Franklin Professional
Firefighters
I.A.F.F. Local 2760
Safety Concerns
Regarding
Unsafe Department Operations
And
Proposed Budget Cuts
Fall
2002
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There
comes a time when each of us are forced to except the realities of life, all to
often this one of the saddest days of our lives as well.
Before we, the Cities Firefighters, you, the elected officials of the
City of Franklin, and the community are faced with this situation here in
Franklin let us all take the time to reflect on the words uttered by the writer
John Donne in 1624
"No man is an island,
entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent."
While
Donne was referring to his belief of the universe, and interactive nature of
mankind, his words when looked upon in a different direction point to an obvious
analogy to the fire department. A fire department is very much like a universe,
and each and every day all of it’s members are expected to do their part of
the work of the department.
By
sharing the arduous and dangerous nature of the work of a firefighter, each
firefighter gains the symbiotic enhancement of every other firefighter working
together for the team, each of them becoming more than they can individually.
Each of them, as a member of properly staffed engine or ladder company,
becomes capable of doing more than any one of them could ever be expected to do
as an individual. As a firefighter each of our destinies is intimately woven
into the tapestry of the fire department. We live by the motto that they are
brothers/sisters and together the fire company forms the basic team within the
universe of the fire department. The fire department must build from this
principle if it is to survive. If
we abandon this idea we are doomed to fail, and unfortunately the fire service
does fail from time to time. In fact , the fire service is failing at an average
of approximately 120 times a year, each time resulting in the death of a
firefighter, not to mention the thousands of duty related injuries.
The
time to act and prevent this failure is now.
We tend to forget these lessons we read and learn about from time to
time. We are all busy and it is easy to forget that when firefighters fail it
can be, and is often, accompanied with a deadly outcome. We all need to get a
firm grip on our souls are recognize that there may be a problem in Franklin
forced upon us by the State, but there are a number of ways to fix the problem,
but cutting the Fire Department’s Budget even a penny or reducing staffing
isn’t one of them.
A
tragedy in Ipswich Massachusetts, a community even smaller than the City of
Franklin, in January 2001, took the lives of a mother and her two children. A
third child was saved when her mother threw her out of the third floor window of
their blazing home. What makes this story so heart breaking is that the first
unit that arrived at the fire was a hook and ladder truck, with a lone
firefighter on board.
No
one can say with any certainty that a full, minimal complement of 12
firefighters responding on two engine companies and a truck under a chief
officer would have saved these people. But its easy to understand that one guy,
all by himself, was not enough, no matter how brave or valiant that man was.
We
believe that the citizens of Franklin, the City Administrator and the
politicians, would recognize that one man is an adequate response to anything?
That poor guy, there all by himself will have to live the rest of his days with
the thoughts of that sad night’s tragic events. Any guilt he feels comes as a
result of those political people who think that one firefighter is enough. And
lest you think that this level of response is a rarity, consider the staffing in
the Franklin Fire Department. A
department who’s leaders and elected officials have become comfortable with
the fact that they staff the City’s fire engines in two thirds of the City
with only a second person.
This
is just a taste of the world that the Franklin Firefighter lives and works with
or more appropriately without on a daily basis. Recent decisions regarding station locations, response time
needs, staffing deployment and budgeting prompted this report.
The
original intent of this report was to review these decisions and the impact they
have had on the Franklin Fire Department, the safe working conditions for the
employees of the department, the ability to do the job we have been sworn to do
and that which the citizens expect and more importantly depend upon us to do,
and lastly to provide you with information to show that any cuts in Fire
Department Personnel should not be considered.
This
report will show how newly developed and quantifiable national safety standards
regarding fire department staffing and the deployment of staff are blatantly
being ignored. As you read this
report we believe that it will become very apparent that the Franklin Fire
Department is understaffed in relationship to these new standards as well as
many existing national standards and recommendations.
This report will further show that this understaffing not only posses a
threat to the citizens, their property, but also to the Firefighters who work
for the City of Franklin.
Furthermore
we want you to understand that proposed cuts in our budget although you may not
consider them as critical as cutting staffing. That the cutting of budgetary
funds for Training, Fire Safety Inspections, Fire Education, and other ideas
that may reduce the budget, but you must be aware that the Fire Department has
and is one of the leanest budgets in the city.
The funds the department is allocated for it operation are all-critical
and do interweave to make the system we have work.
A
reduction in Training can mean more injuries, or greater fire loss, as can the
reduction in quantity and quality of Fire Inspections.
The Fire Education we provide the children of our community is the
foundation for a fire safe community, and we all understand that no structure
can stand without a sound foundation.
While
contemplating budget reductions and program eliminations please take a second to
consider the following items which won’t show up on any list of budgetary
expenses, of cost saving measure but do impact the budget everyday.
The firefighter in addition to performing their own duties as
Firefighters, EMT’s and Paramedics also do much more.
We perform all of the following functions that few, if any other
departments are required to do: Janitorial Services, Lawn care and Maintenance,
Building Maintenance, Plumbing repair, Painters, Electrical Repair, Secretarial
Work, Auto and Truck Maintenance and repair, Auto Body Repair, Carpenter Work.
Without
the quality employees that work in the fire department who give so much of them
selves to provide these additional services the fire department’s budget
would/could be even higher and all that we are asking in return is to give us
the tools, equipment and money to allow the fire department to run in a safe and
efficient manner. To begin plans to
correct current unsafe working conditions and do not allow working conditions to
decline any further.
As we discussed in the opening one of our major
concerns is that our current staffing levels fall well below the new national
Standard of care. The remainder of
this report will support this issue. We
do this not only in an attempt to point out that there is not way to safely cut
the fire departments staffing and/or budget, but to provide you with information
that can be used to begin to plan to bring the fire department’s staffing up
to a level which provides for a safe working environment for the firefighters
and a safe community for the residents of the City of Franklin.
NFPA 1710 Fire Department Staffing Guideline
The
mission of the NFPA is "to improve the methods of fire protection and
prevention" and to establish "proper safeguards against loss of life
and property" due to fire. The
NFPA 1710 Standard was created to meet the overwhelming need for just such a
standard. It represents the culmination of more than a decade of work by the
NFPA Standards Council, its Technical Committees and its membership. The result
is a comprehensive, uniform and practical standard governing fire and rescue
service deployment by career fire departments throughout North America.
While
modern science has been well integrated into many areas of emergency response,
it is glaringly absent in the area of fire/rescue organization and deployment.
Fire growth and behavior are scientifically measurable, as are the expected
outcomes associated with untreated cardiac arrest, and the specific resource
requirements to control fires and to prevent deaths. Despite these facts, many
communities approach fire/rescue organization and deployment as if it were all
art and no science -- and abstract art, at that.
The
NFPA 1710 Standard applies the documented and proven science of fire behavior
and emergency medicine to the basic resource requirements for effective fire and
emergency service deployment. This application allows a community to determine
if the resources allocated for the different types of fires, emergencies,
medical calls and other incidents are sufficient to effectively control the
incident and protect lives and property.
The
NFPA 1710 Standard sets forth in concise terms the recommended resource
requirements for fires, emergencies and other incidents.
This common sense, science-based formula categorically disproves the
fallacy of the "something is better than nothing" model, which results
in unnecessary risk for the public and for responders. The approach embodied in
NFPA 1710 will make communities and fire fighters safer and responders more
effective and efficient.
The
"scope" and "purpose" of 1710 help to define what the
standard does and what it covers. In both cases, the standard defines the
minimum acceptable requirements, while still allowing more stringent or more
comprehensive ones if a community so decides.
With
respect to scope, these minimum requirements relate to how fire, EMS and special
operations are organized and deployed in departments that are substantially
career. If there are no volunteers, the organization is obviously a career
department. Even if there are volunteers present to supplement the career staff,
the department is still substantially career.
The
minimum requirements address these organizations' objectives as well as their
functions. Not surprisingly, the standard emphasizes three key areas of a
successful operation: service delivery, capabilities and resources.
The
standard sets forth the minimum criteria related to the effectiveness and the
efficiency of public entities, which provide fire suppression, emergency medical
service and special operations. Both efficiency and effectiveness are
specifically related to protecting two groups: the public and fire department
employees.
The
Service delivery objectives found in the standard are specific requirements for
deployment, staffing, response times and the necessary support systems. These
support systems include safety and health, communications, incident command,
pre-incident planning and training.
There
are also three time components defined in the NFPA 1710 standard relating to
emergency response system performance. All three components must be measured and
documented by departments in their quadrennial report. These three components
will be discussed later in the report.
The
NFPA 1710 Standard acknowledges that where fire and EMS response are concerned,
many communities have decided to work together across geographic and municipal
boundaries. The standard recognizes the existence and usefulness of mutual aid
pacts in their various forms. It stipulates that these agreements must be in
writing and that they must address certain specific concerns:
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Liability
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Disability retirements
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Service costs
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Staffing
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Equipment
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The
standard requires that personnel from multiple organizations working at the
scene of an incident must have common procedures in order to ensure safe
operations. This can occur only if these personnel train together and are
familiar with procedures and equipment that will be used to control an incident.
Finally,
a crucial component of effective intercommunity response is adequate
communication. The NFPA 1710 Standard mandates that these organizations be
equipped with compatible communications equipment for that purpose.
11710
FIRE SUPPRESSION Recommendations
The
components of 1710’s related to Fire Suppression state that fire departments
must be capable of establishing the following functions at each structural fire:
incident command, water supply, attack lines, backup lines, search and rescue
teams, ventilation teams and rapid intervention teams. These
"benchmark" requirements are based upon a 2,000 square-foot detached
single-family occupancy. Fire departments will have to deploy additional
resources according to the occupancies and hazards in their jurisdiction.
The 1710 standard also requires that The total number of on-duty
personnel is established by means of a task analysis that evaluates expected
fire fighting deployment using the following factors:
o
Life hazards in the jurisdiction;
o
The safety and efficiency of fire
fighters;
o
The potential property loss;
o
The nature, configuration, hazards and
internal protection of properties within the response area
o
The department’s standard tactics and
evolutions, apparatus deployed and expected results.
For
example, a jurisdiction would need to evaluate all locations within its response
area to determine those that have tactical hazards such as concentrated fire
potential; high hazard occupancies such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes,
manufacturing complexes, refineries, or high-rise buildings; geographical
restrictions that could result in a delayed response affecting the frequency,
severity and spread of the fire occurrence; or other factors that would
necessitate additional staffing per company and additional companies for the
initial alarm assignment, additional alarm assignments and simultaneous
emergencies. Collecting, analyzing and evaluating this information and data can
then be used to establish total on-duty staffing needs.
This standard is also important because for the first
time a standard defines what a Fire Company is. Companies are defined as either
engine or truck (ladder) companies or specialized apparatus -- such as rescue or
squad companies -- depending on the type of apparatus and the fire suppression
functions that are performed.
Regardless
of the type of company, each must consist of a group of trained and equipped
fire fighters under the supervision of an officer who operates and arrives on
the emergency scene with one piece of fire apparatus. The standard allows for an
exception in those instances when multiple apparatus are used to make up a
company. However, such exceptions require that these multi-piece companies are
always dispatched at the same time and arrive together, are continuously
operated together and are managed by a single company officer. The standard does
however still require that even if this multiple vehicle approach is used that
the department still adhere to the company response time guidelines, and that a
company consist of four persons, more when high hazards exist.
The
standard recognizes and clarifies the limited use of such multi-piece companies.
Examples
include:
The use of a fire department personnel vehicle if
the apparatus does not have adequate seating.
where
a water supply (hydrant or natural water bodies) is not available.
An
engine and an EMS unit (ambulance or rescue). It should be noted that the
usefulness of such an assignment -- though allowed by the standard -- is
questionable, especially if patient transport is provided, since the engine
would always have to remain with the EMS unit to keep the company intact.
These
company issues and definitions have developed into the buzz phrases “minimum
staffing and “4 Person Minimum”. The
NFPA Technical Committee reviewed numerous studies, evaluations and stakeholder
reports containing empirical data on departmental response and mitigation of
fire. These studies clearly demonstrate that for safe, effective and efficient
fire suppression, each responding company needs a minimum of four fire fighters.
In
our review of staffing issues for the Franklin Fire Department a nine month
exhausted search of studies was conducted including the use of the internet and
the National Fire Academy Learning Resource Center, one the most comprehensive
Fire department related libraries in the world, if not the most.
Through
this search we were unable to find one study that argued the efficiency or
safety of two-person engine companies, or the effectiveness of three-person
engine companies over two person companies.
There
are however numerous reports and other documentation that support the
four-person minimum, some of them are as follows:
International City Managers
Association, Municipal Fire Administration (Chicago, IL:ICMA) 1967; pp. 161-162.
The
ICMA concluded that there must be enough personnel to put fire apparatus into
effective use. It determined that a minimum of five personnel are required for
engine (pumper) companies, three personnel are needed to place a single line of
2 ½-inch hose in service, and one additional person, plus a foreperson, is
needed to operate a pump.
Kimball, Warren Y., Manning
for Fire Attack (Boston, MA: NFPA) 1969.
This
book thoroughly covers staffing of fire companies. In summary, effective
fireground staffing was demonstrated to involve two fundamentals: first,
carefully engineered equipment components designed to deliver specified fire
extinguishing capacity under stated conditions and second, personnel assigned
and used to deliver specified fire attack capabilities. In other words, the fire
fighting capability of a fire department ultimately depends upon a complete
systems approach and not a mere massing of random forces when an emergency
occurs.
American Insurance
Association, "Fire Department Efficiency," Special Interest Bulletin
No. 131, December 1975.
Bulletin
prepared by the American Insurance Association on fire department efficiency.
Emphasis is placed on the importance of staffing companies with a minimum of
four personnel. The bulletin further states that if companies are staffed with
two or three personnel, they cannot perform the required functions of either an
engine or ladder company.
American Insurance
Association, "Fire Department Manning," Special Interest Bulletin No.
319, December 1975.
Bulletin
prepared by the American Insurance Association on fire department staffing
levels. Emphasis is placed on the importance of staffing companies with a
minimum of four personnel. The bulletin further states that four personnel do
not represent an adequately staffed company. It concludes with a statement that
progressive fire chiefs believe a company should never respond with fewer than
five or six personnel.
Cushman, Jon, Seattle, WA Fire
Department’s "Abstract: Report to Executive Board, Minimum Manning as
Health & Safety Issue," 1981.
This
study, performed by the Seattle Fire Department, analyzed the link between
staffing and fire fighter injuries by reviewing the average severity of injuries
suffered by engine companies of fewer than four fire fighters as compared to
companies with four or more fire fighters. The study concluded that the average
time per disability increased as company strength decreased for both types of
companies. This analysis indicated that the rate of fire fighter injuries
expressed as total hours of disability per hours of fireground exposure were 54%
greater for engine companies staffed with three personnel when compared to those
staffed with four fire fighters, while companies staffed with five personnel had
an injury rate that was only one-third that associated with four-person
companies.
Gerard, John C. and Jacobsen,
A. Terry, "Reduced Staffing: At What Cost?," Fire Service Today,
September 1981; pp. 15-21.
This
study concluded that an aggressive early initial interior attack on a working
structural fire results in greatly reduced loss of life and property damage.
Given that the progression of a structural fire to the point of flashover
generally occurs in less than 10 minutes, two of the most important elements in
limiting the spread of fire are the quick arrival of sufficient numbers of
personnel and equipment to attack and extinguish the fire as close to the point
of its origin as possible.
National Fire Academy,
Executive Development Program III, "Fire Engines are Becoming Expensive
Taxi Cabs: Inadequate Manning," February 1981; pp. 2 & 4.
This
NFA report summarizes a 1977 test conducted by the Dallas Fire Department, which
consisted of a simulated fire involving several rooms at the rear of the third
floor of an old school.
Although this report is nearly 25 years old it still remains as one of
the premier studies regarding studies and it’s design has stood the test of
time and technology. Fires Still burn today just as they did in 1977, in fact with
all of the increased use of polymers and plastics fires are increasingly burning
Hotter and faster than they ever have.
This
simulation was conducted to determine how long it took a three, four, or
five-person team to advance its line to this area and get water on the fire.
Immediately following those tasks, each individual’s physical condition was
assessed. Timing began as each engine company entered the schoolyard.
The
average time for the engine companies to complete the tasks is revealing. The
three-person team average was 18.8 minutes. All personnel were exhausted, rubber
legged, had difficulty standing up and were unfit for further fire fighting. The
four- person team, conducting the very same test, averaged 10.29 minutes and
upon completion, was nearing exhaustion. The five-person team averaged 6.15
minutes, and showed little evidence of fatigue at the end of the exercise.
McManis Associates and John T.
O’Hagan and Associates, "Dallas Fire Department Staffing Level
Study," June 1984; pp. I-2 & II-1 through II-7.
The
Dallas Study is a benchmark study of the link between crew size and fire
suppression effectiveness. This study was performed as a series of controlled
evolutions on a specified set of fire situations using different components in
the range of four to six people. Significantly, the study found that
"fatigue was a serious problem for smaller groups." Indeed, the author
of a 1993 memorandum concluded that this finding was relevant because it
highlights the link between staffing and fire fighter deaths and injuries.
Nevada Occupational Safety and
Health Review Board, Administrator of the Division of Occupational Safety &
Health v. Clark County Fire Department (Statement of Position and Stipulation),
Docket No. 89-385, October 1990.
Citing
that the Clark County Fire Department had prior knowledge that units staffed
with three personnel were unsafe, the Nevada Department of Occupational Safety
and Health issued a complaint that the Fire Department had willfully violated
the industry standards relating to fire fighter safety. In late 1990, the NDOSH
agreed to vacate the violation when the Clark County Fire Department stipulated
that it would immediately "maintain minimum staffing levels at each fire
station so that no engine or ladder truck shall be dispatched from a fire
station, staffed with less than four persons."
In
addition, the stipulation entered into by NDOSH and the Fire Department stated
that:
"Any
engine or ladder truck manned with less than four persons shall be defined to be
"unsafely manned."
Morrison, Richard C.,
"Manning Levels for Engine and Ladder Companies in Small Fire
Departments," 1990.
The
conclusions reached in the Dallas study were confirmed for small fire
departments by the Westerville, Ohio Fire Department. Using standard fire
fighting tactics, the results of the Westerville Fire Department report showed
that four fire fighters could perform rescue of potential victims 80% faster
than a three fire fighter crew.
International Association of
Fire Fighters, "Analysis of Fire Fighter Injuries and Minimum Staffing Per
Piece of Apparatus in Cities With Populations of 150,000 or More," December
1991.
This
study was a comprehensive analysis of fire fighter injuries and minimum staffing
levels in a number of cities. The study found that 69% of jurisdictions that
maintained crew sizes of fewer than four fire fighters had fire fighter injury
rates of 10 or more per 100 fire fighters, while only 38.3% of jurisdictions
maintaining crew sizes of four or more fire fighters had comparable injury
rates. In other words, jurisdictions having crew sizes of fewer than four fire
fighters suffered a benchmark injury rate at nearly twice the percentage rate of
jurisdictions that maintained crew sizes of four or more fire fighters.
National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, Health Hazard Evaluation Reports for Sedgwick
County, KS, Nos. HETA 90-395-2117 and HETA 90-395- 2121, June 1991.
This
NIOSH report details a September 6, 1990, fire in Sedgwick County, Kansas that
killed a 25-year-old fire fighter. The cause of death was determined to be heat
stroke. In the discussion and findings section of the report, the issue of
staffing was addressed as follows:
A
two-fire fighter engine company is, at a minimum, 50% understaffed and increases
the work effort by a factor of three. In a brushfire where one fire fighter
operates the pump, the second is left to pull 200’ of booster through rough
terrain covered with low- lying undergrowth. At the fatal fire, the pump was
left unattended and each of the two fire fighters advanced a separate booster
line up to 200’ in opposite directions from the engine.
Fire
fighters operating at an emergency incident must always operate in teams of two
or more. Such a buddy system permits fire fighters to share work, thereby
reducing the metabolic heat they produce and reducing the heat stress.
Metro Chiefs/International
Association of Fire Chiefs, "Metro Fire Chiefs - Minimum Staffing
Position," May 1992.
In
1992, the Metro Fire Chiefs Division of the ICHIEFS not only endorsed assembling
at least four fire fighters before initiating an interior attack, but went a
step further stating: In order to permit the effective operation of fire
companies at the scene of a structure fire, the minimum number of personnel on
both engine and ladder companies should be five members per unit. This firm
position was taken by the Metro Fire Chiefs solely in the interest of the safety
of both the citizens "we serve and our nation’s fire fighters."
Office of the Fire Marshal of
Ontario, "Fire Ground Staffing and Delivery Systems Within A Comprehensive
Fire Safety Effectiveness Model," December 3, 1993.
In
1993, the Fire Marshal of Ontario (Canada) Research Project conducted a study to
thoroughly examine the tasks which three and four-person crews could safely
accomplish. The study specifically noted the crucial role played by response
times in avoiding flashover conditions. It concluded that "after flashover,
the opportunity for successful rescue from other areas in the structure rapidly
diminishes." It also concluded that, once flashover occurs, "there is
an increased fire fighting demand if intervention does not take place prior to
flashover."
Onieal, Denis G., "In
Response to the Demand for Fire Department Cutbacks," Ed.D, Fire
Engineering, August 1993.
This
study concludes that the only reliable available research data obtained under
fire conditions indicate that four is the minimum staffing level for a fire
fighting engine or ladder company. Cited research firmly and unequivocally
concludes that for an engine company or ladder company, the minimum acceptable
staffing level is four. That number of fire fighters is the minimum number
required to successfully accomplish the fireground tasks required within an
acceptable time period. Four is not the number at which negotiations begin, but
it is the absolute bare minimum required for an effective and efficient fire
company.
Roberts, Bill, Fire Chief,
City of Austin, "The Austin Fire Department Staffing Study," March
1993.
In
1993, the Austin Fire Department conducted a study to determine whether
companies staffed with four fire fighters were safer and more effective than the
three- person companies the department was currently deploying. In order to
compare the effectiveness of fire companies, the physiological impact on fire
fighters and Austin fire department injury rates at various staffing levels, the
Fire Department conducted drills consisting of a series of common fireground
tasks divided into three scenarios: a simulated two-story residential fire; a
simulated aerial ladder evolution; and a simulated engine company high-rise
fire.
These
simulations revealed that regardless of the experience, preparation or the
training of fire fighters, loss of life and property increases when a sufficient
number of personnel are not available to conduct the tasks required in an
efficient manner. The severity and the degree of hazard increases until
controlled or the fire passes the critical point. Consequently, the Austin Fire
Department concluded that fire fighter effectiveness significantly improves when
a company is increased from three to four personnel. In the two-story
residential fire, the efficiency or time improvement between the three-person
and four-person crew was 73%. In the aerial ladder evolution, the efficiency
improvement between three-person and four-person crews was 66%. In the high-rise
fire, the efficiency improvement between the three-person and four-person engine
company crew was 35%.
In
addition to the fireground simulation, the Austin Fire Department also reviewed
injury reports involving 136 emergency incidents from 1989 to 1992 to which
1,938 fire fighters responded. The analysis revealed that the injury rate for
four or five-person crews was 5.3 per 100 fire fighters while the three-person
companies experienced an injury rate of 7.77 injuries per 100 fire fighters. The
injury rate for three-person companies was 46% higher than the rate for larger
crews.
National Fire Protection
Association, "Decision of the Standards Council on the Complaint of M.E.
Hines, Texas Commission on Fire Protection, concerning a Formal Interpretation
on NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health
Program," April 6, 1994.
In
1993, the NFPA included in its NFPA 1500 Consensus Standard on Fire Department
Occupational Safety and Health a requirement addressing the minimum number of
fire fighters necessary to initiate an offensive interior attack on a structural
fire. This Tentative Interim Agreement (TIA) to the fire fighter safety standard
states: "At least four members shall be assembled before initiating
interior fire fighting operations at a working structural fire."
Consequently,
in 1994, Mr. M.E. Hines, Director of the Texas Commission on Fire Protection,
sought formal clarification from the NFPA on this issue. NFPA’s formal
interpretation of how the four fire fighters should be assembled is as follows:
"…when a company is dispatched
from a fire station together as a unit (which includes both personnel responding
on or arriving with apparatus), rather than from various locations, the standard
recommends that the company should contain a minimum of 4 fire fighters."
National Fire Protection
Association, NFPA 1500 Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and
Health Program, August 1997.
The
NFPA 1500 Standard contains minimum requirements for a fire service-related
occupational safety and health program. These requirements are applicable to
public, governmental, military, private and industrial fire department
organizations providing rescue, fire suppression, emergency medical services,
hazardous materials mitigation, special operations and other emergency services.
The
following are pertinent excerpts from NFPA 1500:
2-1.2*
The fire department shall prepare and maintain written policies and standard
operating procedures that document the organization structure, membership, roles
and responsibilities, expected functions and training requirements, including
the following:
(a)
The types of standard evolutions that are expected to be performed and the
evolutions that must be performed simultaneously or in sequence for different
types of situations
(b)
The minimum number of members who are required to perform each function or
evolution and the manner in which the function is to be performed
(c)
The number and types of apparatus and the number of personnel that will be
dispatched to different types of incidents
(d)
The procedures that will be employed to initiate and manage operations at the
scene of an emergency incident
6-4.1*
The fire department shall provide an adequate number of personnel to safely
conduct emergency scene operations. Operations shall be limited to those that
can be safely performed by the personnel available at the scene. No member or
members shall commence or perform any fire- fighting function or evolution that
is not within the established safety criteria of the organizational statement as
specified in 2-1.2 of this standard.
A-6-4.1
The limitation of emergency scene operations to those that can be safely
conducted by the number of personnel on the scene is intended to reduce the risk
of fire fighter death or injury due to understaffing. While members can be
assigned and arrive at the scene of an incident in many different ways, it is
strongly recommended that interior fire-fighting operations not be conducted
without an adequate number of qualified fire fighters operating in companies
under the supervision of company officers.
It
is recommended that a minimum acceptable fire company staffing level should be
four members responding on or arriving with each engine and each ladder company
responding to any type of fire. The minimum acceptable staffing level for
companies responding in high-risk areas should be five members responding or
arriving with each engine company and six members responding or arriving with
each ladder company. These recommendations are based on experience derived from
actual fires and in-depth fire simulations and are the result of critical and
objective evaluation of fire company effectiveness. These studies indicate
significant reductions in performance and safety where crews have fewer members
than the above recommendations. Overall, five member crews were found to provide
a more coordinated approach for search and rescue and fire suppression tasks.
During
actual emergencies, the effectiveness of companies can become critical to the
safety and health of fire fighters. Potentially fatal work environments can be
created very rapidly in many fire situations. The training and skills of
companies can make a difference in the need for additional personnel and in
reducing the exposure to safety and health risks to fire fighters where a
situation exceeds their capabilities.
National Fire Protection
Association, NFPA 1410 Training Standard on Initial Fire Attack, 2000.
The
NFPA 1410 Standard contains the minimum requirements for evaluating training for
initial fire suppression and rescue procedures used by fire department personnel
engaged in emergency scene operations. This standard specifies basic evolutions
that can be adapted to local conditions and serves as a standard mechanism for
the evaluation of minimum acceptable performance during training for initial
fire suppression and rescue activities.
The
following are pertinent excerpts from NFPA 1410:
3-2.2*
In addition to the requirements set forth in 3-2.1, the company officer shall
ensure that the following are accomplished in interior structural fires:
(1)
At least two fire fighters enter the immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH)
atmosphere and remain in visual or voice contact with each other at all times.
(2)
At least two fire fighters are located outside the IDLH atmosphere.
(3)
All fire fighters engaged in interior structural fire fighting use SCBA.
A-3-2.2
One of the two individuals located outside the IDLH atmosphere could be assigned
an additional role, such as incident commander in charge of the emergency, or
safety officer, as long as this individual is able to perform assistance or
rescue activities without jeopardizing the safety or health of any fire fighter
working at the incident. Nothing in this section is meant to preclude fire
fighters from performing rescue activities before an entire team has been
assembled.
In
addition to the four-person minimum, if after performing the task analysis it is
deemed that more than four are required, how do you determine whether five or
six is the correct number? (5.2.2.1.2)
Deployment
using the NFPA 1710 Standard’s mandatory requirements for a benchmark fire
would typically be met by a response of two engines (each staffed with four
members), a truck (staffed with four members) and a chief’s vehicle (staffed
with a supervisory officer and an aide). However for a high hazard response,
four engines, two ladders, a heavy rescue, an EMS unit and two chief vehicles
may be required with additional staffing on each of the companies. The number of
additional fire fighters above four is predicated on the specific duties to be
accomplished at these high hazard locations as well as the time requirements
associated with initiating these tasks.
The
Technical Committee considered various studies in developing this section of the
standard. Some of these studies are described below:
Casey, James F.,
"Manpower - How Much Do You Need?," Fire Engineering, October 1969;
pp. 111-113.
James
Casey concludes that staffing levels are the key to successful fire fighting
operations. Response must be prompt and adequate. In order to ensure full
potential of personnel and equipment, engine companies should be staffed with no
fewer than five personnel. Ladder companies should be staffed with no fewer than
six personnel.
Centaur Associates (conducted
for FEMA), "Report on the Survey of Fire Suppression Crew Size
Practices," June 30, 1982; pp. 18-20.
In
1982, the U.S. Fire Administration conducted a survey of over 150 fire
departments to evaluate current crew size and standard response practices. The
study determined that there was a direct correlation between fire fighter safety
and the number of personnel on the initial fire attack. When asked to identify
those factors most important in determining crew size and initial response, fire
chiefs and city managers ranked crew safety at the top of the list.
International City Management
Association, Managing Fire Services, 2nd Edition (Washington, DC:ICMA) 1988; pp.
119-120.
The
ICMA cited various controlled and statistically-based experiments by
jurisdictions and universities that reveal that if 16 trained fire fighters are
not operating at the scene of a working fire within the critical time period,
then dollar loss and injuries are significantly increased, as are the square
feet of fire spread. Additionally, as fire fighting tactics were conducted for
comparative purposes, five-person fire suppression companies were judged to be
100 percent effective in their task performance, four- person companies 65
percent effective and three-person companies 38 percent effective. Six-person
companies are judged 20 percent faster than four person companies.
Brunacini, Alan V.,
"Shrinking Resources vs. Staffing Realities," NFPA Journal, May/June
1992; pp. 28 & 120.
Chief
Alan Brunacini concludes that it is illogical to maintain that the requirements,
capabilities and conditions of fire department operations differ from one place
to another. Fire conducts, convects and radiates the same all over North
America. As such, two fire fighters cannot conduct a primary search that
requires six fire fighters for effective completion in a survivable time frame.
Bublitz, David -- Fire Chief,
Franklin Wisconsin, Report to the City of Franklin Common Council on Fire
Department Operations, January 2001,
The
FFD generally staffs its fire apparatus with two or three personnel, depending
upon staffing at each station and the type of alarm. The department has relied upon multiple pieces of apparatus
responding and mutual aid to provide enough personnel to handle fire within the
City. The fact that the FFD has
been successful mitigating incidents to the degree they have is a direct result
of the caliber of our personnel, their high level of dedication, and a function
of fire typically faced. It does
however, run counter to current industry standards.
When compared to NFPA Standards, including
NFPA 1500, Fire department Occupational safety and Health Program, fire
suppression units are understaffed.
Incident Deployment
In addition to individual
vehicle/company staffing 1710 specifically deals with the topic of incident
Deployment requirements. Within the
standard it references the requirements to be met by the initial full alarm
assignment and what is the minimum number of persons required for this
assignment? 1710-(5.2.3.2.2)
1710
states that the fire department shall have the capability to deploy an initial
full alarm assignment within the eight-minute response time. The number of
people required falls between 13 and 18, depending on whether or not an aerial
is used, if both engines/pumpers are being used provide attack and backup lines
and if a safety officer is required.
“Chart
A” is a list of required functions for the benchmark fire defined in the
standard and the number of personnel required to be deployed to perform these
functions:
“Illustration
A” illustrates the charts benchmark requirements for a fire response to the
room- and-contents fire in a 2,000 square-foot single-family occupancy, without
a basement and with no exposures (adjacent buildings).
In
an urban environment, with high population density dwellings in very close
proximity, multi-family occupancies, industrial areas and high occupancy
institutions -- including hospitals and schools -- the fire department’s
response capability must be enhanced with additional Apparatus, personnel and
resources for the initial alarm assignment.
This Scenario also does not
account for an injured victims which would require addition personnel.
“Illustration
B” shows the current Franklin Fire department deployment of personnel and
apparatus and the ability to meet the NFPA 1710 full assignment benchmarks on
the next page.
The
overall intent of 1710 staffing requirement is to have Coordinated Simultaneous
fire attack, but because of the lack of staff in the Franklin Fire Department we
have to revert to a sequential fire attack method only completing some of the
tasks that should be done, and in some cases simply not performing other duties
at all until after mutual aid companies arrive.
In
addition it should be noted that the figures represented on the previous page
show the optimum staffing we are able to provide, as if all personnel were in
quarters, and not on another call.
Current
call volume is an average of 8 calls per day, with and average call being
approximately 1½ to 2 hours in length. This
calculates out to the fact that during a 24 hour shift on the average 12 to16
hours, half of the day, the on duty staff is only 8* personnel or less depending
upon which unit(s) is/are busy. In
effect taking an additional two personnel out of the staffing this is
graphically portrayed on the following page.
** Mutual Aid Companies are
used but do not on average arrive with in NFPA 1710 Guidelines.
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