By TOM TULIPANO AND MICHAEL J. LOPINA
As an engine company or A hose team, we understand that one of our greatest priorities at a house fire is to locate, confine, and extinguish the fire. Another priority we must address with either the first or backup line is protection; we must protect a means of ingress/egress for truck work or, in other words, protect the stairs of the house. The house's staircase is the internal "chimney." Whether you are attempting to go down the stairs (as in a basement fire) or up the stairs for a search above the fire floor, you must protect the stairs (photo 1).
Older-style balloon-frame houses feature a vertical void space in the exterior walls in which fire can travel unimpeded from the foundation to the attic. Modern houses sometimes have unprotected plumbing chases that create a void that runs from floor to floor. That being said, the internal staircase is still the main avenue of fire travel from floor to floor (photo 2) and must be located as soon as possible; ascend/descend the stairs quickly and safely once you have located them.
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