Report Number: 05-0000197
Report Date: 05/27/2005

Event Description

Crew was operating on the third floor of a three-story garden apartment building. Fire had originated on the first floor and spread through the walls and floors to multiple apartments on multiple floors. Crews had been operating offensively for more than 2 hours opening up walls and floors and extinguishing fire. My crew was on the third floor hallway opening up walls and extinguishing spots when we lost water pressure. We had already opened up the walls and were in the process of extinguishing fire. Without any water the fire we had exposed began to spread into the hallway. We retreated to the common stairway but were cut off from fire venting into the stairs from the second floor. Another crew was operating below us at the time water supply was lost and also had evacuated as fire chased them down the hall. The doors to the stairs were left open due to the hoses and equipment crews had left behind. My crew was forced to retreat into a vacant apartment on the third floor and we proceeded to the balcony. No firefighters were visible from the balcony, which overlooked Side C. I called command for a ground ladder to be raised to our location. After several attempts to command but no answer on the radio, we were on mutual aid, I called directly to my Chief. I got him to send us help. A 35' extension ladder was raised to our location and we climbed down off the balcony. By this time the second floor and part of the third floor were fully involved and fire was venting out the windows both next to and below us. The loss of water supply resulted in the fire going defensive and the loss of over 70 apartments. The portion of the structure where we were operating collapsed into the basement within an hour.

Lesson Learned

The incident commanders knew that this complex was plagued with poor water supply but had not taken appropriate actions to prevent the loss of water during interior operations. Bringing in a good sustainable water supply early on in fires wherever and whenever poor water supply is known ahead of time is essential. Establish a RIT at every fire and have them throw ground ladders to upper floors for use as an emergency escape route. Accountability: Everyone reported in with their accountability tags but they were not tracked on the fire ground. While my crew was awaiting rescue on the third floor, Side C, other crews on Side A were going defensive with master streams. This pushed the fire towards us. If we are going to rely on stairways for emergency egress we must maintain the ability for the doors to close so that crews' egress is not cut off. There was no mayday procedure at the time of this fire. Radio calls for help went unanswered for several minutes.

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