PRINCIPLE OF STRUCTURAL FIREFIGHTING

Strategy used in Firefighting Operation:

1. Initial Procedures:
a.) Sounding the Alarm – The crew member who
discover/ receive the fire alarm must sound the alarm
promptly.
b.) The crew man who sounds the alarm must be
sure to give the exact location of the fire, information regarding
the type of fire. The exact location may indicate the need of
fast and immediate response.
2. Fire fighting Procedures/ Strategy:
a.) Size-up – The evaluation and observation of the
fire scene on the following:

 Class of Fire
 The appropriate extinguishing agent to be used
 The appropriate method attack
 How to prevent the extension of fire
 The required man power and firefighting assignment
 10 PHASES OF
b.) Attack FIRE
– The OPERATIONS
method of action to gain
immediate control to prevent and minimize the
extension of fire.
 METHODS OF ATTACK
- Direct Method – this suffocates the flames as the
water is aimed at the base of the fire.
1. PRE-FIRE- PLANNING
Indirect Method – a method of suppression in
which the control line is located in some considerable
- Todistance
know the problem
away from thewhich mayedge.
fire’s active be encountered and what
to do at the fire ground in case fire starts in a particular building or
area. c.) Ventilation – A method used for clearing the
building of smoke and gases, localize the fire, and reduce
2. SIZE UP
smoke and forcible entry damage.

- A estimate of the situation

 10 PHASES OF FIRE
METHODS OPERATIONS
OF VENTILATION
1. Vertical Ventilation – The method used to establish a
opening on the highest point of the affected area or
building.
2. Cross or Horizontal Ventilation – A method use to clear
the building one floor at a time.
1. PRE-FIRE PLANNING
3. Mechanical or Forced Ventilation – A process or method
- To knowusingthe
a device such which
problem as smoke ejector
may to remove faster
be encountered and what
to do at the fireexcessive
groundheat and dense
in case smokeininaa particular
fire starts confined building.
building or
area.

2. SIZE UP
- A estimate of the situation
 10 PHASES OF FIRE OPERATIONS
d.) Extinguishment – An action/method performed
by fire fighthers in putting off fire by means of
extinguishing agent, such as water, chemicals and
foam. PLANNING
1. PRE-FIRE
e.) Rescue – any actions taken by the firefighters to
- To know the problem which may be encountered and what
remove
to do at the occupants/persons
fire ground fromina aburning
in case fire starts particular building or
area. building/hazards to a safety place.
f.)Overhaul – a complete and detailed check of the
2. SIZEstructures
UP and materials involved in the fire to
make sure that every spark or ember has been
-extinguished
A estimate ofand
the there
situation
is no possibility or re-
ignition.
g.) Salvage – a method used in preventing
excessive damage caused by fire, smoke and water.
 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN EXTINGUISHMENT
10 PHASES OF FIRE OPERATIONS
a. Time of the Day
• The hour of the day can have direct bearing on the life
and fire hazards involved.
1. PRE-FIRE • TimePLANNING
has also has a direct bearing on the speed of the
response of firefighting and rescue vehicles.
- To•know
During the problem
hours which
of darkness may be
, special encountered
lightning equipment and what
to do at the fire
mayground in case
be needed. fire
Night starts inmay
operations a particular building or
require auxiliary
area. firefighting personnel

2. SIZE UPb. Weather Condition

• Temperature
- A •estimate of the situation
Humidity
• Wind and Precipitation
 10 PHASES OF FIRE Procedures
Post Extinguishment OPERATIONS

Two (2) Ways of Performing Salvage:

1. Remove the material outside the building
1. PRE-FIRE PLANNING
involved in a fire or to an area that is not
- To knowinvolved
the problem which
in the fire. This may be isencountered
method used when and what
there is in
to do at the fire ground a sufficient
case firetime andin
starts when there is building or
a particular
area. enough manpower to carry out the job., or when
there is only a small amount of material to be
2. SIZE UP2. carried outside or to protect.
Protect the material where it stands. This
- A estimate
method is used
of the when the size or the quantity of
situation
the contents of the building dictates
Factors Involve in Salvage Work:
a.) The amount of salvage equipment available;
b.) The personnel available;
c.) The type an amount of material involved; and
d.) The method of storage
Preserving Evidence and Building Clean-up
- Fires of intentional origin can be caused, responded to and extinguished
without anyone noticing, reporting or investigating. Fire Department
personnel must be able to recognize the evidence that is sometimes quite
pronounced during and immediately after the fire. Arson is a peculiar crime
because there is no usually complaining witnesses to it.

- Arson is sometimes a result of careful planning an considerable preparation

and sometimes it is committed on the spur of the moment. Arson
investigators are summoned to investigate suspected individuals and
conditions. Firefighters are responsible for recognizing and preserving
evidence of arson.

- Without evidence, a trained investigator is always seriously handicapped.

Fire fighters can become proficient in recognizing and preserving evidence
of arson and can recognize the evidence sequence that will benefit the
investigators when he arrives.
 Protecting and Preserving Evidence:

1. Keep the evidence where you found it, untouched and undisturbed, if at all
possible;
2. When you discover that you cannot leave at the fire scene, properly
identify and safeguard it. Make no changes of any kind in the evidence
other than what is absolutely necessary in the extinguishment of the fire;
3. Photograph the evidence immediately. One precautionary to be taken by all
firefighters during the fire fighting operation is to avoid trampling over
possible arson evidence and obliterating it. Be careful in the use of water to
avoid similar unsatisfactory results
 Identifying and Removing Evidence
Steps and Procedures:
1. Collected evidence should be properly identified, and preserved in clean
containers;
2. Make a careful notation of the date, time and the place where the evidence
found;
3. Initials of the person (investigators/persons who collected the evidence)
4. Keep a trecord of witnesses and of each person who has had or will have
responsibility for the care and preservation of the evidence;
5. Protect partly burned paper and ash between layers pf plastic or between
pieces of window glass for the investigator and for a transportation to a
laboratory;
6. Preserve letters, documents, and bills to assist in establishing a person’s
financial status which might be motive for arson;
7. Place wood suspected of containing of paraffin or oil in clean container and
seal it until a chemical analysis will be conducted.
8. Pack objects such as charred candlewick and burned matches in a bottle
containing cotton to prevent breaking the evidence by jarring and handling;
9. Store sample of materials such as cotton, wood rayon, and other fabrics, in a
clean, large-mouthed bottles, seal tightly and mark properly;
10. Volatile liquids, oil samples, oil-soaked rags, waste and the like should be
kept in tin cans and seal them.

Building Clean-up
 After a fire is extinguished, water and debris will remain. It is the
responsibility of the firefighter to remove them. Scoop up non salv
 ageable materials, such as plaster, rags, paper, and the like, into a carrier,
carry them out of the building and pile them in a conspicuous place for
examination.
 What is Arson?
Arson is a crime commonly defined by the statute
as the willful or malicious damage or destruction
of property by means of Fire or Explosion

Presidential Decree No. 1613 “Amending

the Law of Arson”
-signed by Pres.Ferdinand E. Marcos on
March 17, 1979

Section 1. Arson. Any persons who burns

or sets fire to the property of another shall
be punished by Prision Mayor.
 Requisites of Arson:

1. That the property has been burned

2. That the person burned it
3. That the burning is incendiary in origin
4. That the burning was started with
intent of destroying the property