalion Commander with the Newark, New Jersey Fire Department. His commentary appears regularly on Firehouse.Com. For more commentary and information, visit Carter's web site at www.harrycarter.com Harry has published several books available for online ordering, including Firefighting Strategy and Tactics and Management in the Fire Service