Stairs are the battlespace beachhead. Firefighters first must control the stairway to fight a structure fire. All fire operations start from a stairway. For example, stairways are where Firefighters start the search to locate fire; forcible entry operations take place; Firefighters begin the search for victims; the start of a hose-line interior attack; hose-lines in high-rise fires are connected to standpipe outlets; the escape route for people trapped in fire; the road where backup resources come from; and an area of refuge for Firefighters trapped in fires.
Firefighters must know how to use a stairway at fires. Some stairs have skylights at the top that can be vented. Stairs must not be overcrowded by Firefighters. If a wind-driven fire prevents advance from a stair, Firefighters must close the door, notify the Incident Commander (IC), protect the stair with the hose-line and attack the fire through a window with a hose stream with the wind at their back.
People coming down a stair to escape a fire have priority over firefighting. When people are coming down a stair, do not open a door to a fire area if it allows smoke to block their escape. Some stairs may be pressurized. When a building has two stairs, one stair is used to attack fire and the other is used to evacuate people. When a stair is designated for evacuation, stair doors leading from this stair to a fire area should not be opened. Only two or three stair doors from a pressurized door can be opened or it loses pressure.
Some stairs do not go to the roof. Firefighters should not go above an uncontrolled fire in a stair except to save a life. If stairs are not used correctly during a firefight, occupants and Firefighters can die. The following examines some rules of the stairway battlespace.
Private dwellings are dangerous occupancies and each year, most men, women and children in America die in these dwellings. One of the reasons a private dwelling is dangerous is because of the open stairway. The open stair in a private dwelling goes from cellar to the top floor, where bedrooms are located and any fire on any floor that occurs at night spreads up the open stair, trapping sleeping people.

Fig. 20.1 Stairs are where the battle begins.
Multiple dwellings and commercial buildings are safer than our homes because these structures cannot have an open stairs; all stairs must be enclosed with one- or two-hour fire-retarding walls. Firefighters quickly learn the degree of danger when searching in different kinds of buildings with different types of stairs. Searching above a fire is extremely dangerous and the degree of risk varies with the type of stairway. An open stair of a dwelling creates the greatest risk for Firefighters searching above. Searching above a fire in an enclosed stair is less dangerous, as long as the doors are closed. And searching above a smoke-proof stair in a fire-resistive building or in a building with two stairs is even less dangerous. However, there is always a chance of being trapped whenever Firefighters go above a fire to search for victims.
An enclosed stair in a multiple dwelling is surrounded by walls built to resist fire for one or two hours and each door is protected with a self-closing spring hinge and a fire rating of one hour. This stair in a multiple dwelling is much safer than an open stair in a private dwelling. As long as the doors to the stairs are kept closed, smoke will not enter the stair.
There is one problem with an enclosed stair: When Firefighters open a door to fight a fire, smoke and heat flow over their heads up a stairway. At most fires when Firefighters attack a fire with a hose-line, they must hold the door open until they advance to the fire and it is extinguished. This allows smoke, heat and flame to enter the stair and trap any occupant trying to come down the stairs.
The firefighting strategy that should be used if people are coming down a stair is don’t open the door to attack the fire until all people are below the fire. Hold the door closed and notify the IC that you cannot attack the fire because people are coming down the stair. If there is another stair in the building, use it to attack the fire. This may be difficult to do, but it is the correct action; life safety comes before fire containment.

Fig. 20.2 When searching a floor above a fire, an open stair is the most dangerous stair to ascend and a smoke-proof tower stair is the safest.
A smoke-proof stair sometimes is called a fire tower in an enclosed stair that has an open-air balcony or an interior vestibule, with a smoke vent shaft leading to the open air. This intermediate vestibule is between the occupancy and the stair enclosure. Its purpose is to prevent smoke, heat or flame from following a person fleeing a fire from going into the stairway. It is sucked up the vent in the intermediate vestibule. For example, when a person flees a fire in an office, he or she opens an exit door and enters the intermediate balcony and any smoke or heat following the person will dissipate at the open-air balcony or flow up the vent shaft and not enter the stair enclosure.
There are two doors in a smoke-proof tower; one leads to the intermediate vestibule and the other to the stair enclosure. When an IC must decide what stair to use for attack and evacuating people, the smoke-proof stair should be used for evacuation, not for attacking the fire with a hose-line. An enclosed stair should be used for this purpose.
Because a smoke-proof stair’s intermediate vestibule is outside or contains a smoke vent shaft leading to the outside, having a door open and a path from the fire tower vestibule to a window opening in the occupancy can create a wind-driven fire flowing into the stair that can stop Firefighters from advancing an attack hose-line. For example, if there is a broken window in the fire area and a direct path from the window to an open door leading to the smoke-proof tower vestibule, you can create a super-heated fire flow path, exacerbated by a wind-driven fire shooting from the broken window to the smoke-proof tower vestibule open door. This will prevent advancement of the attack hose-line.
At several fires, when the door from the vestibule to the occupancy was opened to stretch the hose-line and attack the fire, heat and smoke swept into the vestibule, up the vent. So, remember, a smoke-proof stair should be the evacuation stair and another stair designated for attack with a hose-line.
There have been several major fires where a wind-driven fire was created when using smoke-proof stairs (fire tower) as an attack stair. When the door to the vestibule containing the air shaft was kept open for the hose-line and a window was opened by venting or fire, a wind-driven flow path was created, pulling fire and heat into the smoke-proof tower air shaft. So use a smoke-proof tower for evacuation, not as a fire attack stair.
A convenience stair, also called an access stair, is an open stairway sometimes found in a commercial office building. This stair extends one or two floors for the purpose of allowing people to go from one floor to another without going out to a public hall to use the elevator. The general public does not have access to this open stair and it allows fire and smoke to spread from floor to floor if not enclosed.
When arriving at a fire, the IC should ask a building manager if there are any convenience stairs in the building and what floors they connect. Convenience/access stairs should not be used to launch a hose-line attack on a fire. However, if the initial and backup hose-line cannot advance on a fire because of wind or size of blaze, the IC may consider the possibility of sending an alternate hose-line up this stair as a last resort. Or, have a search and rescue mission go up this stair if people are reported trapped and the hose-lines cannot advance.
When a convenience stair is being planned during construction, the Fire Chief should insist an automatic fire door be installed to shut the opening when there is a fire and connected floors are protected with automatic sprinklers. Firefighters searching a floor above a fire in a fire-resistive building where normally there is no smoke spread, but there is an excessive amount of smoke detected, should notify the IC and warn of the possible presence of a convenience stair opening.
Modern building codes allow scissor stairs. Scissor stairs are two stairs intertwined and built in one fire-retarding enclosure. These stairs get credit for two exits combined in one enclosure. Scissor stairs are possible because of a code defining the meaning of “remote exits” as a distance of 15 or 20 feet apart. This allows two exit doors to be close enough so two stairs can be enclosed in one shaft containing a scissor stair. Older building codes specified remote exits to be at each end of a floor area. The scissor stair saves money, but risks lives and makes firefighting more difficult.
Some scissor stairs open on alternate floors. One stair inside the enclosure opens on odd floors and the other stair opens on even-numbered floors. Some scissor stairs do not have partitions between the two stairs inside one enclosure. Smoke entering the enclosure contaminates two stairs.
The World Trade Center had so-called remote stairs that were both in the center of the 40,000-square-foot floor and when the terrorist plane sliced through the building, it severed all the center stairs. Buildings with scissor stairs should be inspected to determine how the design will complicate firefighting and ensure they are marked with stair designations and floor numbers.

Fig. 20.3 When there are two stairs in a building, during a fire, one should be designated for hoseline attack and the other for occupant evacuation. Doors from the fire area leading to the evacuation stair should not be opened.
All stairs do not lead to the roof; some stairs in commercial buildings terminate at an intermediate floor. Because we fight fires in residence buildings, we assume all stairs open out to a roof with a scuttle or bulkhead door. All stairs in residence buildings go to a roof, but some stairs in commercial buildings go to the roof and some do not. They may terminate at an intermediate floor or lead to a mechanical machinery room.
People sometimes are found dead at the top-floor landing of a dead-end or locked stair filled with toxic smoke from a fire below. When Firefighters open a stair door to a fire area, smoke and heat flow up the stairs, sometimes filling up a stairway. After a fire in a high-rise building is extinguished, the stair designated as the attack stair should be searched all the way up to the roof or termination level for trapped victims as soon as possible. Other stairs should be searched, too.
After locating a fire in a high-rise building before the fire attack begins, stairs must be divided up for use; one stair used to attack the fire and one stair used for evacuating people from the building. After locating the fire, checking the stairs for construction and standpipe system, the Fire Officer on the fire floor should radio back to the Chief, identifying letters of the stairs to be used for firefighting attack and evacuation. The attack stairs should not be used for removing people because it will become full of smoke when Firefighters open the door to attack a fire. Generally, the stair with the standpipe outlet will be used to attack the fire.
If a stair in a high-rise building is a smoke-proof tower stair, use this stair for removing people because the smoke vent shaft can set up a wind-driven fire, pulling fire into the smoke vestibule. There must be a public address system and the IC can use it to direct people in the building. Announcements should be ordered by the Chief in Charge, to notify occupants of the identifying letter of the stair they should use to escape the fire. Especially after 9/11, critics argue the occupants will not listen to direction when the order is given to people in the building to stay in place. This may or may not be true. However, the IC has a responsibility to direct occupants during an emergency. The lawyers will want to know what instructions were given if there are any fatalities. We still must supervise evacuation.
When there are two enclosed stairs in a building, the Officer in command may designate either stairway as an attack stair to send Firefighters in with a hose-line or an evacuation stair to assist people leaving the building. The stair used as an attack stair is not used to remove people because the stair enclosure above will fill up with smoke and heat when Firefighters open the door to attack the fire.
When setting up in the stair designated for attack, the Officer in command should ensure as much as possible that no occupants are coming down the stair before the door is opened to advance the hose-line. If people are descending the stair, do not open the door to the fire area or you will trap people in the stair above the fire. Generally, the stair with the standpipe outlet will be the stair used to attack the fire and if there is a smoke-proof stairway, this stair should be used for removing people from floors above the fire.

Fig. 20.4 It is very important that stair doors are labeled to identify the stair enclosure and the floor or it is not possible to coordinate a fire attack and evacuation in a high-rise building.
As soon as possible when arriving at a serious fire in a building with two or more stairs, they must be divided up for use. Determine your strategy. Which stair will be used for stretching the hose-line to attack the fire and which stair will be used for occupant evacuation? The attack stairs should not be used for evacuation because it will fill up with smoke. The stair dedicated to occupant evacuation should be smoke-free, so doors from this stair to the fire area should not be opened during the fire attack.
During a fire in a high-rise commercial building, which has an open floor area where flames may spread quickly, people must be ordered to leave the vicinity of the blaze. Usually this includes the fire floor and the floor above the fire. Occupants on all other floors are directed to remain in place and not exit the floor until notified by the Fire Chief or if smoke enters their floor. At a high-rise commercial building, this strategy is to prevent overcrowding the exits. It is different at a high-rise residence building fire because apartments are subdivided by fire-resistive walls and all people (except the fire apartment occupants) are directed to stay in their apartments and not attempt to leave by the stairways. Tagging stair: Stair doors must be labeled to identify the stair enclosure and the floor. Firefighting in buildings with more than one stair is impossible unless all stairs are marked. In buildings with two or three stairways, each enclosure must have identifying letters on the outside of the door, such as “stair A” or “stair B.” Also, on the inside of the door, a floor number must be marked next to this identifying stair letter.
For example, the ground floor stair door would be labeled “stair A, floor #l.” This seemingly simple stair identification system is critically important for firefighting and occupant evacuation. If letters do not identify stair enclosures and the floor numbers, there can be no effective firefighting, occupant evacuation or controlled search and rescue.
When Firefighters arrive on a fire floor and start to force open a door to a high-rise apartment and there is a serious fire inside, it suddenly can blow out into the hallway and engulf Firefighters and reduce visibility to zero. So before a door is forced, among those items Firefighters should size up are the stairs and hallway.
The size-up should include the exact location of the exit door leading from the hallway to the stairs. Next, check for any dead-end portions of the hallway. A dead-end portion of a hallway is an area beyond the exit door or a dead-end area off the main hallway. Also, if there is an open apartment door in the hallway, that may be used as an area of refuge if conditions change and smoke fills up the hall. If a fire flashes over and comes out in the hall, Firefighters must know exactly how to withdraw to safety. During forcible entry operations, use a rope around the doorknob or have a hook ready to pull the door closed after it is forced. A hose-line should be ready before starting forcible entry.

Fig. 20.5 When arriving at a fire and the hose-ling is not ready after forcing entry, temporarily close the door to keep fresh air from feeding the fire.
The most important part of any stairway is the door leading from the occupancy to the stair enclosure. To keep fire from spreading from room to room or stair to room, close the door. There was a fire in a New York City luxury apartment that killed a mother and two teenage daughters. The mother’s body was found at the window where she was calling for help; one daughter’s body was on the bed; the other on the floor. It was a 5th Avenue, duplex apartment connecting two floors, where fire spread up an open stairway into the bedroom where the family was trapped. The post-fire investigation revealed this pre-war apartment had a heavy wood and metal door that could have stopped fire and smoke from entering the room for several hours, but it was Fig. 20.5 When arriving at a fire and wide open. After the fire, the wealthy hus- the hose-line is not ready afband donated a lot of time and money for ter forcing entry, temporarily a smoke detector program. close the door to keep fresh air We all missed a lesson here--the door. from feeding the fire.
During a fire, close the door. Firefighters can use a door closing, too, when firefighting. For example, when arriving at a fire and the hose-line is not ready, close the door temporarily to keep the fire from spreading out into the hallway or up a stair. And after you force a door open, temporarily close it until the hose team is ready to advance. This will keep fire from spreading out of a fire room.
The most dangerous area of stair fire is the top floor. Fire, heat and smoke quickly spread upward to the top floor and mushrooms out, trapping people. When fire is spreading up a stair enclosure, the roof door skylight or scuttle should be opened to vent the stair fire at the top. If the top scuttle or skylight of the stair is vented and a stair door at the bottom is open, the stair becomes a chimney. Venting at the top of a stair may increase fire growth in a stair or quickly remove smoke from a stair. Either way, it will prevent fire and smoke from mushrooming out on the top floor.
The IC must have an objective before ordering a stairway vented at the top. Firefighters are taught in rookie school not to go above a fire in a stairway because they may be cut off by fire and not get back down. Despite this warning, each year, Firefighters are trapped above fires in stairways and have to jump out windows or be rescued by ladders. If you must go up a stair above a fire to rescue someone, use a ladder or climb a fire escape. If you must suddenly take this lifesaving effort to rescue someone, first close the door to the fire room and have another Firefighter stand by the door to prevent anyone from opening it until you return back down.
Flame and smoke rise up a stair to a top floor, mushroom out and trap people in their rooms or apartments. Arson stairway fires can be different; they can burn downward. Either way, stairway fires are deadly.
When you climb a stair in a burning building, you should size up its construction, because if things go wrong, you may be running, jumping or tumbling back down that stair. A stair is your access to a fire and your escape and you should know its construction. When climbing, look up at the underside of the stair above and then look down at the steps. Check out the soffit above the treads, risers below, then railings and stringers. A stair is your lifeline in a burning building and the truth is, some of us don’t know enough about stair construction. We study combustion and building construction, but we also should know about stair construction.
The following are some tips on how to size up a stair. There are three kinds of stair design--an open stair, enclosed stair and a smoke-proof tower stair. Each one presents different risks and protection during a fire.
The first thing you must think about when climbing a stair going up to a fire: Is this an open or enclosed stair? The answer is going to determine your risk of getting trapped. The most dangerous stair is an open stair; an enclosed stair and smokeproof tower present less risk than an open stair. Unfortunately, an open stairway is found in private dwellings where we do most firefighting. It is a dangerous stair. Flame, heat and smoke can freely flow up an open stair behind Firefighters climbing to search second-floor bedrooms. Any fire from cellar to first floor, in any room, will flow up the open stair. Convection currents of heat rise to the top of an open stair, especially if windows have been vented. Climbing an open stair can be similar to climbing inside a chimney flue. Stair construction in private dwellings can be a modern, ladder-type stair without risers or a soffit; only treads and railing entirely built of wood, with a coating of flammable varnish or paint surfaces.
Veteran Firefighters use alternate tactics to rescue people trapped on the top floor of private dwellings that have an open stair; they use ladders or connecting fire escape balconies to get to windows of upper-floor bedrooms to avoid the open stair for rescue. Even if Firefighters are using the interior stair, fire department ladders are placed at windows for emergency escape in case fire cuts off escape.
An enclosed stairway is required by code in commercial, public and multiple dwellings. These stairs offer more protection than open stairs only as long as doors to apartments are closed. If a door to a fire apartment is open, flame and smoke quickly can spread into an enclosed stair and trap Firefighters above.
A size-up of the fire must take place in an enclosed stair at the fire floor before Firefighters climb a stair to go above. Firefighters should not search above a fire in an enclosed stair unless the size-up shows a fire company is extinguishing the fire in the apartment. This does not mean operating a hose-line in the hallway; it means advancing into the apartment and knocking down fire without any problems. If Firefighters are holding a defensive position at the door and not advancing on the fire or there is no hose-line at the fire, the door to the fire apartment must be closed before Firefighters search above. A Firefighter must be assigned nearby to ensure the door remains closed until the search above is ended and Firefighters have returned.
A smoke-proof stair, sometimes called a fire tower, is the best stair to climb up to a fire. This stair has an enclosed stair with a self-closing door opening up to an intermediate vestibule between the stair enclosure and occupancy. This vestibule is designed to prevent smoke and heat from entering the stair enclosure. This stair is found in commercial buildings and few Firefighters have never seen or used this type of stair.
A self-closing door leads from the stair enclosure to the vestibule and another self-closing door leads from the vestibule to the occupancy. The intermediate vestibule will have a standpipe outlet and a vent. This standpipe and smoke vent allow Firefighters to connect a hose, open the door to the occupancy and advance on the fire without causing smoke to enter the stair enclosure. Firefighters can go above the fire in the stair enclosure when the door from vestibule to stair enclosure is closed. Again, a Firefighter should be assigned at the fire floor to ensure this door remains closed until Firefighters return.
In addition to recognizing stair design when climbing stairs, Firefighters must be able to size up the stair construction. There are three basic types of stair construction–an L-shaped stair, a straight-run stair and a “U”-return stair.
An L-shaped stair is a two-section stair that changes direction at a 90-degree angle and has one section longer than the other. An L-shaped stair most often is constructed of wood as an open stair in a private dwelling.

Fig. 20.6 An L-shaped stair most often is an open stair.
The most common stair construction is a straight-run stair. Straight-run stair construction is found in all types of building construction: Type I, fire-resistive; Type II, noncombustible; Type III, ordinary; Type IV, heavy timber; or Type V, wood frame. A straight-run stair has steps that rise in a 45- or 60-degree angle at an uninterrupted passage between two floors. Most often, straight-run stairs are stacked directly over one another. A person walks up one flight of steps to the floor above, then reverses direction, walks along a hallway to the foot of the stairs leading above, reverses direction again and starts up the next flight of stairs. A straight-run stair may have a fire-retarded soffit underside, a metal stringer on the outside carriage beam and metal handrail, but the interior framework of the straightrun stair interior usually is wood.

Fig. 20.7 Flammable liquids spilled down a stair can seep inside and attack the wood carriage beam supports, causing an entire stairway section to collapse.
Inside, a straight-run stair will be wood carriage beams, supporting the treads, risers and stair railing. Even though the exterior of a stair is noncombustible, the hollow interior supports are wood and fire sometimes can spread inside this hollow stair enclosure. Flammable liquids spilled down a stair can seep inside and attack the wood timber carriage beam supports.
There is another type of straightrun stair called a continuous straight-run stair. This continuous stair was built in century-old commercial buildings and flights of staight-run stair sections are not stacked over each other. Instead, the stair is one continuous, 30- to 45-degree angle, run from the front entrance up to the roof. At each floor level, there is an intermediate landing with an entry door to a commercial occupancy located off to the side. This “continuous” straight-run stair” is found in old, inner city, commercial, Type IV heavy timber manufacturing buildings. When climbing this continuous stair, a size-up should consider this an enclosed stair. Don’t go above the fire floor to search unless the door to the fire area is closed and you have a Firefighter lookout to ensure the door remains closed.
The second most common stair is a U-return stair. Used in most modern commerial, public and mutiple dwellings, a U-return stair construction breaks up the climb at the middle of the stair rise and reverses direction with an intermediate landing. At the intermediate landing, a climber reverses direction and starts up the second half of the stair rise.

Fig. 20.8 If the treads and landing of a U-return stairway are marble and exposed on the underside, heat from a fire can weaken them and cause them to collapse on a Firefighter ascending or descending with tools.
A size-up while climbing this stair will reveal there is no soffit, so the underside of the stair construction can be examined more accurately than a straight-run stair. A U-return stair most often is constructed with a steel frame, steel risers with stone or marble, treads and intermediate landing platform. The handrails and carriage/stringer beams at both sides are steel. When climbing up to a fire, a Firefighter can clearly see the exposed underside of the steel frame and stone treads and intermediate landing above.
If the size-up reveals the underside of stone treads and the platform landing are visible, this should be a warning. These exposed stone parts of stair can collapse on a Firefighter descending with tools or when heated by fire coming out of an apartment or room impinging on the underside of the stone tread or platform. The steel U-return stairs that sustain most step and landing collapses are those with exposed stone underside and supported only by a one- or two-inch, angle-iron edge.
The most stable U-return stair is one where the underside of stone treads and landings are fully covered and supported with a steel support pan. Tread and platform collapse will not occur if fully supported by steel underside. A U-return stair is preferred in modern building construction because it reduces the amount of floor area for stair enclosure, adding valuable commercial or residence floor space.
After a Firefighter determines the type of stair and the construction, the size-up should continue by checking out the carriage beams, soffit, treads, risers and handrails.
Carriage beams will not be visible in a L-shape or straight-run stair, because they usually are covered by a wire lath plaster soffit. But if you are climbing a stair in a Type III, ordinary, Type IV, heavy timber, or Type V, wood-frame building, you can be sure there are wood carriage beams behind the soffit. Two or three wood timbers with cutouts spaced for risers and treads will be supporting the straightrun stair section. The outer carriage beams sometimes are called stringer boards. These support beams are large wood timbers with 90-degree-angle cutouts that shape the stair. If these beams are destroyed by fire or dry rot over the years, the entire stair section can collapse. When one stair section collapses on the one below, the impact can cause the one below to collapse, triggering a progressive collapse of the entire stairway down to ground-floor level.
Investigations show us carriage beams do not break. Instead, the connections where they are attached to floors fail due to rotting or fire destruction and the weight of several Firefighters. Any type fire damage that burns through a floor near the top or bottom of a stair must be considered a warning sign of possible stair collapse. Fire damage to carriage beams can be caused by an arsonist spilling flammable liquid in a stairway and in vacant buildings subject to rotting over years of neglect.
An example of an arson-caused floor collapse occurred several years ago when a serial arsonist was starting stairway fires in New York City tenements. The arson method was spilling gasoline down stairs from the roof level, then escaping to adjoining buildings. At one fire, the carriage beams were destroyed and the entire stair flight from top floor to roof bulkhead collapsed down onto the stair below, narrowly missing Firefighters.
At an early-morning fire, on arrival of Firefighters, the top-floor walls and floor surfaces were aflame from a gasoline arson fire. Flames had not entered the apartments yet, just the top-floor hallway was ablaze. Firefighters with the hose-line were standing on the top-floor stair steps, waiting for water and when it got to the nozzle, they started extinguishing fire. Moving up the stair steps, they made the turn around the hallway railing, advancing to the rear, knocking down flame. They saw fire had burned a hole in the floor near the base of the stair section leading up to the roof level. They directed the nozzle stream into this hole in the floor at the base of the stair and suddenly there was a thunderous crash. When the smoke cleared, they saw the entire straight-run stair flight, leading from the top floor to the roof, had pancaked down onto the stair below, where they had just been standing. Investigation showed the flammable liquid had seeped into the stair from the steps and the carriage beams and the connection of the carriage beams to the top floor and roof level had burned away, causing the collapse.
A soffit is the protective underside of a flight of stairs that conceals the carriage beams. A soffit is noncombustible and fire-retarding. Years ago, soffits were not required or they could be made of wood wainscoting. Combustible soffit surfaces allowed fire to spread on the underside of stairs and added to fire spread in stairways.
In the past century, stairway fires trapped everyone in their apartments and required Firefighters to place many ladders front and back for rescue. The wood stair soffits, treads, risers, railings and carriage beams would burn and collapse quickly because they were not protected or enclosed. Today, surfaces and undersides of stairs must be noncombustible or covered with fire-retarding material. All doors leading to stairs must be self-closing. Transoms and wire glass doors are illegal.
When climbing stairs, Firefighters should look at the steps. A tread is the horizontal step area you place your boot upon when climbing. This should be stone or metal. If it is a stone or marble step, a Firefighter should know if it was heated by flame moments ago. It can crack and suddenly collapse when stepped upon, causing a leg to plunge through the metal frame and perhaps a kneecap injury. If the steel is still hot, it can cause a severe burn.
At one incident involving a large rubbish hallway fire under a first-floor stairway, there was a woman on the second-floor level calling for help. A Firefighter ran up the steps to assist, as others extinguished the blaze. A heated stone tread collapsed and the Firefighter’s leg plunged through a tread, causing injury and severe burns to his thigh. Knowing how to climb a fire-weakened stone stair and today’s bunker pants may reduce this danger.
The vertical part of a step is the riser and could help Firefighters avoid injury from a stone tread collapse. The steel riser can provide stability to stair climbing. When U-return stair treads and intermediate landings are cracked or missing, Firefighters should position their boot bottom on top of the riser and avoid placing weight on the tread or landing. The riser should support the foot instep. When stair treads have been destroyed by fire or are cracked and crumbling beneath the weight of a Firefighter, they can fail.
Veteran Firefighters climbing or descending a stair in a vacant building position their foot over the stair riser. A U-return stair often is built with stone treads and landings and steel frame. The stone treads and intermediate landings are a collapse danger, especially vulnerable to flame and heat damage. U-return stairs of steel and stone treads do not have soffits, so they can be sized up easily.
After Firefighters size up a stair design, its construction, carriage beams, soffit, treads and risers, they should check the stair railing. The term, balustrade, describes an entire stair handrail system: newel post, balusters (sometimes called spindles) and handrail. A newel post, the decorative post at the foot and top of the railing, secures the entire handrail to the stair and floors.
In vacant buildings, this decorative newel post and balusters--the vertical pieces supporting the stair railing--often are removed by salvagers and this weakens the entire stair railing. Firefighters bunching up on a stair landing suddenly engulfed in a heat blast from a flashover or backdraft tumble down a stair and if the railing collapses, will fall off the stairway.
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A stairway is the lifeline of a fire building. The first hose-line should be stretched to protect the stair and from there, advance and extinguish the fire. The stair must be protected during the duration of the firefighting operation so occupants and Firefighters can exit.
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The second hose-line is stretched up the same stair to back up the first line. This is a fail-safe action to protect Firefighters and ensure stairway control. If a serious exposure hazard exists that requires the second hose-line, a third line is stretched up the stair as a backup line for the first one.
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Stairways should be vented at the top by opening skylights, scuttle covers and bulkhead doors when smoke prevents Firefighters from using them.
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Aerial ladders can be placed at roof level to give Firefighters access to a roof to vent stairs. Firefighters should not go up a stair above a fire to vent at roof level.
A blocked stairway is a game-changer. A stair can be blocked by people, fire collapse or during demolition or construction. When a stair is blocked, rescues and firefighting must be conducted from outside ladders and fire escapes. One of the lessons learned at the World Trade Center on 9/11 is the flow of occupants evacuating a building should not be interrupted or stopped. A minor time interruption of a line of people evacuating a burning building on a lower floor for several seconds can be magnified greatly on an upper floor close to the fire.
New York City Fire Captain and two Firefighters killed in stairway. Google: “Apartment fire: New York, NY, 62 Watts Street fire.”