High-Rise Incident Guidelines

• These guidelines outline how to safely and effectively handle high-rise incidents.
• A high-rise is any building with three or more floors.

Primary Priorities

• Consult pre-fire plans early in the incident.
• Prioritize life safety by searching and rescuing those in immediate danger, starting with the fire area and the floor above.
• Decide on evacuation routes versus sheltering in place, identifying and keeping a designated stairwell clear for evacuation.
• Establish command for incidents involving two or more companies, or those with escalation potential, and the first officer can establish or pass command.
• The first arriving company should verify the fire floor using the alarm panel or visual confirmation.
• Once location is confirmed, give a C.A.N. (Conditions, Actions, Needs) report.
• Conditions might include light or heavy smoke and fire.
• Actions might include evacuation, fire suppression, and search/ventilation.
• Needs relate to additional resources.
• Find and use the appropriate standpipe for water supply.
• Coordinate water supply for buildings with multiple standpipes, potentially supplying multiple standpipes at once.
• Use Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV) in stairwells.
• Open the evacuation stairwell at the top (roof/top floor) and the attack stairwell on the fire floor and top floor, keeping all other doors closed.
• Windows should not be broken without Incident Commander approval.
• Locate HVAC controls.
• Control elevators and stairway access, manage alarm panels, communication, and building systems from ground level for equipment dispatch.
• Assign adequate personnel to lobby control ASAP.
• Maintain Level 2 accountability (minimum) and assign an accountability officer quickly, as ensured by the Safety Officer.

Secondary Priorities

• All responding companies should bring at least one spare air bottle per person to the lobby/resources sector after initial arrival.
• Consider using a cascade unit early.
• Establish a staging area (exterior) > 200' away from the building, unless conditions prevent.
• The interior resource sector should supply manpower/equipment to firefighting, set up two floors under the fire floor, near stairwells/elevators.
• Locate the building manager, gain access to the fire pump (fire control room), alarm panel, communication systems, and Knox Box.
• Additional resources needed: mutual aid, utilities, Red Cross, law enforcement, etc.
• Multiple rehabilitation areas might be needed based on building size/layout.

Equipment

• All companies should bring their high-rise pack and one spare air bottle per person, at a minimum.
• The high-rise pack should contain: 100 ft. of attack hose in a fold load (units may use 1 3/4″ hose or 2" hose), a) Smooth Bore Nozzle with a 1 1/8" tip (2″ hose only), b) Smooth Bore Nozzle with a 15/16" tip (1 3/4" hose only)
• And 50 ft. of 2 1/2" hose in a fold load
• Tool Bag containing: a) 2 1/2" to 1 1/2" Reducer, b) Gated Wye, c) 14" Pipe Wrench, d) 2 - Spanner Wrenches, e) 4 - Door Chocks, f) Orange Flagging Tape, g) Wheeled Gate Valve with 2 1/2" connections (Only with 2” hose), h) Inline Gauge (Optional)

Elevators

• Elevators are NOT recommended for initial ascent.
• If an elevator is used for the initial ascent, strictly adhere to the following:
  • Positive key control of the elevator is established
  • Ensure the hoistway is free of smoke/fire
  • Stop every five floors to recheck hoistway
  • Stop at least two floors below the suspected fire floor