This summer demonstrated the continuing upward trend of catastrophic incidents that require more than a day of fire department operations. These incidents are caused by crumbling infrastructures, climate change, and natural disasters. Let us look at one concept and two practices that the company officer can use to prevent fire company level calamity during operations at a catastrophic incident.
PACE: Primary, Alternative, Contingent, and Emergent
Originally designed to evaluate communication options in military tactical operations, PACE has expanded into planning for other high-consequence activities. This is a concept the company officer can use in evaluating response to target hazards or analyzing a tactical issue.
Primary: Our normal method of accomplishing a task. Consider a single family residence with a room and contents fire. Advancing a 1.75″ attack line would be your normal operation.
Alternative: A backup method that accomplishes the same task, may appear seamless to the operator. That same fire, but the pre-connect 1.75″ attack line is too short. Use your 2.5″ attack line to create a leader line.
Contingent: An acceptable solution to complete the task, but not as effective and may require re-assessment once the critical situation has stabilized. That same fire, but you are unable to physically advance an attack line. You can reach the room on fire using the master stream device.
Emergent: A quick and expedient solution that mostly addresses the main goal of the task but will require another action as soon as possible. The same fire, the house is too far away from the reach of the master stream. You can carry portable fire extinguishers to discharge into the room and close interior doors to isolate the fire.
Maybe we all need to have “red bags”
Our West Coast colleagues have decades of experience operating at wildfire incidents that require a fire company to operate for days. Chief Tim Ryan explains the value of his “red bag”
Where I live and work, many assignments last three to four days and the red bag is perfect for that amount of time; it has everything I need neatly packed into stuff sacks. Undergarments, a spare Nomex shirt, T-shirts and pair of sweats for sleeping all fit pretty handily into one stuff sack.
I also carry a small stove with some instant coffee and a freeze-dried dinner or two (I can’t tell you how many times I was glad to have those!).
Also stuffed in my red bag is a tent, made as compact as possible with a compression bag. In the front pocket, I stuff toiletries, a cell phone charger, and a headlamp.
Finally, the bag contains my sleeping bag (handily stored in the compartment designed for it) and an inflatable sleeping pad. I could survive for several days with this bag and my line gear alone and would be even more comfortable if there is more food stashed somewhere on the engine. All of this equipment fits in one bag and weighs about 40 lbs.
The value of the red bag is covered in this September 27, 2015, New York Times article:
When the Valley Fire broke out here two weeks ago, firefighters who had been deployed to other corners of the state scrambled to confront the blaze as it grew to 70,000 acres. Mr. Lindsay hopped onto a fire engine but forgot his “red bag” — a sack with fresh clothes and other personal gear. He spent three days borrowing other firefighters’ socks and turning his underwear inside out. (In Vicious Fire Season, an Endurance Test for California Crews)
Maybe the East Coast urban warriors just need an on-duty set-up
Consider an incident where you are exposed to industrial chemicals, illegal drug lab, contaminated flood waters or chemical/biological weapons and are required to undergo a technical decontamination. You return to the fire station in a Tyvek coverall and hospital booties. It will be days before your personal effects are returned. The on-duty set-up includes an on-duty wallet, keys, and spare cell phone. You could lose these items without disrupting your life.
The on-duty wallet includes a duplicate driver’s license, copies of any state or department-mandated certification cards (like paramedic), money. and, if desired, a credit card. The regular wallet is secured in the firefighter’s personal vehicle or a fire department locker. The same goes for a smartphone. Consider using a disposable or spare phone while on duty.
Create a set of duty keys. Make duplicates of the keys you need to get into the fire station, your locker, and your vehicle. Like the on-duty wallet, you can lose your duty keys and not have your life too disrupted. Do not forget to put a durable identification tag on your duty keys so that you can get them back after they are decontaminated! Lock up your regular keys, smartphone, and other jewelry before you report for duty. It may be a good idea to use a combination lock to secure your storage space.
Consider stashing a spare pair of socks, gloves, a towel, and a knit cap on the fire apparatus. Getting soaked in a winter fire is a common occupational hazard. Adding a t-shirt, shorts, and coveralls, firefighters can have dry clothes after a soaking or a technical decontamination. Carrying water and some meals-ready-to-eat (MREs) in the rig may also be helpful.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Elam, Alan (2017 February 1) “PACE Methodology.” Special Operations Aid and Rescue, Ltd. Accessed September 22, 2018, from https://www.soarescue.com/single-post/2017/02/01/PACE-Methodology
Ryan, Tim (2014 June 01) “Packing a Red Bag: Wildland Urban Interface” Fire-Rescue Magazine, Volume 9 Issue 6. Accessed September 22, 2018, from https://www.firerescuemagazine.com/articles/print/volume-9/issue-6/wildland-urban-interface/packing-a-red-bag.html The article also covers the Line Gear Bag, the Campaign Duffel and Fire Briefcase.
Additional readings
Rogers, Adam (2018 Sept 20) “The Science Behind Home Disaster Preparedness Kits is a Disaster.” Wired.com Accessed September 22, 2018 from https://www.wired.com/story/the-science-behind-home-disaster-preparedness-kits-is-a-disaster/?CNDID=23660830&mbid=nl_092218_daily_list1_p4
The featured picture is from a February 10, 2011, gas explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that killed 5.