By Chad Foster
While preparing for Tulsa (OK) Fire Department's fall company drill on below-grade fires, I became aware that most of our tactics for firefighter rescue rely on more people than will be available. Our minimum staffing of three leaves the driver with pumping and supply duties while the company officer and firefighter advance attack lines to extinguish the fire.
In the past, we taught the Nance drill or to bring a ladder to retrieve firefighters from below grade. In the Nance drill, the victim stands in a loop of hose and holds both sides of the loop while firefighters work in unison to pull both sides of the loop from above. The Nance drill usually takes four rescuers and is somewhat labor intensive. The use of ladders for rescue from below grade through a hole in the floor or basement window has its place in the fire service, but it can be time consuming depending on your location in the building (14-foot ladders don't easily maneuver through residential structures).
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