老美的一起火灾战评

When fire operations go awry, there is rarely a singular cause. Typically, injuries or accidents result from a confluence of unforeseen causes, complications or “problems lying in wait.” At a recent four-alarm fire in the Bronx, FDNY members faced just such a confluence of complications. However, there were no disastrous consequences and nobody was seriously injured. Thanks to some experienced, quick-thinking Firefighters and company and Chief Officers, the operating forces deftly reacted to an unusual convergence of problems, averting a potential disaster.

灭火救援的失利，往往是多种原因造成的。通常情况下，人员受伤或意外事故的发生是由不可预见的因素、火灾的复杂性（多发性）和潜在的问题等共同作用的后果。

在布朗克斯地区最近发生的一次四级火警中，纽约消防局的消防员们就面临着这样一系列让人措手不及的复杂问题。多亏纽约消防局的消防员、消防分队和指挥官经验丰富、反应迅速，在救援行动中巧妙地处理了一系列不同寻常的问题，才避免产生灾难性的后果和严重的人员伤亡。

At 1313 hours on July/2017, Bronx fire companies transmitted a signal 10-75 for a fire in a New Law Tenement (NLT), located at XXX Avenue in the South Bronx. On arrival, members’ size-up indicated a fire on the third floor of a five-story, 25- by 75-foot, Class 3, occupied multiple dwelling. 

在2017年7月某天的13时13分，第10-75号火灾报警信息被发送到了布朗克斯消防队，位于南布朗克斯XXX大道的新法律公寓(NLT)发生了火灾。当消防队到达现场后，消防员们发现这是一座五层建筑，占地面积约为207.5㎡，属于3类建筑，是有人员居住的多层住宅建筑，着火点在三楼。

The first-alarm units operated according to the FDNY’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for NLTs. After quickly locating the fire in Apartment 3C on the third floor, Engines XX and XX paired up to stretch the first 1¾-inch hose-line, while Ladder XX began a primary search. Moments later, Ladder 31 advanced to the fourth floor to begin a primary search of Apartment 4C. Engine XX—the third-due engine—also began stretching a 1¾-inch hose-line to back up the first hose-line.

首先响应报警到场的消防队按照纽约消防局的标准操作规程(SOP)对新法律公寓展开了行动，很快确定着火的是在三楼的3C公寓，XX水罐消防车分队和YY水罐消防车分队共同铺设了第一条45mm（1.75英寸）水带线路。同时，XX号云梯消防车分队展开初步搜索。随后，31号云梯车的消防员推进到四楼，开始对4C公寓进行初步搜索。第三个到场的ZZ水罐消防车分队，开始铺设作为第一条水带线路备用线路的另一条45mm水带线路。

While the operation initially seemed like an average all-hands fire, Battalion Chief XX, Battalion 3—the initial Incident Commander (IC)—suddenly faced three separate complications that developed almost simultaneously, threatening members’ safety and escalating the fire situation to multiple-alarm proportions. 

救援行动之初，看起来像是在处理一起普通的火灾，但第3大队大队长XX，最初的现场指挥员，突然面临三个不同的问题：火势扩大、威胁消防员安全和火警等级逐渐提升为二级火警。

Approximately nine minutes into the fire operation, Engine XX—whose members were stretching a second hose-line—noticed smoke pushing from the cracks around the doorway of Apartment 1C on the first floor (two floors below the original fire apartment). Next, Ladder XX radioed the IC, calling for a hose-line and notifying the Chief that fire was extending to Apartment 4C on the fourth floor (the floor above the original fire apartment). Finally, Captain MarXXX CXXX—working in Engine XX—radioed the IC to report that they had knocked down the fire in the original fire apartment. But there was a disconnect between what Engine XX had reported and what Battalion 3 was observing—fire still was visible from the exterior, leaping from one window on the third floor in the one/four corner.

在救援行动展开大约9分钟后，XX水罐消防车分队正在铺设第二条水带的消防员们，注意到有烟雾从一楼（比最初起火公寓低两层）1C公寓门口的缝隙向外冒出。接着，31号云梯车分队通过无线电呼叫向现场指挥员（IC）请求增设一条水带线，并报告现场指挥员火势正向4楼（最初起火公寓的上一层）的4C公寓蔓延。最后， XX水罐消防车分队中队长MarXXX CXXX通过无线电向现场指挥员报告，最初起火公寓（三楼3C公寓）的火已被扑灭。但XX水罐消防车分队中队长报告的情况和第三大队观察到的情况不符——仍能从外部看到火焰，并且正从1/4拐角处的一扇窗户向外窜出。

In reaction to Engine XXs report of smoke on the first floor, Battalion 3 ordered Squad XX to force the door to Apartment 1C to determine the source of the smoke condition. Seconds later, Squad XX reported heavy fire in Apartment 1C. This was a highly unusual development—a heavy fire condition had developed below the original fire floor and it was entirely unclear how it got there. What was known conclusively, however, was that several companies now were operating above an uncontrolled fire on the first floor. (FDNY Fire Marshals later determined that the fire had dropped down from the third floor in an unenclosed shaft on the exposure #4 side of the building, entering an open window on the first floor.)

针对ZZ水罐消防车分队报告一楼有烟雾的情况，第三大队指挥员命令XX救援分队破拆1C公寓的门，确定烟雾的来源。几秒钟后，XX救援分队报告1C公寓内火势很大。

这是一种极不寻常的火势发展状态——在最初着火楼层的下面的楼层火势很大，并且完全不清楚它是如何燃烧起来的。然而，能确定的是，现在还有几个分队正在火势失控的一楼以上的楼层开展作业。（纽约消防局的火灾调查人员后来确定，三层的火焰从建筑物4#墙面裸露的未封闭的竖井掉落下来，通过一层敞开的窗户进入室内。）

With a torrent of complex new problems flowing toward the 3rd Battalion—and now the 6th Division, who had arrived on the scene—the Chief Officers in the street were forced to pivot and make some quick decisions. On one hand, Ladder XX had called for a hose-line to control a fire that had auto-exposed through an exposure #4 side shaft window to Apartment 4C (the floor above the original fire apartment). On the other hand, Squad XX had just confirmed heavy fire below the entire operating force in Apartment 1C. “Initially, when we started getting reports of fire on the first floor, it became a cause of great concern,” said Chief Hxx. “Did this whole fire start on the first floor and go unnoticed? That means it already made its way through the second floor and we’re fighting it on the third and fourth [floors]…We were very concerned in front of the fire building regarding where the fire was and if we could get control of it with so many units exposed above.”

一连串复杂的新问题抛给了火灾现场的第三大队（现在是第6分队），街道上的指挥员们必须根据变化的情况快速地做出决定。一方面，31号云梯车分队已经要求铺设一条水带线路出水进攻，控制从建筑物4#墙面外裸露竖井窗户蔓延到4C公寓（最初起火公寓的上一层）的火灾。另一方面，XX救援分队刚刚确认了在所有救援力量下方的1C公寓正在猛烈着火。

 “最初，当我们收到一楼火势情况报告时，引起了我们了极大的关注，”队长Hxx说。 “难道整个火灾是从一楼发生的，我们没有注意到？如果是这样的话，意味着它已经穿过了二楼，蔓延到我们正在灭火的三楼和四楼…在着火建筑面前，我们真正关心的应该是着火点在哪，我们是否能在上层建筑受到火灾威胁的情况下控制住火势。”

After quickly analyzing the “injects,” Chief Hxx ordered Engine XX to re-direct their backup hose-line—originally destined for the fourth floor—to Apartment 1C on the first floor. “You’ve got to extinguish the fire that’s below the members,” said Chief Hxx. “With fire that’s extending above, we can be below it; we’ll get to it.” Chief Hxx also ordered Engine XX—the fourth-due engine—to stretch a third 1¾-inch hose-line to Apartment 4C. He now had three hose-lines in motion—one for each floor. 

在快速分析了“出水内攻”之后，队长Hxx命令XX水罐消防车分队重新部署他们的备份铺设他们的备用水带线路，这条水带线路原计划是铺设到四楼，现在转向一楼的1C公寓。

“你们必须灭掉消防员正在作业楼层下方的火，”队长Hxx命令道。“即使火正在向上蔓延，我们也要把它控制在下面，我们能做到。”队长Hxx还命令XX水罐消防车（第四到场的水罐消防车）分队，铺设第3条45mm水带线路延伸到4C公寓。

目前，已经有三条水带线路正在出水灭火，每层一条水带线路。

With the sudden need for resources, Deputy Chief Jxx Dxx—the 6th Division Commander—quickly transmitted a second alarm, recognizing that two additional floors of fire in a NLT would necessitate additional engine companies to stretch hose-lines and truck companies for searches and overhaul. A third alarm was transmitted soon thereafter.

由于突然需要增加救援力量，副队长Jxx Dxx——第六分队指挥员，很快就发出了二级火灾警报（a second alarm）将火警等级提升为二级，当意识到在新法律公寓（NLT）中的另外两个着火楼层（分析应该是二层和五层）也需要增加水罐消防车分队出水和云梯消防车分队进行搜索，很快，发出了三级火灾警报将火警等级提升为三级（third alarm）。

With the Chief Officers outside in the street adjusting their hose-line strategy and calling for additional resources, the members and Officers inside the fire building also needed to alter their tactics to account for the dangerous developments. Uncontrolled fire now was burning on the first, third and fourth floors, placing numerous Firefighters in a precarious position above the fire. “I received the transmission that there was heavy fire on the first floor,” said Captain Currid. “It was surprising because I had no reason to believe that it would be there…I also had received a transmission that there was fire that exposed to the fourth floor as well, so we were sandwiched between floors of fire at that time,” he noted.

着火建筑外街道上指挥员们忙着调整水带线路并请求增援时，着火建筑内部的消防员和指挥员也需要改变他们的战术以应对危险的事态发展。

不受控的火正在第一、第三和第四层燃烧，将大量消防员置于火焰上方的危险环境中。“我收到了一楼火势很大的信息，”分队长Currid说:“这让我很吃惊，因为我不相信火会出现在那里…我还收到了火已经蔓延到四楼的信息，所以我们当时被夹在了上下着火楼层的中间。”他解释道。

The solution for the companies operating above the first floor was to seek out a safe area of refuge that ultimately would provide a ready means of egress from the fire building. “I knew that the three side most probably would be clear…based on all the information I’d gathered at the time,” explained Captain Cxx. “Ladder XX’s Officer then verbally confirmed to me that he had an area of safe refuge of a door, of an apartment that he exposed toward…the three side…We had an area of safe refuge ready to go while we were waiting for the other line to be put in place for the fire that was below us.” 

对于在一楼上方作业的消防分队，要想摆脱困境，需要找到一个安全的避难避险区域，最终可以成为他们从着火建筑撤离的出口。

 “根据我当时收集的所有信息，我知道当前的三个疏散途径会使我们很安全”分队长Cxx解释道：“XX云梯车分队的队长口头向我确认，他在接近于他所面对的火灾旁的一个公寓发现了一个安全的疏散门…三个疏散途径…当我们等待用于扑救楼下火灾的水带线正在铺设时，我们找到了一个可以随时进入的避难区避险区域。”

While members on the inside secured a safe area of refuge, Firefighters on the outside of the building also took steps to mitigate risk to the members working on the third floor. Firefighters placed multiple portable ladders to windows on the third floor, ensuring that Engine XX and Ladder XX members would have a ready means of egress in the event that conditions became untenable. The members on the third floor now had a fire escape and portable ladders on the exposure #1 side and a safe area of refuge on the exposure #3 side.

当着火建筑内的消防员找到安全避难险区域的时候，着火建筑外的消防员也采取措施，试图降低在三楼作业的消防员的风险。

他们在三楼窗户处架设了多部梯子，以确保XX水罐消防车分队和31号云梯车分队的消防员能在内部环境恶化的情况下，及时从火场撤离。这时，三楼的消防员拥有了逃生通道，分别是位于#1墙面的拉梯和#3墙面的安全避难险区域。

Back in Apartment 3C (the original fire apartment), one room of fire continued to burn, undetected by the first-due engine and truck. After knocking down a living room and two bedrooms of fire, Engine xx still was having difficulty locating the fire that a throng of members and cell phone-wielding onlookers on HXX Avenue plainly could see emanating from a window in the one/four corner. 

回到3C公寓 (最初的着火公寓)，一个房间的火仍然在燃烧，第一到场的水罐消防车分队和云梯消防车分队均未发现。在客厅和两个卧室的火被扑灭之后，XX水罐消防车分队还是很难找到仍然在燃烧的房间，而在HXX大道上的一群消防员和挥舞着手机的围观群众都能清楚地看到火焰正从1/4拐角的窗户往外窜。

Unbeknown to the members of Engine XX, a likely alteration had created a small bedroom—akin to a “dead man’s room” in a brownstone（感觉是一个典故或引用）—that was wedged between two larger bedrooms in the one/four corner. To locate the elusive room, Captain Cxx was able to clearly communicate on his handie-talkie with Chief Hxx, who was acting as a spotter in the street. Using clear, concise language, Chief Hxx described the location of the fire that he was looking at, allowing Engine XX to locate the final room of fire. Once Engine XX found the third bedroom, members quickly knocked down the fire before running out of air and requesting relief. Had this bedroom continued to burn, it surely would have exacerbated the fire condition on the floor above, further endangering Ladder XX’s position above the original fire apartment.

水罐消防车分队的消防员所不知道的是，在1/4拐角两个大的卧室之间，因为一个可能的变化而创造出了一个像是豪宅里的密室一样的小卧室。为了找到这个小房间，分队长Cxx用对讲机与在街上作为观察员的队长Hxx进行了明确地沟通。队长用简洁清晰的语言描述了他所观察到的火源位置，并要求水罐消防车分队找到火灾的最后一个房间。

当水罐消防车分队发现第三个卧室后，在火焰耗尽空气并可能释放压力之前扑灭了火。假如这间卧室继续燃烧，三楼以上的火场环境肯定会恶化，进一步威胁到在起火公寓上方作业的云梯消防车分队。

•It is critical to be aware of our cognitive biases—in this situation, the “normalcy bias,” which is the psychological state causing people to believe that things always will function the way they normally function. Captain Cxx made this point in his post-fire analysis, saying, “It would be important not to fall to a normalcy bias of the fact that we always think of fire extending up. In this case, the origin of the fire was on the third floor and it extended down, quickly and heavily.”

在这种情况下，能意识到我们的认知有偏差是很重要的，“正常化偏见（normalcy bias）惯性思维”是一种心理状态，指的是人们往往会以过去累积的经验，来了解眼前正在发生的事，以至即使碰上前所未见的灾难，初时仍会相信一切都会正常进行。

分队长Cxx在灾后分析中提到了这一点，他说：“不要陷入惯性思维是很重要的，事实上，我们总是认为火会向上蔓延。但在这次火灾中，起火点在三楼，但它却迅速而猛烈地向下蔓延。”

•Firefighting strategy always must be flexible. While operations at Bronx Box 4x-xxxx began according to FDNY SOPs, the Incident Commander was forced to veer in a new direction in reaction to a highly improbable development—downward fire extension. To mitigate this threat to members’ safety, the IC took the highly unusual step of placing the second hose-line below the original fire floor. “You’ve got to redirect your resources where they’re needed most,” said Chief Hxx. “In this case, we needed to redirect units below what we thought was the initial fire for the safety of everybody who was above.”

灭火战术必须灵活，在布朗克斯区这次救援行动，开始是按照纽约消防局的标准操作规程进行操作，但为了应对“火势向下蔓延”这一极不可能发生的发展态势，现场指挥员不得不做出重新部署力量。

为了降低对现场消防员的安全威胁，现场指挥员采取了不同寻常的措施——将第二条水带线路部署到起火公寓所在楼层的下面。“你必须将你的救援力量重新部署到最需要的地方，”队长Hxx说。“为了楼上作业的每名消防员的安全，在这种情况下，我们就需要将力量重新部署到我们认为的起火点下方。”

•Members must take concrete tactical steps to mitigate risk. At xxx Hxx Avenue, members inside the building sought a safe area of refuge when confronted with a heavy fire below the original fire floor. Firefighters outside the building also placed multiple ground ladders to windows within reach in order to provide an additional means of egress.

消防员必须采取有效的战术措施以降低风险。在xxx Hxx街道，着火建筑内部的消防员当面临起火楼层下方楼层的大火威胁时，他们找到了安全的避难避险区域。

建筑外部的消防员也在建筑内消防员可到达的窗口处架设了多部拉梯，为建筑物内消防员提供了额外的逃生通道。