It’s 3 a.m. The bars in midtown and downtown are pushing patrons into the streets so that their own employees can go home to their family and maybe catch a few hours of sleep before starting over the next day.
In a 45-story high-tech high-rise office building in the heart of downtown, a lonely cleaning crew is trying to get all the offices cleaned up. They are scattered all over the building on multiple floors. The only security guard is playing solitaire on his phone and listening to music on his headphones.
A fire crew based downtown retreats to quarters for some sleep following a vehicle crash call. They are closing their eyes and hoping that everyone on the streets gets home safe and without incident.
Unfortunately, that’s simply not going to happen tonight though. A member of the cleaning crew at the high-rise office building has called in a report of a smell of smoke on the 45th floor. She follows up that she can now see a lot of smoke but cannot figure out where it’s coming from. She heads down to the lobby and notifies the security officer who has no real plan of action for such an event.
Suddenly, the building alarm system activates, sending the security guard into a panic. The cleaning crewmember advises the security guard that other members of their crew are still unaccounted for, but he is too panicked to comprehend the importance of this information.
The first-in fire company arrives on location. They have eight other companies about to be breathing down their neck for information and a plan. They are met in the lobby by the security guard and ask him the location of the fire control center. The guard escorts the crew to the FCC and unlocks the door only to reveal the alarm panel, some brooms, dirty mops and random clutter.
The crew, frustrated at this point, reviews the alarm panel. The security guard is of little help, so the captain makes the hasty decision to proceed per guidelines. He is shooting from the hip at this point in terms of building knowledge. He must make decisions based on his experience and what little information the alarm panel provided. He grabs the only set of elevator keys hanging on a bent nail next to the panel and heads to the elevators. The keys and a single electronic key fob are unmarked. The officer recalls the elevator and places it in fire service mode. He pushes the button for the 43rd floor. As per guidelines, they are to exit the elevator two floors below the reported fire floor. The elevator doors close, but the car doesn’t move. The officer realizes that the elevator requires an electric key fob to operate.
The crew has to find the security guard again and request the use of his key fob.
The company officer and his two firefighters are now traveling to the 43rd floor. The company officer then realizes his backup companies will not have a key fob to access the elevators. Those crews will be delayed in arriving to the 43rd floor. The officer decides to continue on. Maybe it won’t be too much, he thinks; after all, all high-rise buildings are sprinklered per code now.
The elevator doors open on 43 and the crew is met by a light smoke condition. They report that the 43rd and 44th floor will not be good for a resource division and recommend that the 42nd floor be utilized for staged crews and equipment.
At this point, the chief arrives on scene and wants answers. The company officer is briefed, and the chief can hear the frustration in the officer’s voice as he explains the lack of required and expected materials typically located inside the FCC. The chief responds with an acknowledgement, and the company officer can now hear the frustration in the chief’s voice as he begins assigning additional companies to their duties.
The crew enters the stairwell and walks to the 45th floor. On the landing, the officer can see smoke pushing through the bottom of the door. He orders his crew to mask up before forcing the door. They try to open the door. It is locked. They try the key fob. It does not work. The crew, knowing there is something actively burning, enjoy the opportunity to wreck a door and so they all but rip the door off the hinges. The company officer peeks in and sees that the smoke on the 45th floor is much heavier than he expected and reports it to command.
As they enter the 45th floor, the officer notices a heavy smoke condition but a complete lack of heat. He sees no heat signature on his TIC. He initially thinks this is going to be a difficult situation and fears they may run out of air before even finding the fire. He orders his crew to start forcing open every office door in search of the fire.
After completing this task on 20 doors, the chief officer calls the company officer and advises them that the fire is on the roof.
The crew, now met by other later-arriving companies that were delayed for lack of elevator key fobs, enter the stairwell to continue to the roof, only to quickly realize that the stairwell does not go to the roof. As a team they must now return to the 44th floor, as it was not filled with as much smoke, and cross the building floor to access the other stairwell, then proceed to the roof as a team and force another door to exit the stairwell to the roof. The crews hook up to the standpipe on the 45th floor and make quick work of the rooftop fire.
The chief reports to the company officer that a member of the cleaning crew is still unaccounted for. The chief reassigns the officer to the 45th floor for a primary search. The officer is to take on a division officer role as the chief is assigning multiple companies to assist in the search.
The newly assigned division officer assigns his crew to take the hallway to the left and begin searching. He can hear the strike of the axe on the Halligan, as they have to forcibly open every door before beginning the search of each office. Additional companies arrive and the officer sends those crews in the opposite hallway. As he watches them disappear into the smoke, the initial company reports back with a frantic and broken radio transmission: “Engine1 to Division 45. We found a victim in the bathroom. We are headed back to the stairwell with an unresponsive victim.”
The division officer relays this to the chief. The chief and division officer can hear the frustration in each other’s voices. They both know a lot of time was wasted because the FCC and building management plans were lacking several things.
As many of you reading this might expect, this scenario has been over-simplified because, while every bit of it is something we deal with on a daily basis, so many actions occur on incidents like this, making for a frustrating and dangerous scene. The main issue: A proper FCC would have five sets of building keys, including elevator and machine rooms, electric key fobs, building floor plans and information. Of course, while this would have denied the truck crew the opportunity to destroy every door they encountered, think of the time that would have been saved, not to mention the damage that could have been avoided.
Inside the fire control center
The FCC is a room designated for the sole use of supplying firefighters with information and some basic equipment needed to control, navigate and communicate when responding to a high-rise or mid-rise building.
As a general rule of thumb, the bigger the FCC, the better. Clutter-free is also a huge plus for the division officer. They may be alone or have several firefighters assigned to them to run as messengers, operate elevators, or simply guide incoming companies to the FCC to retrieve needed equipment and information.
Inside the FCC, company officers should expect to see several things, namely the alarm panel and depository box. The alarm panel is so much more than a noise-making device for an officer or firefighter that understands and knows how to read one. Inside the depository box, firefighters should expect to find building keys, elevator keys, key fobs, fire phones, contact numbers, a PA system, floor plans and a high-rise or mid-rise survey.
In some high-rise buildings, the security office is also located inside the FCC. Sometimes the security camera monitors are located inside the FCC. This is a good way to get an early indication of how bad the situation is on the fire floor or if it is going to be an investigative-type incident.
Let’s break down the primary items expected to be found in the FCC.
- Alarm panel: The FCC provides a safe, secure, quiet and isolated location for the division officer to read, study and understand the alarm panel. There are alarm panels that can tell firefighters where and when the alarm occurred. It can track and report successive alarms. This tells a division officer whether the fire is spreading.
- PA system: The PA system allows the division officer to communicate with occupants that may be in the building. They can share messages such as whether to remain in place, which floors need to evacuate and which stairwell to use for exiting the building. This helps control the flow of occupants and keeps stairwells clear for fire crews. A firefighter may be assigned to operate the PA system so that the division officer can continue to monitor the alarm panel and disperse information to the chief or incoming companies.
- Floor plans and building surveys: Floor plans and building surveys contain a variety of vital information, safely secured inside the depository box for easy access by fire crews. These plans and surveys can answer important questions in the absence of security staff or other building personnel. For instance, they can show the location of fire pumps, FDCs, standpipes and sprinkler zones; provide a list of disabled occupants who will require assistance; and show where battery backup systems are located and how to handle them.
- Keys: The depository box should have a key for every door in the building, including building access keys, master keys, elevator keys and electric key fobs. There should be a minimum of five sets of each key required for access into any part of the building. These keys are provided to incoming crews with specific assignments. Not every crew will get keys, but groups with assignments that will require such keys should be able to have their own set.
- Fire phones: The fire phones are used as an alternate source of communication. It can be plugged into an elevator lobby and used to communicate with either the officer assigned to lobby division or command if it is set up in the lobby. These phones can be used if radio traffic becomes overwhelmed or if radio communication has failed.
Final thoughts
The FCC and depository box are critical to help set up a fluid operation by providing easy access to building information and keys. It will also help limit any additional amount of unnecessary damage caused by fire crews having to use forcible entry techniques.
And while the FCC is traditionally associated with high-rise buildings, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn’t be that way! Mid-rise buildings are often just as difficult to enter and navigate after business hours. Having the same FCC requirements of a high-rise building would go a long way toward alleviating any access and informational issues associated with these buildings.
Here’s why: In one mid-rise residential fire incident, because there was no FCC or depository box, a single crew had to force over 40 doors on the building wing to which they were assigned. There were two wings to this particular building, so you do the math and then imagine if it was four wings.
No first-in company officer with any experience would go to the fire floor without visiting the FCC first to see what the depository box has to offer. The FCC and depository box are there because someone with a lot of experience, possibly a bad experience, learned that it was a good idea. I have seen first-hand the difference in operations when information was not made available quickly.
Departments and organizations should insist on the addition of FCC in all new construction and retrofitting any older high-rise or mid-rise buildings. High-rise and mid-rise building planners, inspectors and management should all insist that it be included in the construction phase, not just as an afterthought. After all, it’s financially beneficial to the building owners in the event of a fire. But more importantly, it saves time for fire crews. A fire doubles in size every minute. Time saved is lives saved.
