Chapter 5 Strategic Goals and Tactical Objectives

City of P igeon Forge F i re DepartmentD i v i s i o n o f Tr a i n i n g a n d C o n ti n u i n g E d u c a ti o n

Chapter 5

Strategic Goals and Tactical Objectives

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• Isolation– One of the primary strategic goals• Physically securing and maintaining the

emergency scene by establishing perimeters• Denying entry• Evacuation or protection in place



• Isolation– Isolation perimeter• Outer perimeter

– Boundary established to prevent access by the public– Established even before the material is positively

identified



• Isolation– Initial Isolation Distance and Initial Isolation

Zone• A distance within which all persons should be

considered for evacuation in all directions• Circular zone defined by the ERG



• Isolation– Initial Isolation Distance and Initial Isolation

Zone• A distance within which all persons should be

considered for evacuation in all directions• Circular zone defined by the ERG



• Isolation– Protective Action Zone• Area immediately adjacent to and downwind

from the initial isolation zone– Imminent danger within 30 minutes

Protective Action Zone

Initial Isolation Zone

Spill

1/2 Downwind Distance

1/2 Downwind Distance



• Isolation– Hazard Control Zones• Hot

– Exclusion• Warm

– Contamination Reduction• Cold

– Support



• Protection– The overall goal of ensuring the safety of

responders • Use and wear appropriate PPE• Use decontamination procedures• Provide emergency medical care• Conduct preentry medical monitoring • Conduct safety assessments



• Protection– Rescue• Difficult strategy to implement for first responders

to take– Fight the urge

» Never rush to conduct a rescue without proper PPE, planning, and coordination

• Decision made by the IC



• Protection– Awareness – Level Actions• Direct people to a safe area of refuge • Instruct victims to move to an area that is less

dangerous• Direct contaminated or potentially contaminated

victims to an isolation point– Decon area

• Give directions to a large number of people for mass decontamination



• Protection– Operational – Level Actions• Conduct searches during reconnaissance or

defensive activities • Conduct searches on the edge of the hot zone• Direct victims to the decontamination area• Assist with decontamination• Assist with the identification of victims • Give instructions to a large number of people for

a mass decontamination



• Protection– Operational – Level Actions• Conduct searches during reconnaissance or

defensive activities • Conduct searches on the edge of the hot zone• Direct victims to the decontamination area• Assist with decontamination• Assist with the identification of victims • Give instructions to a large number of people for

a mass decontamination



• Protection– Exposure Protection• People

– Most important exposure consideration– Isolation zones

• Protecting the environment– Diking a storm drain

• Protecting property – Not yet involved but threatened– Vapor suppression with a hose line



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Shovels

– Building earthen dams• Salvage covers

– Making catch basins• Charged hoselines

– Creating diversion channels



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Operational level

– Expected to take protective actions but not stop the release

– Defensive confinement actions» Absorption» Adsorption» Blanketing / covering» Dam, dike, diversion and retention» Vapor suppression



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Absorption

– Physical and/or chemical event occurring during contact between materials that have a attraction for each other

– This results in one material being retained in the other» Sawdust » Clays» Charcoal

– Material becomes contaminated



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Adsorption

– Different from absorption in that the molecules of the hazardous material physically adhere to the adsorbent

– Tend to not swell– Organic materials

» Activated charcoal» Carbon



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Blanketing / Covering

– Covering the spill to prevent dispersion of materials such as powders or dusts » Tarps» Plastic sheeting» Salvage covers» Foam

– Be careful for interactions between materials



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Dike, Dam, Diversion and Retention

– Underflow– Overflow– Construction of curbs– Divert away from drain



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Vapor Suppression

– Action taken to reduce the emission of vapors» Firefighting foams

• Miscible• Alcohol resistance (AR)

» Application Methods• Roll-on• Bank-down• Rain-down




– Firefighting Foams» Expansion Ratio

• Is the volume of finished foam that results from a unit volume of foam solution

• The greater the expansion ratio is, the thicker the foam blanket

» Drain Time• Time required for ¼ of the total liquid to drain

from the foam




– Firefighting Foams» Selection of proper foam concentrate for vapor

suppression is important• Do not cover water reactive materials

» Water destroys and washes away foam blankets• Do not use water streams in conjunction with

the application of foam» A material must be below its boiling point

• Foam cannot seal vapors of boiling liquids




– Firefighting Foams» If the film that precedes the foam blanket is not

visible, the foam blanket may be unreliable• Reapply aerated foam periodically until the

spill is completely covered



• Spill Control / Confinement– Confinement Tactics• Other Spill Control Tactics

– Ventilation» Controlling the movement of air by natural or

mechanical means• Removing or dispersing the airborne particles,

vapors or gases • Equipment must be explosion proof if used in

a flammable atmosphere




– Vapor Dispersion» Is the action taken to direct or influence the course

of airborne hazardous materials• Pressurized streams of water from hoselines• Unattended master streams

• Reduces the concentration» Must confine and analyze runoff water




– Dispersion» Involves breaking up or dispersing a hazardous

material that has spilled on a solid or liquid surface• Uses both chemical and biological agents• Typically used on oceanic hydrocarbon spills

» Often has the unfortunate effect of spreading the material over a wide area• May require approval from governmental

agencies




– Dilution» Is the application of water to a water soluble

material to reduce the hazard» Used mostly during decontamination operations» Increases the spill size




– Dissolution» The process of dissolving a gas in water » Only used for water soluble gases

• Anhydrous ammonia• Chlorine

• May create hydrochloric acid on the ground




– Neutralization» Raising or lowering the pH of corrosive materials to

render them neutral (pH 7)» Sometimes difficult to do

• Shifts to much in opposite direction» Conducted under the direction of individuals with

expertise in this area



• Leak Control / Containment– Leak• The physical breach in a container through which

the product is escaping– Leak Control• Stop or limit the escape• Contain the release by either

– Keeping it in its original container– Transferring it to a new one

» Overpack drum

– Considered offensive actions



• Leak Control / Containment– Leak• The physical breach in a container through which

the product is escaping– Leak Control• Stop or limit the escape• Contain the release by either

– Keeping it in its original container– Transferring it to a new one

» Overpack drum



• Leak Control / Containment– Considered offensive actions• Must be performed by at least a technician except

– It can be turned off by a remote valve– It involves situations dealing with

» Gasoline» Diesel» LPG» CNG

– Must have operations level training and proper PPE



• Fire Control– The strategy of minimizing the damage, harm

and effect of fire at a haz mat incident – Typical fire control tactics• Controlled burn• Exposure protection• Withdrawal• Extinguishment



• Fire Control– Controlled Burn• A nonintervention control tactic

– Personnel or environmental risks are determined to be too great for extinguishment» Let burn until product is consumed

• Pesticides• Flammable liquids

– Extinguish burning spills and leaks completely only when the flow of materials has been controlled » Use hoselines to decrease the intensity of

the fire



• Fire Control– Exposure Protection• Preventing the spread of fire to nearby fuels

– Buildings» Fog patterns

– Containers– Tanks

» Solid streams• 500-1,000 GPM

• Do not assume that the relief valve is operating effectively or able to keep up with the increasing vapor pressure



• Fire Control– Withdrawal• May become a last resort if an incident

– Rapidly deteriorates – Threat of explosion– BLEVE– Mass fire exists

• Resources may not be available or are overwhelmed



• Fire Control– Extinguishment• Offensive control tactic• May be necessary to extinguish the fire before

containing the material– Fire around a leaking gasoline tanker– Turning off a pressurized gas fire



• Fire Control– Water Fire Streams• Must avoid making the problem worse

– Can dramatically increase the intensity of the spill• Solid streams

– Can cause materials to spread / splash• Fog streams

– Effective at suppressing vapors



• Fire Control– Portable Extinguishers• Limited by the method of application

– Must get within a few feet of the fire» Too close for the operations level responder

– Meant for small fires



• Fire Control– Foam Fire Streams• Finished foam can be effective for suppressing

vapors and extinguishing many flammable liquids– Foam Principles• All foam concentrates in use today are of the

mechanical type– They must be proportioned and aerated

» Class A foam» Class B foam



• Fire Control– Foam Principles• Class B foam

– Regular fluoroprotein – Regular AFFF

» Will not extinguish polar solvents (alcohol-type) fuels • AR-AFFF

– Separating» Creates barrier between fuel and burning vapors

– Cooling» Lowers the temperature of fuel

– Suppressing» Prevents the release of additional vapors



• Fire Control– How foam is generated• Foam Concentrate

– Liquid found in a foam storage container before the introduction of water» 1%» 3%» 6%

• Foam Solution– Mixture in the proper ratio of foam concentrate and

water before it is mixed with air



• Fire Control– How foam is generated• Foam Proportioner

– Device that mixes foam concentrate in the proper ratio with water

• Finished Foam– Completed product after air is introduced into the foam

solution and after it leaves the nozzle or aerator



• Fire Control– How foam is generated• Four elements of high quality foam

– Foam concentrate– Water– Air– Mechanical agitation

• Finished foam requires two stages– Water is mixed with the foam liquid– Aeration stage



• Fire Control– How foam is generated• Foam appliances

– Must hydraulically match each other » Unsatisfactory foam» No foam



• Fire Control– Specific Foam Concentrates• Regular Protein Foam

– Virtually nonexistent– 3%-6% concentrations– Excellent water retention– High hear resistance

• Fluoroprotein Foam– Combination of protein and synthetic based foam – Excellent for subsurface injection into a tank

» Oleophobic (oil shedding)» 3%-6% concentrations



• Fire Control– Specific Foam Concentrates• Film Forming Fluoroprotein Foam (FFFP)

– Foam concentrate based on fluoroprotein foam technology with AFFF concentrate capabilities

– 3%-6% concentrations– Multipurpose

» Polar solvents and hydrocarbon fuels– Storage

» Wide temperature storage ability– Premixable– Subsurface Injection– Plunge into fuel



• Fire Control– Specific Foam Concentrates• Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF)

– Created by the navy to increase effectiveness of extinguishing liquid fires on aircraft carriers » Project Light Water

– Aqueous Film» Water is drained from the foam blanket» Floats on fuels

– Completely synthetic – 1%, 3%, or 6% concentrations



• Fire Control– Specific Foam Concentrates• Alcohol Resistant AR-AFFF

– Used on polar solvents • High-Expansion Foam

– Special-purpose foam– Low water content

» Concealed spaces» Fixed-extinguishing systems» Class A fire applications



• Fire Control– Specific Foam Concentrates• Emulsifiers

– Mixes with fuel– Renders it non-flammable– Should only be used with fuels that are 1 inch or less in

depth



• Recovery and Termination– Recovery• Returning the incident scene and responders to a

pre-incident level of readiness– Return the operational area to a safe condition– Debrief personnel before they leave the scene– Return equipment and personnel of all involved

agencies to the condition they were in before the incident» On-Scene Recovery» On-Scene Debriefing» Operational Recovery



• Recovery and Termination– Termination• Involves two procedural actions

– Critiques» Mandated by OSHA

– After-action analysis » Operational weakness» Training needs» Necessary procedural changes» Required additional resources



Works Cited“Hazardous Materials for First Responders” International Fire Service Training Association

3rd Edition 2004 Print

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Chapter 5 Strategic Goals and Tactical Objectives