Another in a series from Deputy Fire Chief Coffman-Your unit is part of the second alarm assignment to a fire in a large shipping center, such as a UPS or FedEx facility. Several vehicles were on fire and the fire extended to a section of offices inside the building. There is still active fire in these areas located along the "D" side of the interior. The building was occupied by at least 50 people when the incident started and there are at this point 8 employees that are unaccounted for. You and two other companies have been given the assignment to work on the primary search. Discuss the issues you must overcome in order to carry out this assignment.
Editor's addition - Do you know where these types of facilities are in your 1st of 2nd due area?
What are the hazards in responding to fires in a UPS/DHL/USPS/FedEx facility?
Is the picture below just another vehicle fire? Do we know what is on board? Does the driver know what he is carrying?
2 comments:
Quick sweep under the truck, get water on the engine compartment, get the back door open quickly.
We have to assume the potential that these shipping vehicles are carring hazardous materials. That is not to say keep back and let it burn. Each incident has to be weighed. In this case, it seems the engine compartment is off, which usually leads to some extension into the cab area. If we treat the vehicle like a structure and initially address the exposure, we can often avoid extension into the cargo area. A quick knock from the cab area and then working to contain and extinguish the fire at the engine compartment should do the trick.
However, consideration should also be given for how the vehicle is fueled. Changing times are requiring that fleet vehicles be fueled with cleaner burning and more economical fuels. A cylinder of natural gas could play a significant role in how you tackle this fire.
If the cargo area is involved, use caution and suspect hazardous cargo among the items being carried. Try to gain information from the drive about what is being carried, etc.
As for the fire in the warehouse facility...many of these buildings are sprinkled and may even have standpipe systems. Check to see if this is the case and ensure the fire protection systems are supplied and charged.
Since the fire is in the office area, it may be possible to quickly contain it and get it under control if the office space is compartmentized. However, it is often cheaper to use modular furniture in the wide open space.
With 8 individuals unaccounted for, we must consider the life safety. How much smoke and fire is present and what does our suvivability assessment tell us? Check with employees to see if a head count or accountability check has been done. Find out where the missing individuals would normally be within the building and focus search efforts there first. Don't forget to check bathrooms and rest areas. Attack crews should search as they move from the exterior to the interior.
A search of this large open floor area is going to be difficult. Pull out all the stops, use taglines and sweeping tools, thermal imaging cameras, maintain oriented man search techniques to ensure searchers do not become disoriented, and always have a quick route to escape. Tackle the search from many sides. Consider splitting the area into smaller more managable search grids. Call for necessary support, ventilation, hoselines, lights, etc. Stop occaisionally to listen for victims sounding their location. Get bay doors opened up to allow for effective ventilation. Careful use of PPV can be considered if it can clear the smoke to improve visibility without increasing the fire. Venting for life can buy trapped victims time, can improve their visibility for escape and the visibility for search crews.
Search crews will have to be alert to loose storage and obstacles (ie, stacked boxes, piles of boxes, hand carts, dollies, forklifts, vehicles, etc.). The wide open warehouse space can be significantly cluttered.
Forecast the need for additional resources (replacement crews). Do not over extend your depth within the building by tying taglines together and going beyond a point of no return. Keep taglines in lace when exiting so replacement crews can begin to search where you left off. Better to enter and search from different locations rather than committing deeper and deeper into the structure from one spot.
Maintain control by having the search crews fall under a search branch or division, and perhaps dedicated radios channels for these crews.
Construction type is probably non-combustible, unprotected steel with early collapse potential.
Consider multiple search entry points to the areas in question. For instance, coming from the unburned side may be quite a distance from the actual fire area. Entry points on the David side may allow access and the ability to search in and around the immediate fire area.
Weigh the risk and benefits, read the smoke conditions and determine if the lives you are going to find are savable lives.
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