Firehouse Magazine, October 2005

Firehouse Magazine, October 2005
Size Up
By Jonathan Bastian

It has been nearly two years since this column examined the foundation of any successful incident: good size up. The thermal imager (TI) is frequently purchased with the promise of saving lives, since it allows firefighters to “see” through the smoke and find victims faster. But proper use of a TI from the very beginning of an incident can help keep firefighters safer, as well as reduce property loss.

Essentials

As with any other TI application, planning and practice are the keys to effective usage. Because the transition at an incident from size up to action is often rapid, there may be little chance to “back up” and start over with a TI once a size up has begun without it. To prevent missed opportunities, consider the following:

Solid standard operating guidelines (SOGs) are the base for effective TI use during incident size up. The SOGs must specify who is expected to carry and use a TI when. This ensures responsibility and helps prevent the TI from being left behind on the apparatus as the company starts to gather tools and deploy. The SOG should be broad enough in scope to encourage TI use at any type of incident, not just structure fires.
Plan TI placement on apparatus carefully. TIs in exterior compartments or in the trunks of cars are not often used. The old adage, “out of sight, out of mind” applies directly. An equal amount of planning must go into deciding which companies receive a TI. While the squad company might be assigned for most incidents, if it arrives fifth on the scene, its TI cannot help the first-in engine.
At structure fires, part of a quality size up is a “walk-around,” normally done by the company officer when the structure’s size and local terrain permit it. The walk-around is the officer’s opportunity to interpret the structure and the smoke from the fire, as well as look for hazards hidden from the initial side of approach. Using the TI in conjunction with the officer’s eyesight will help identify construction features, as well as hidden fire.
Use the TI even when the incident seems “obvious.” While most situations truly are as they appear initially, the ones that have hidden surprises are the most dangerous. The TI may give the size-up officer just one more piece of information that could change his tactics or strategy, possibly preventing a tragedy.

Practice makes perfect

At structure fires, two of the most significant size up applications are locating hidden heat sources and identifying critical construction features. One’s success in these applications is hindered by environmental heat, such as that caused by the sun, and construction features. At various times of the day, and in all four seasons, practice analyzing buildings near the firehouse. Notice the effects of the sun and weather on the image, as well as the impact of environmental changes occurring inside the building (heat during winter; air conditioning in summer).

Remember to consider how building construction affects what is displayed on the TI. Firefighters can learn what a “normal” building looks like under non-fire conditions by examining local structures and comparing their construction features. This hands-on experience gives them the basic knowledge for building comparisons and evaluations at fire incidents.

Table talk

While the “chef of the day” is preparing dinner, company members can discuss non-fire size up applications for thermal imaging. At hazardous materials incidents, TIs can help determine how much material is in sealed containers. They can also help determine the point of leakage and the direction of travel for the material. At a motor vehicle accident, a TI-assisted size up can help identify where hidden victims may be located, as well as whether there are fluid leaks on the roadway.

As always, remember that the TI is not an x-ray machine; it generally does not “see through” anything. There are limitations to how a TI can and will perform in certain situations, and firefighters must always keep these in mind when they evaluate a given image.

Final Report

A good size up can help fire companies start their operations with the upper hand. The additional knowledge that a TI can give to the size-up officer may help him deploy companies more or less aggressively, or even alter their path of entry and advance. This extra knowledge can help bring the incident to a successful conclusion more rapidly, while keeping firefighters safer.

To read a few “real life” examples of how a TI helped with an incident size up, visit the Technology section of Firehouse.com.

While this is an image from the interior, balloon construction can be sized up from the exterior, possibly showing firefighters how far fire may have traveled and which chases have fire stops.

Prior to ladder or hose deployment, the first-in officer can see that heavy heat is building up underneath the truss roof of this Type III building. If there is no life-safety threat, this could dramatically alter the officer’s strategy and tactics.

For Firehouse.com

Firehouse magazine”s October thermal imaging training article addressed using the TI during size up. While this is not a new topic in thermal imaging training, it is an important one. A bad size up of any incident can quickly lead to disaster. It is important that fire officers use all the tools they have available to make the best possible decisions in a timely manner. To demonstrate how a TI can change an incident, consider these personal, “real life” stories.

I was the lieutenant on the second-in engine company at a report of “smoke in the house.” The first-in engine had just arrived as we pulled up, so a complete size up had not been performed yet. In fact, a “walk-around” was not standard practice then, so the company was deploying and evaluating at the same time. We knew we had smoke in the building, and the resident believed it was an electrical problem.

My engine had a TI on board, and as we dismounted to hook the hydrant and support the first company, I used the TI to scan the building. The electrical service entered on the side nearest me, and the TI showed me exactly what we had. There was a hot, rectangular heat signature, which was obviously the fuse panel. A large heat source moved up from there and into the attic, showing that heavy heat had already moved into the attic space. While the initial suppression tactics were not changed, this information did change our overhaul efforts.

Since we knew the fire had probably transmitted into the attic, we spent extra time overhauling the attic. As a result, we found three additional areas of smoldering insulation, apparently caused by electrical shorts. Had we not located these prior to “breaking down and picking up,” we would have returned six hours later to find fire blowing from the attic vents.

At another incident, I was the lieutenant on the first-in engine at a manufacturing facility. The facility had reported an insulation fire in its power house, where they generated their own electricity for the entire plant. Due to the size of the facility and the small size of the reported fire, our “size up” did not truly begin until we were in the power house. Once inside, I used the thermal imager to examine the insulated steam pipes.

The plant safety team thought they had extinguished the fire already, but before I committed the company and cancelled the other companies, I wanted to get a better feel of the situation. The staff assured us that the all the steam pipes were shut down and that we could pull the insulation safely without worrying about rupturing the pipes. My TI told me otherwise.

While a number of pipes had obviously cooled, the ones nearest where we would have to work still appeared very hot on the TI. I asked them to verify that the pipes were disconnected, and they assured me that they were. Trusting my instinct and my tools more than their staff, I insisted the lines were still active. Finally, their head of safety said he would personally verify the lines were shut down. Seven minutes later, when he returned, he said, “Now they are shut down. Sorry!” Working around the charged steam lines could have been catastrophic.

If you have a good “war story” of how a TI help you in your size up of an incident, send it to me through info@bullard.com. I’ll try to compile some of the most creative, or most beneficial, uses and use them in a future article.