We OFTEN take FOR GRANTED the value of stairs. Whether we're using them for "attack" or "evacuation," one of our main tactics should be control of the stairwell. The stairs may be on fire when we arrive and our normal means of egress to the floors above cut off. If so, you must initiate alternate routes of travel using portable ladders, an aerial or a tower ladder, or a fire escape. This is true when a building is under renovation or construction and the stairs are compromised or haven't been finished to a particular floor yet.
Dispatch informed us it had received multiple calls as we pulled into a multiple dwelling with nothing showing. As we entered the building and looked toward the rear, we could see fire burning up the stairwell. We immediately requested a hoseline to our location.
Donning our masks, we proceeded forward; as we got closer to the stairs, the heat condition pushed us to the floor. Visibility was about three feet off the floor and under the stairwell, which also had an exit door to the alley; we could see furniture burning fiercely.
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