Far too often when I watch videos of fires there is a veritable ton of screaming and yelling going on. Here is a video out of FDNY where there isn't.
There is no yelling. There is no screaming. Still, the job is getting done!
Based on the info this was a 2nd alarm fire. We can see that the First and Second due Companies are already at work. The main is to the roof, and two lines have gone in the front door. The Rapid Intervention Crew is staged in the front of the building with their tools and packed up ready to go. The Engine Company that is stretching looks to be advancing a third line into the fire. The Firefighter with the nozzle takes the working length, each successive member has a length of hose to advance. No screaming, "Give me more line!" They just lead out.
For you Engine guys do you see how the Brother with the Nozzle ascends the fire escape rather than crowd another line in the stairwell? What does he do? He gets up there and brings up his length of hose, then he gets out of the way and lets the back-up firefighter pull up the next length and so on.
It's a big building, who did the 360? That's right the Roof Team, you see one of the members get a look over the side at about the :40 second mark. If command cannot make a 360 because of the size/complexity of the building, or because of that dreaded SOG of Immobility that forces the IC to sit in the front seat of the buggy, then someone has to get the rear. It may not be possible (or good tactics) for the officer of the first Engine to do it. What has to be known is WHO is going to do it.
Why does this work so smoothly in the video? Of course there are the choruses of "Because it's FDNY!" They do a really good job most days, no doubt. The real reasons it works there is because 1) they have defined expected actions and priorities in their SOGs: the Nozzle Firefighter of the 1st Engine knows what to do, and what EVERYONE else on that first alarm will do and 2) there are enough people! If you try and streach a line 300' down the block and up a fire escape and into a fire floor with two people, guess what, YOU WILL START SCREAMING!!!! Why? Because you do not have enough people to do the job smoothly. You will get hung up on obstacles, you will have to fight the hose... it's inevitable. The lesson is know how many brothers and sisters it takes to make those lead-outs happen. Define who is responsible for which Fireground Operational Priorities. Have riding positions and tool assignments that are filled by required functions is a well developed manner. In other words: Do Your Job and Do Your Best.
It is amazing how smooth things go when you have sufficient manpower and properly trained firefighters. I think I counted 13 firefighters standing around as the hose was led into the apartment. We are lucy to get that on a full still!! 5 trucks AND a Squad company sure helps too. Unfortunately, this response is not true out side the great state of NYC, therefore we scream, yell, and are not as efficient as we should be. Would this be considered heaven? Ha!
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Another good find Chris... I would just add that initial company response and knowing the priorities are very apparent when you find 5 ladder trucks parked directly in front of the building! How comforting for the engine crews stretching line to walk past the towers knowing that EVERYONE has got their collective shit together! Your right about having enough people on scene... definitely makes things a little smoother (usually) and reduces the amount of running and screaming. 5-6 guys trying to do the work of 15-16 guys is just not efficient or effective most of the time, especially on a run that is more involved like this multiple alarm. My area literally has to go to a 3rd alarm to get the same amount of people on scene as the FDNY has on initial dispatch...talk about being behind the eight ball! While we all cant work "in the big city", we can all train and have the attitude that we are "going to work" somewhere in the city every shift.
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