FSRI study expands search and rescue guidance for residential firefighting operations
Iain Hoey
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Search and rescue report adds three tactics
UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) has announced a new technical report in its Study of Fire Service Residential Home Size-up and Search & Rescue Operations project, adding three tactical considerations to previous findings.
FSRI said the report is based on new full-scale residential fire experiments examining how crews should coordinate search, suppression and ventilation.
The new material adds Tactical Considerations 10, 11 and 12 to the original nine tactical considerations from earlier reports.
The report states that, where resources are sufficient, crews arriving at a fully developed fire with extension to the exterior should consider simultaneous exterior and interior suppression operations.
It states that a well-applied exterior stream can produce rapid interior improvement and that coordination with interior suppression can improve conditions for occupants and firefighters.
The report also says compartments remote from the fire area should be locally ventilated as soon as possible, with pre-suppression isolation of the compartment before ventilation.
It adds that rooms farther from the fire are often where victims are found and that conditions in those spaces can keep deteriorating after the fire is controlled if they are left unattended.
Search and rescue experiments informed updated guidance
Keith Stakes, principal research engineer, said: “The release of this report is the result of our continued collaboration with the fire service to deliver real, actionable insights that the fire service can take back to the fireground.
“We take seriously our commitment to answering the urgent questions facing the fire service every shift, knowing that improved understanding and insights leads to safer operations and improved outcomes for victims.”
FSRI said the new tactical considerations came from 10 experiments in purpose-built, fully furnished, single-story, single-family structures designed to represent today’s residential environment.
The homes used in the experiments included four bedrooms, two bathrooms and an open kitchen and living area, as well as an HVAC system used to study smoke and heat movement.
Researchers collected measurements for gas temperatures and gas concentrations, along with gas velocities, pressure and heat fluxes in every room at multiple heights.
The structure, fuel loading and instrumentation remained consistent across burns, with tactical actions such as the timing and location of search, suppression and ventilation varied between experiments.
FSRI said the new tactical considerations will later this year be added to an updated version of the Search and Rescue Tactics in Single-Story, Single-Family Residential Structures online course on the Fire Safety Academy.