Fire officer handbook of tactics chapter 8

Evolution of Forcible Entry

• Forcible entry has evolved due to increased security consciousness among Americans since the 1950s.
• Firefighters now use tools like the Halligan and flat-head axe, moving away from simpler tools.
• Progressive firefighters need multiple entry methods, including through-the-lock, hydraulic equipment, and cutting devices.

Prioritizing Entry Methods

• The best fire crews quickly identify and use the most efficient entry method.
• The primary goal of forcible entry is to enable search, rescue, and fire extinguishing.
• Factors influencing the choice of method include speed, door/lock type, available tools/personnel, and potential damage.
• Speed is the most critical factor, especially in life-threatening or rapidly extending fire situations.
• The method should match the door/lock type; some are best opened with specific techniques.
• The degree of damage caused by entry should align with the hazard's severity.
• Personnel and resources should be the least concerning factor; two people should be able to force most doors with a Halligan and axe.

Basic Rules of Forcible Entry

• Try before you pry: Always check if the door is unlocked to save time and avoid embarrassment.
• Failure to check the lock status can hinder arson investigations.
• Don't ignore the obvious: Look for the easiest entry point, such as a glass pane that can be broken.
• Use the door occupants normally use: It's likely to be less secured and leads to escape paths.
• Maintain the integrity of the door: Avoid smashing doors/windows to control oxygen supply and prevent backdraft.
• Keeping interior doors to stairways intact is critical for the safety of occupants and firefighters.

Forcible-Entry Size-Up

• A size-up begins with alarm information: The time of day indicates the likelihood of needing forcible entry.
• Consider the occupancy type: Residential doors usually open inward, while commercial doors open outward.
• Replace an axe with a sledgehammer for Class 1 buildings.
• Determine the fire location, visible victims, and entry door.
• Look for fire proximity to the door and the door's material (wood, glass, aluminum, or steel-clad).
• Assess the jamb material (brick, wood, etc.) and the number/location of locks.
• Note the presence of hinges (door opens out) or stop molding/rabbeted frame (door opens in).
• Be aware of outward-opening doors in smoke-filled hallways to avoid elevator shafts.

Before Forcing the Door

• Ensure everyone is ready and positioned safely to the side, crouching or kneeling.
• Feel the doorknob and door top with a gloved hand, exposing the wrist to check for heat.
• A hot doorknob indicates it's time to begin the attack.
• Try the lock and shake the door to assess the locking devices and resistance.
• Note cylinder locations: further than 1-3 inches from the door edge may indicate high security.
• Bolt heads indicate a drop-in bar is present.

Conventional Forcible Entry

• Conventional forcible entry applies great force to bend or snap the door or lock.
• The longer the lever, the greater the force, but tool length must be practical for confined spaces.
• A flat-head axe paired with a Halligan is the most efficient combination.
• The Halligan provides four means of getting a bite on the work and is valuable for opening floors, walls, and roofs.
• Using a Halligan and axe requires two people: one to position the Halligan, the other to swing the axe.
• The more experienced person should control the Halligan, directing the axe person when and where to strike.
• The two people should work from opposite sides of the irons to avoid injury from missed axe swings.

Inward-Opening Doors

• Place the fork end of the Halligan about 6 inches above or below the lock.
• Position the fork with the outer curve toward the door and inner curve toward the jamb for leverage.
• Drive the tool in at a 15-20° angle, moving it outward as it penetrates to avoid hitting the jamb.
• Use the wedge shape of the fork to spread the door from the jamb, creating space for the lock to clear.
• Push the tool back toward the door, using the doorjamb as a fulcrum to force the door open.
• Control the door to prevent it from opening uncontrollably and exposing members to fire.
• Alternatively, use the adze end or claw end of the Halligan as a fulcrum, driving it into the jamb.
• As a last resort, attack the hinge side, driving the forked end in to pull the screws out of the door or hinge.
• Breaching hinges has implications - if unsuccessful, consider closing the door again to control the situation.

Outward-Opening Doors

• Force them using similar principles as inward-opening doors: spread the door away from the jamb and apply force in the direction of travel.
• Use the adze end of the Halligan tool due to recesses in walls.
• Position the adze 6 inches above or below the lock and pull out on the opposite end of the tool.
• If the lock side is difficult, force the hinge side.
• Cut through the hinge with a metal-cutting saw or torch and pry the door out with the adze if power tools are available.
• The door will no longer be closable by forcing the hinge side.

Through-the-Lock Forcible Entry

• Centers on duplicating the action of a key in the lock by removing the cylinder.
• Often provides the fastest, least damaging entry.
• Indicated by light fire conditions, specific doors, or locks.
• Requires familiarity with procedures for various lock types.
• Involves using tools to remove the cylinder and key tools to manipulate the lock mechanism.
• The K-tool is the most efficient way to remove most lock cylinders.

Types of Locks

• Rim Locks: Use a flat key tool or screwdriver to rotate a flat shaft, operating the lock.
• Guillotine: Insert the claw of the Halligan tool and knock the lock off the door with an axe if the lock has a spring-loaded plate that covers the slot after cylinder removal.
• Police Locks: Found on inward-opening doors, employ a square shaft. Remove the cylinder and strike the box mechanism, or use a tapered square key tool.
• Mortise Locks: Recessed inside the door, utilize a pear-shaped cam. Use a key tool with a 90° bent end to locate and depress the spring-loaded catch.

Pivoting Deadbolt Locks

• Commonly found in narrow-stile, aluminum-and-glass storefront doors.
• Use through-the-lock techniques, looking for a lightbulb shape and depressing the spring-loaded cam.
• Insert the adze of a Halligan tool between the two pieces of the top hinge and pry them apart to remove the door from its hinges if through-the-lock methods are not available.

The Fox Lock

• Has a rectangular steel plate shielding the lock cylinder.
• Remove the shield by shearing the bolts with the adze of a Halligan tool.
• Pull the cylinder using a lock puller, and use a square-key tool to turn the shaft.
• The unlocked position is always found by turning toward the lower set of supporting bolts.

Mul-T-Lock Door

• A door, lock, and jamb assembly that is difficult to force.
• Through-the-lock forcible entry is ineffective.
• If engaged, find the key, another way in, or destroy the door with a circular saw to cut a triangular hole and reach in to unlock it.

The Shield Security Door

• Projects multiple steel bars into all sides of the door.
• Consider alternative entry points, such as breaching a wall or window.
• Use metal-cutting saw if these doors are common in the response area.

Hydraulic Forcible Entry

• Uses hydraulic-powered devices for easier forcible entry.
• Increases speed, ensures success against difficult locks, and reduces firefighter fatigue.
• Works best on solid doors set in steel doorjambs that open inward.
• New versions weigh less than 10 lb and can be slung over the shoulder.

Forcing Metal Gates and Roll-Up Doors

• Security gates are becoming more common due to smash-and-snatch thefts.
• Gates may be manual, mechanical, or electrical.
• Force manual and mechanical gates by removing locking devices such as slide bolts or gate keys secured with padlocks.
• Remove padlocks using bolt cutters, a Halligan, or a claw tool.

Padlocks

• Padlocks: Low-security locks have a small bow and aren't case-hardened, while high-security locks have case-hardened steel bows at least ⅜ in. thick.
• High-security padlock's bows can be split open with a duckbill lock breaker or a miner’s pick.
• Alternatively, shatter the lock by twisting it with the forked end of a Halligan.
• Power saws and cutting torches can be used to cut through the bow.
• American Lock 2000: Cut two-thirds of the height of the lock away from the keyway.

Cutting the Gate

• Use an inverted V cut or a three-cut method. The three-cut method is preferrable.
• The inverted V: Start the cut at the highest point. This cut is quick to get someone out from behind the gate or suppress a rapidly spreading fire.
• The three-cut method: Make the first cut as close to the edge of the door as possible and same on the other side. Then, make a third cut in the center.

HUD Sealed Buildings

• A recent wave of home foreclosures has introduced many suburban and even rural firefighters to a problem that their inner-city counterparts have been dealing with for decades: sealed vacant buildings.
• Protect structures from "urban miners" seeking copper pipe and wiring, as well as from vagrants, vandals, and arsonists.
• Difficult forcible-entry and ventilation challenges.
• Buildings have come to be known as “HUD sealed buildings,” and the window coverings as “HUD windows.”
• Simplest window covering has sheets of plywood held in place by 2×4 bracing on the inside, secured to the plywood with ⅜-in. bolts.
• Variations of HUD windows might be found, depending on how serious the vandalism threat is.
• The “reinforced HUD window” secured with 3/8-in. bolts that extend through 2×4-in. braces on the outside, through a second set on the inside.
• The bolts on the "reinforced HUD window" can be cut with a circular saw with a metal-cutting blade or a cutting torch.

VPS system

• Vacant Property Security, LLC, rent their coverings to property owners.
• Window coverings are made of 14-gauge perforated steel, which allows outside light in.
• Installed much as older HUD windows are, either by tension cables attached to an inside brace or by bolts.
• Use of a metal-cutting saw.
• Open the two types of entry door differently: Push the color-coded button. Alternatively use the skeleton key on other doors by cutting all three of its steel hinges and prying the door out from the hinge side.
• The secondary egress doors have three movable handles that can be operated from the inside.
• Rebar cutter and angle grinder tools that can help quickly breach bars.

Conclusion

• Proficiency in forcible entry is a must for all firefighters.
• Knowing a variety of methods gives you something to fall back on when Plan A doesn’t work.
• As security considerations increase due to ever-rising crime statistics, the firefighter’s task of gaining entry will become more difficult.