The Art of the Nozzle Team

I keep a copy of Tom Brennan's Random Thoughts in close proximity when I find myself with some quick reading time.  For those who didn't read Fire Engineering before December of 2006 Tom Brennan (no relation), a retired FDNY Captain and former Editor-in-Chief of Fire Engineering, wrote a column that appeared just inside the back cover from January 1988 to December of 2006 called "Random Thoughts".  In 2007 PennWell, the publisher of Fire Engineering, collected those column's as a book titled... Tom Brennan's Random Thoughts.

I sat down with a few minutes to spare and opened to an article Tom had written originally for the April 2004 issue of Fire Engineering.  The article was titled "Safety On This Job?" and as I was reading I was struck by one point in particular.  "The use of nozzles dialed to a wide pattern inside fire buildings during interior firefighting operations causes injuries. Period. Sure, they make the nozzle team really comfortable, but who said the nozzle team has a right to be comfortable?"  Who said the nozzle team has a right to be comfortable?  May whatever God or gods look out for warriors and small animals help me, but I love it!

I believe deep in my soul that if we can put the fire out all of our other problems go away.  Putting the fire out is the job of the Nozzle Team.  It isn't always easy, and it is rarely comfortable.  I've talked before about the fact that the Nozzle Team MUST push through one of the most untenable places on the face of the earth when they advance down a hallway and have to Make the Turn to get water on the seat of the fire.  During that push you are crawling into the belly of a dragon (figuratively... you aren't literally crawling into a dragon unless you are in The Fantasy World of Firefighting).  You will have to push through heat, low or zero visibility conditions, and the immense desire to make like a sheep herder and get the flock out of there, to get water onto the seat of the fire.  We know this is a difficult process, but I think those of us who do not, or have not, had to do it often forget just how challenging it can be.  We aren't getting many Sets and Reps as members of a Nozzle Team unless we are on one of the handful of busy companies serving depressed, inner-city type neighborhoods. How many guys and gals actually are getting to do that?

So, what do we have to do?  We have to TRAIN to thrive in that environment.

I've been developing a Hands On Training (HOT) class called "The Art of the Nozzle" for about six months now.   The focus of the class is developing the skill, confidence, and competency of two and three member nozzle teams.  I define the nozzle team as the firefighter with the Nozzle (the Pipe in Chicagoese), the Back-Up Firefighter (Heel), and the Officer.  While staffing in cities like Chicago and New York may allow for the Door/Control position to be staffed as well, for most departments four person companies are a luxury and three person companies are the norm.  With that reality our training should be focused on getting water on the fire with a two or three person team (after all someone has to be outside running the pump panel).

"The Art of the Nozzle" is a 14 hour course that gives each student nine sets of live fire evolutions.  That's right, you get to crawl into a burning building... nine times.  You function as the Nozzle, the Back-Up, and the Officer.  You will be shown techniques for fires in dwellings at grade, above grade, and below grade.  Our bread and butter fire happens in 1000 to 2000 square foot homes and this class is geared to that operating environment.

There is a good chance that you will get more quality fireground evolutions in this class than most folks get in a year or more.  The best part, I think, is that we will be using helmet cams to record the evolutions and between stations you will go over the video with instructors to see what went well and what you can learn.

The pilot of the class is going to be run in this Spring and it will be available to take on the road starting this summer.  Contact info@spartan-concepts.com to look into booking the class.  Classes are limited to 15 students per session to maximize the  Hands-On experience for each student.

If you haven't been checking out the video blogs... START.  If you have, please shoot me a comment or an email and let me know what you think.  Please keep referring folks to the site and make sure you stop by and Visit me at FDIC in March.