Training Truck Ops

One of the most important times in the early development of firefighters is their recruit training at the fire academy. This foundation of firefighting often sets the tone for the rest of their careers. This is also the time at which task-level habits, both good and bad, can be acquired. In the academy, recruits complete countless evolutions of various hose lays, hydrant hook-ups, and search and rescue exercises, but when it comes to ladder-specific training, how extensively does your respective academy cover the various tasks of ladder work?

I was recently assigned to be a recruit training officer for class 14-2, the “Heat Seekers,” a multi-jurisdiction academy of 23 extremely talented recruits. During this class, like many others, we had a limited amount of time to train our newest firefighters how to extricate, ventilate, force entry, understand roof construction, and all the other various ladder functions. In a perfect world, a reserved 2—3 weeks of ladder-specific training would be ideal, but since we had to operate with time constraints, we decided to focus on the basics that would keep recruits operating in a safe and efficient manner, especially with regards to vertical ventilation.

The newer generation of cadets will likely have never held a chainsaw before, so vertical ventilation can be overwhelming, for trainers as well as recruits. We wanted to set the recruits up for success by teaching them the basics of residential ventilation with a focus on saw handling and footing.

Saw Handling

First things first, we spent time getting the recruits to understand the basics of starting a saw (including when flooded), operating the brake, and getting familiar with maintenance. After the recruits seemed comfortable with all the workings of the saw, we put them on the roof and spent time just making back cuts and cutting lines. After just a few evolutions of this, the new sawyers’ saw handling improved drastically with each line they cut.

Saw handling is really where you’ll see who are the true-born truckies and who may be best served operating a nozzle. A briefing on safety must be done prior to starting the saw to prevent any mishaps, and when handling the saw, we stressed the importance of saw angle being upright to feel/roll rafters and to maintain a safe depth to prevent from cutting though trusses. We found that the recruits rolled rafters extremely well, but going in too deep was a persistent issue, though easily fixed after a few reminders.

Although there are different cut sequences for different types of roofs (panelized, parallel cord truss, etc.) we chose to have the recruits understand the concept of the center rafter louver, as this is the premise for all the other cuts. It also keeps the recruits on structural members, eliminates the potential for “diving boards,” and allows the sawyer to roll only one rafter.

SURE Footing

This step of vertical ventilation is extremely important, and the recruit needs to be taught the basics of roof construction to thoroughly understand footing. We stressed that the OSB commonly used on roofs fails with heat, and structural members take direct fire impingement, so remaining on trusses that have not been exposed to fire is paramount. Footing lessons were always led by a good understanding of “sounding” a roof and that only 90-degree turns be made when walking, so not go “cross-country.”

Using chalk saws, we had the recruits then go through the cut sequence while ensuring their feet remained on structural members. As simple as this seems, footing was the portion of the evolution that most recruits had difficulty with. A good teaching point is to have the recruits learn what their “two-foot stance” is like so they can span out the rafters and learn to shuffle their feet. Recruits should also get in the habit of keeping the saw ahead of their feet, which was a common issue especially when making their down cuts.

Ventilation Evolution

This is where we put all the task-level functions (throwing ladders, climbing, sounding, and cutting) together to perform a run-of-the-mill residential vertical ventilation operation. At first, we were focused on the recruits accomplishing the evolution in the safest and most efficient way possible, and not worried about their times. As their confidence and skills increased, we used a stopwatch to ensure the evolution was executed in the allotted time.

One important point for recruits to understand is how to work their way towards the means of egress when they are operating. We had the recruits throw ladders on both the left and right side of their operating area so they grew accustomed to working towards their means of egress. In many props, ladders are fixed to the right side of the prop so their last cut is towards the ladder, but this tends to create muscle memory instead of the recruits truly understanding a concept.

As far as the sounding, we expressed to recruits that this was one of the most important functions on the roof and to pay attention to where the load bearing wall was on their approach and to ensure that the sawyers remain on structural members. We had the recruits use a trash hook instead of a pike pole due to the benefit of the added weight for sounding and the D-handle grip at the top.

When it came to the sawyer, again, footing and saw handling was key. We ensured that the sawyer got in the habit of applying the chain break after the cut sequence was done and stressed that the bar must always be kept away from other personnel on the roof. Even the recruits that have never touched a saw before seemed to do well with footing and handling, especially when they were not being timed. As experience progressed, their learning curve shortened and they easily became comfortable with the saw.

After the Academy

Once a recruit graduates, opportunities for more in-depth training is up to their respective ladder rotation. It is important that ladder captains in the field understand what the new firefighter learned at the academy–in not only ventilation, but all other ladder functions. We found that with the limited amount of time designated during the academy, that the recruits were better served just learning the fundamentals of all ladder functions instead of overwhelming them with everything and risking them not retaining all the information.