202.60 Bomb Squad Response.pdf

202.60 Bomb Squad Response Page 1 of 8 Standard Operating Procedure for Bomb Squad response No: Reviewed date: Effective date: Supersedes: I. FR202.60 7/20 7/20/20 8/27/04 Type: Fire Suppression– 200 series Department: Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Signature: Expires: 7/20/25 INTRODUCTION A. Purpose: To d...

202.60 Bomb Squad Response Page 1 of 8 Standard Operating Procedure for Bomb Squad response No: Reviewed date: Effective date: Supersedes: I. FR202.60 7/20 7/20/20 8/27/04 Type: Fire Suppression– 200 series Department: Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Signature: Expires: 7/20/25 INTRODUCTION A. Purpose: To define the mission of fire suppression units at hazardous device incidents and to provide procedures for the accomplishment of that mission. B. Scope: This policy applies to all Operations Division personnel at all times while responding to hazardous device incidents. C. Author: The Deputy Chief – Fire Marshal, through the Chief of Fire Investigations – Bomb Squad, shall be responsible for the content, revision, and review of this instruction. D. Definitions: 1. Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ): Normally a law enforcement or public safety agency whose jurisdiction is to respond, investigate and enforce explosive related crimes. 2. Suspect or suspicious package: Any package, object, or item, (including a vehicle that is the subject of a bomb threat), found under suspicious or unusual circumstances and that has been determined by the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) to have the possibility of being a hazardous and/or explosive device. 3. Confirmed Device: Any package or object determined by the Bomb Squad to be a hazardous device or having the strong potential of being a hazardous device. 4. VBIED: Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device. 5. Suicide Mission – Two (2) types: a) Any person(s) willing to sacrifice their life by deploying the use of explosive devices on and about their physical body usually in a hidden or obscure way. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response b) 6. 7. 8. Page 2 of 8 Any person(s) willing to sacrifice their life by driving/deploying medium or large borne explosive devices from a vehicle (e.g., driving a VBIED or walking a suitcase with explosives into a crowd of people, etc.). Evacuation Perimeter: The Evacuation Perimeter shall be established and maintained by the AHJ. The area within the evacuation perimeter will be cleared of all persons. a) A minimum 300’ radius around the suspicious object, with persons behind cover, is recommended. If the location is such that a larger area can be established, evacuees should be moved to at least one thousand feet (1000 ft). b) At least two floors above and below the suspicious item should be evacuated in a high-rise building. Control Point: The Control Point is a forward location, selected and controlled by the Bomb Squad, deemed by them to be suitable as a base for hazardous device operations. a) Only Bomb Squad personnel or those requested by the Bomb Squad, with proper personal protective equipment (PPE), shall be permitted at this location. b) The area between the control point and the suspicious item is the Bomb Squad Operational Perimeter. Post-Blast Incident: The scene of a hazardous device that has exploded. II. RESPONSIBILITIES A. III. All Operations Division personnel are responsible for being familiar with and operating in accordance with this policy. POLICY A. Hazardous device incidents and post-blast incidents that do not result in casualties, fire, or other structural hazards, are potential crime scenes and, as such, are incidents over which law enforcement has primary jurisdiction. 1. The Fire Department does not normally implement incident command (IC) at these incidents and fire department activities are normally of a standby nature. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response 2. B. The AHJ implements incident command and provides resources to accomplish an assessment of the situation, evacuation, perimeter control, and investigation. Post-blast incidents that do result in casualties, fire, or other structural hazards are also crime scenes, but with overriding life-safety issues that require the Fire Department to implement incident command and to accomplish rescue, fire suppression, and mitigation of hazardous conditions. 1. IV. Page 3 of 8 These can be large and complex incidents involving the competing interests of life-safety versus evidence collection, which require the establishment of a unified command. C. When the Bomb Squad is operating at the scene of a suspect item, one engine company and one advanced life support, transport-capable rescue ambulance will be staged on the perimeter to provide for the immediate rescue of Bomb Squad personnel in the event of an emergency. D. In an explosion, the blast effect (pressure) is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance from the blast. This means that doubling the distance from the blast decreases the blast pressure by a factor of eight. For this reason, distance from the blast will be considered the most effective personnel safety consideration for fire companies and will be factored into all tactical decisions. PROCEDURES A. Suspect Items 1. Units will respond Code 1 (without emergency lights or sirens) unless otherwise directed by the Bomb Squad or Combined Communications Center. 2. Upon arrival, the Company Officer should contact the Incident Commander (normally the ranking police officer present) and advise him/her of the units’ mission (rescue of injured bomb technician) and capabilities (fire suppression and advanced life support). a) Company Officers should assert that they are not there to deal with the suspect item, and that the Bomb Squad is enroute. b) Company Officers must not allow themselves to be “led to” or “shown” the suspect item. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response 3. After reporting to the Incident Commander, companies should standby on the safety perimeter. a) 4. Page 4 of 8 If a perimeter is not yet established, companies should select a staging area at least 300 feet from the suspect item, which provides cover to personnel and a rapid approach to the scene if necessary. Identify a water supply and make necessary preparations to affect the immediate rescue, treatment, and transport of an injured bomb technician in the event of an emergency. a) Do not be distracted from this primary mission. b) The primary mission is to put a line between the seat of any explosion and the injured bomb technician so Rescue personnel can rapidly extricate the bomb technician from the scene and begin advanced life support. c) The secondary mission is fire control and property conservation. Fire personnel shall wear all appropriate PPE to accomplish this mission (i.e., turnouts and self contained breathing apparatus). 5. Company Officers will not position apparatus in the vicinity of the suspect item. 6. Suppression personnel will not assess, investigate, or otherwise approach the suspect item. 7. Suppression personnel will not broadcast any information about the suspect item over the radio. 8. Explosive devices can be initiated in any number of ways including command, or remote control. a) Additionally, bombers have been known to monitor public safety radio frequencies through the use of scanners; therefore, Suppression personnel will not broadcast over the radio any actions being taken by the Bomb Squad, including that the bomb technician is approaching the suspect item. Bomb technicians do not have a need, nor is there a protocol to transmit “benchmarks” or incident priorities over the radio. b) Company Officers should be aware that one bomb technician in the forward location will have a radio for emergency traffic, 202.60 Bomb Squad Response Page 5 of 8 and will communicate with fire personnel should the rescue of an injured bomb technician be required. 9. 10. B. The engine and rescue assigned to rescue an injured bomb technician will not be diverted to other duties, i.e. evacuation, nor will their apparatus be used as roadblocks. a) If the Incident Commander requests fire personnel to assist in a large-scale evacuation, or requires fire apparatus to block roads, additional companies will have to be dispatched. b) This situation is above and beyond the normal suspect item assignment, and must be approved by the Battalion Chief in whose area the incident is located. c) When the incident escalates to this point, the Battalion Chief should consider responding and establishing a unified command. d) Additionally, fire personnel will not leave the scene due to shift change or other non-emergency incidents until relieved by the Bomb Squad and conclusion of the incident. Upon arrival, the Bomb Squad will establish and operate from a forward location, called the control point. a) Only Bomb Squad members or those requested specifically by the Bomb Squad, with proper PPE, will occupy the control point. b) This is a closed perimeter for working bomb technicians employing tactical operations. c) Fire and police personnel shall not approach the control point to “look”, “ask questions” or to “see what the bomb technicians are doing”. d) Fire personnel shall stay with their apparatus in the safety perimeter unless needed for rescue operations or until cleared from the scene by the Bomb Squad. Post Blast Incidents 1. A full structure assignment will be dispatched to reported bomb detonations. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response a) 2. 5. Fire personnel should be on the alert that both primary and secondary explosive devices may contain biological, chemical or radiological material and should use all appropriate PPE including self-contained breathing apparatus. Be alert for falling debris, broken gas and water lines, and downed electrical wires. a) 4. A Fire Department Incident Command or a unified command will be established. Personnel will use all available means of personal protection. a) 3. Page 6 of 8 Consider not only the positive blast wave, but also the negative phase of an explosion from a secondary device which could “pull” glass and building material down upon your location (e.g., Do not stage apparatus and/or personnel or establish an Incident Command site underneath a high-rise building or a building with glass panes). Anticipate a secondary device specifically targeting emergency responders. a) For this reason, when establishing an Incident Command site, visually sweep the area and choose a location that provides cover. Then, try to establish a command site that does not contain multiple objects like vehicles, dumpsters or other closed containers that may contain a secondary explosive device. b) The Bomb Squad will sweep for secondary devices upon their arrival; however, before they arrive, suppression personnel can reduce their risk of injury from secondary devices by avoiding locations containing the aforementioned objects. c) Fire personnel may have to push the perimeter outward before finding a location that is free of objects. d) If life safety and fire control are not an immediate issue, consider assigning fire units as a recon group to find a suitable location to establish what will probably be a long-term Incident Command site. Establishing an Incident Command site following a large post blast bombing will be different than historical emergency encounters for fire service personnel. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response Page 7 of 8 a) One of the first priorities will be to find an Incident Command location that is secure. b) Command officers should look to begin a Unified command with law enforcement as soon as possible to coordinate not only resources, but force protection measures in case firefighters and other emergency service personnel become targets during arrival or tactical operations. c) Staging areas are a high target area for terrorists. Staging areas contain equipment and trained emergency personnel. Therefore, put a high value of security in this place. d) Do not allow bystanders to wander through staging or IC locations. Use law enforcement to provide a wall of security over resources and demand identification. 6. Radios should not be transmitted within 300 feet of the blast area. This can cause a secondary device to detonate. 7. The usual method of rendering medical aid by treating patients at the scene may have to be modified under these conditions, and at the direction of the Incident Commander. a) 8. A preferred method of rendering aid to victims without exposing rescuers to unnecessary danger may be to rapidly extricate patients from the incident area to a remote location, as would be done at a traffic accident with vehicles on fire. A staging area, an area for triage and initial treatment, and a helicopter-landing zone should be located remotely from the site, away from high-rise buildings containing large amounts of glass, and out of the line of sight to the scene. a) A minimum of 1200 feet is recommended. Remember, putting distance between people and the device, as rapidly as possible, will be the best method of personal protection. 9. Activate mass-casualty incident protocols if indicated. 10. If explosives are involved in a fire, do not fight the fire. Isolate the area and protect exposures if possible. 11. Experience has shown that most explosive bombings have not resulted in significant structure fires. 202.60 Bomb Squad Response Page 8 of 8 a) Most fires will probably be from vehicles in the involved area. b) A secondary device could also be located in a vehicle in the involved area. c) Consideration should be given to “hit and run” firefighting tactics, or to allowing vehicles to burn while protecting exposures if possible. 12. Fog streams are preferable to straight streams, if conditions permit, lessening the impact on the scene. 13. Once the scene has been swept by bomb technicians for secondary devices and unconsumed explosives, firefighting runoff water needs to be controlled, routed, and contained, so that small items of evidence are not washed away. a) Consider using Public Works as a resource for this assignment. 14. Overhauling should not be attempted until the scene has been swept by bomb technicians for secondary devices and unconsumed explosives. 15. Overhauling should be coordinated with the law enforcement AHJ for evidentiary reasons. 16. Routine operations inside the perimeter, those not necessary to rescue victims and stabilize the scene, shall be delayed for one (1) hour after the detonation of an explosive device, as a precaution against a secondary device targeting emergency responders.