City of Morgan Hill Public Safety Master Plan

discharge large volumes of water until the fire goes out. In these situations the ability to enter the building is very limited and if victims are trapped in the structure, there are very few safe options for making entry. Today’s fire service is actively debating the options of interior firefighting vs exterior firefighting. These terms are self-descriptive in that an interior fire attack is one in which firefighters enter a burning building in an attempt to find the seat of the fire and from this interior position extinguish the fire with limited amounts of water. An exterior fire attack is a tactic in which firefighters’ initially discharge water from the exterior of the building, either through a window or door, and knock down the fire before entry in the building is made. The concept is to introduce larger volumes of water initially from the outside of the building, cool the interior temperatures, and reduce the intensity of the fire before firefighters enter the building. An exterior attack is most applicable in smaller structures, typically single family, one-story detached units which are typically smaller than 2,500 square feet in total floor area. There are a number of factors that have fueled this debate. The first and most critical of which are staffing levels. As fire departments operate with reduced levels of staffing, and this staff is arriving at the scene from greater distances, there is little option for a single fire unit with two, three, or four personnel but to conduct an exterior attack. The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has issued a standard that has been termed the “Two- in-Two-Out” provision. This standard affects most public fire departments across the U.S., including CAL FIRE. Under this standard, firefighters who are engaged in interior structural firefighting and enter an area that is immediately dangerous to life or health (an IDLH atmosphere) must remain in visual or voice contact with each other and have at least two other employees located outside the IDLH atmosphere. This assures that the "two in" can monitor each other and assist with equipment failure or entrapment or other hazards, and the "two out" can monitor those in the building, initiate a rescue, or call for back-up if a problem arises. 9 There is also a provision within the OSHA standard that will allow two personnel to make entry into an IDLH atmosphere without the required two back-up personnel. This is allowed when they are attempting to rescue a person or persons in the structure before the entire team is assembled. 10 When using an exterior attack, the requirement of having the four persons assembled on-scene prior to making entry would not apply. Recent studies by UL have evaluated the effectiveness of interior vs. exterior attacks in certain simulated fire environments. These studies have found that the exterior attack to be equally effective in these simulations. 11 This debate is deep-seated in the fire service and traditional tactical measures have always proposed an interior fire attack, specifically when there is a possibility that victims may be present in the burning structure. The long-held belief in opposition to an exterior attack is that this approach may actually push the fire into areas that are not burning or where victims may be located. The counterpoint supporting the exterior attack centers on firefighter safety. The exterior attack limits the firefighters from making entry into those super-heated structures that may be susceptible to collapse. From CPSM’s perspective, and given the limited number of on-duty personnel and the likelihood that a single crew of three or four personnel will encounter a fire situation, it is prudent that CAL FIRE build its training and operating procedures around the tactical concept of the exterior fire attack when the situation warrants such an approach.

9 OSHA-Respiratory Protection Standard, 29CFR-1910.134(g)(4). 10 Ibid, Note 2 to paragraph (g). 11 “Innovating Fire Attack Tactics,” U.L.COM/News Science, Summer 2013.

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