Apparatus Placement

This week I will tackle a multifaceted topic and try to just give you some basic thoughts and ideas for you to construct your own drill.

We will spend a lot of time speaking about pumper placement and just touch briefly about aerial device placement but this should give you some thoughts.

The concept is that I will give you some basic scenarios and ideas on how to recreate them, but I truly suggest that either as a company training or a weekly evening training you try these concepts in actual practice rather than just speak about them

Engine company placement at a structure fire.

The engine should pull slightly past the building so that the officer can see three sides to the building. Using an acquired structure is better but try this technique even on any target building where you can actually place apparatus.

Move the location of the fire or simulation by relocating a wooden sign or smoke machine. Do we always locate in the front regardless of where the fire is showing? Should we not sometimes try to go around the building and attack from the rear? In some cases could we circle the building with the apparatus before actually deploying it? Will the apparatus park within reach of the preconnected hoselines? Do we have to line up the mattydales with the front door, can we stretch from the rear hosebed? Are we even set up to do this. Is the engine positioned correctly so it is slightly nose into the curb so the pump operator is protected. Try it and correct and perfect what your operators are currently doing.

Ladder company placement at a structure fire

Have the aerial device come in preferably after the engine company drill below and have the training officer pick the objective. Sometimes it would be the roof, sometimes it would be a window for rescue. Can you have the operator determine how many windows they have access to? Was the turntable lined up with the objective, do they have the reach? Is it always perpendicular or do they nose in, or back in to get maximum effectiveness? Do the same drill again and have vehicles parked near the curb to actually demonstrate the problems. Have the aerial follow from the same direction and have the aerial proceed from the opposite direction so that when the engine company has pulled past the building, have they now blocked access for that aerial coming from in front of them.

Engine company placement at a vehicle fire

A simple rule for a common vehicle fire is to park upwind, and uphill, and to be within one half the total length of your preconnected line so that you can encircle the vehicle completely. test it have it happen and see if the driver can judge their objective correctly and do the angle the vehicle to protect the pump operator? Do they pull the line from the protected side of the vehicle?

Engine company operation at a vehicle accident

Does the engine park upwind and uphill and within reach of the jaws of life, lighting and hoseline. Have them deploy these objects and then review to see if the placement was optimum.

Engine company placement at a hazardous material incident

Simulate a hazardous material incident and see how close your vehicle responds and if they stay upwind and uphill. Will they tie a handkerchief to the radio antenna to monitor wind direction and will they park within preconnect distance as they did above. That is probably to close and they will underestimate safe distance. usually 250-500 feet as a minimum.

Make a skill sheet with appropriate steps that meet training goals and objectives of your department and good accepted firefighting practices. Check off and have each driver operator be recorded as completing each of these evolution's you design\ quarterly or annually. Non driving personnel can also be trained on many of the other skills such as hoseline stretches, jaws deployment, light deployment and dot guidebook reference or any of the above. All of these can be done without live fire and signs, props or smoke machines so safety can be controlled. If you make the focus the apparatus placement you can get several drills done in a short time if you don't focus too much on the ancillary activities.

Have fun and let me know if you have any other ideas along these lines.