Positive Pressure Attack for Ventilation & FirefightingIn the past decades, lightweight building construction methods and the use of manmade materials in construction and furnishings have become more and more common. The time until structural failure can be expected in a fire has been reduced, and firefighters have seen hotter fires that generate high levels of deadly gasses. But the ventilation methods used by modern firefighters have not kept pace. Positive pressure was first used in the fire service to ventilate a structure after the fire was knocked down. Authors Kriss Garcia and Reinhard Kauffmann have taken positive pressure a step further to achieve effective ventilation in coordination with aggressive fire attack, called positive pressure attack (PPA). Properly used PPA allows firefighters great control over the interior environment of a fire building, and starts at the earliest stages of the operation when ventilation can provide the greatest benefit for victims, firefighters, and the structure. With a small investment in equipment and a commitment to training, any fire department can implement PPA at the company level. Subjects covered in this book include: * Basics of positive pressure and how to maximize its effectiveness for fireground ventilation. * PPA: how effective ventilation can be coordinated to support an aggressive fire attack. * Safety considerations and limitations of PPA and positive pressure. * Other ways positive pressure blowers can be used to help victims and firefighters in a variety of situations. * Implementing PPA on a department, and how to train each engine company to become its own firefighting force that can accomplish both ventilation and fire attack. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 3 | |
Chapter 2 Conventional Ventilation Methods | 21 |
Chapter 3 Limitations of Conventional Methods | 31 |
Positive Pressure Attack | 81 |
Chapter 4 Understanding Positive Pressure Ventilation | 83 |
Chapter 5 PPV + Initial Fire Attack PPA Coordinated Attack | 111 |
Beyond the Basics | 139 |
Chapter 9 Positive Pressure Evolutions | 221 |
Chapter 10 A Deeper Understanding | 235 |
Chapter 11 Final Thoughts | 287 |
A Why Positive PressureWorks | 289 |
B Ventilation Evolution | 295 |
C AMCA Standards for Blowers | 297 |
D Acronyms and Abbreviations | 301 |
| 303 | |
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Common terms and phrases
air movement airstream apparatus attack crews attack line backdraft conditions benefit Boyle’s Law burning ceiling City Fire Department clear contaminants Courtesy Kriss Garcia Courtesy Ray Schelble Courtesy SLCFD Courtesy Tempest Technology create crew member decking decreases door effective ventilation ensure entrance opening entry exhaust opening exhaust point exterior fans fire area fire attack fire building fire extension fire involvement fire service firefighters fireground flammable floor gases hazards heat and products heat and smoke high-rise hoselines HVAC hydrant Ideal Gas Law increase inside interior atmosphere interior crews interior environment involved in fire lightweight minutes operation overhaul potential pressure ventilation products of combustion roof systems safety Salt Lake City SCBA search and rescue situations smoke and heat smoke explosion stair shafts structure fire tactic temperature toxic types vent hole ventilation hole ventilation opening ventilation point vertical ventilation victim survival volume walls