To Vent Or Not To Vent

You are a firefighter and upon arrival at the scene of a working fire you have a lot of decisions to make. One of the most key decisions a chief officer, or firefighter following standard operating procedures has to make in the early stages of a building fire is whether to ventilate or not? The strategy of venting fire buildings must be approached from many angles. In the United States it has long been accepted that there are three criteria for making that decision. Vent for life, safety or the fire with that in mind firefighters must make themselves aware of the effects of ventilating structure before making the that decision.

All fire departments should have a set of standard operating procedures (SOP's) that serve as a frame of reference for firefighters when determining how best to handle a fire situation. Venting for life is a situation that is routinely part of those SOP's. The Jefferson Parish Louisiana Fire Departments SOP's relating to venting for life states: "Firefighters may create openings, or break windows, to gain access from an exterior position to carry out a primary search in a high-risk area of the structure." These openings are most often windows that can be in an area adjacent to the fire or in another area of the fire building that is deemed most effective. This method of ventilation is called V-E-S (vent, enter, search) and while it is a common practice among fire departments it is a strategy that is often filled with hazards but may produce great rewards for the search team. Employing this method requires accuracy (venting the correct windows); and anticipation of the potential of fire spread. This operation needs to be carefully communicated to all concerned on the fire scene to anticipate the effects of what is about to happen.

Just as in venting for life when a decision is being made to perform a venting operation for the fire situation careful thought must be placed on the objective. The primary objective is to reduce heat levels and improving visibility for the crews working on the interior of the fire building. When deciding where to vent in this situation it almost seems like an easy one Ð'- vent the room you are working in. This can in fact be a decision that proves fatal for you and the crew you are working with. Though ventilation needs to be carefully coordinated with the interior crews, unless an escape route is being created no ventilation procedure should be performed by a crew working in the fire building. Most structure fires are burning in a ventilation-controlled environment and while the fire is burning it is searching for air. Opening a window can cause a negative pressure situation and the fire will race in the direction of the source of air and if the new air supply is in or behind the room where crews are working the results can be a disaster.