Forcible Entry from FF Norman

Thank you FF Norman (Station 17) for this forcible entry write-up.

Engine __ was first on scene and had a fire in the garage. It was the leasing office, which looked like a house approximately 1200sqft, with an attached two car garage. Engine __ pulled a rackline and started attacking the fire in the garage. Quint __ was first-in truck and saw they had active fire, and the garage had just closed on Engine __. Luckily the crew was still outside when the door closed. We grabbed the saw (diamond blade) and hand tools. The garage was on the Alpha side. We saw an additional door (metal clad residential) that was on the Alpha side about 8 feet from the garage door. This door looked to have access into the garage as well. By the time we got to the door Engine __ had the garage door back open. My officer walked into the front door and saw that conditions were fine, and the fire had not made its way into the living area of the structure. Quint __ was ordered to force entry into the metal clad door (second entrance) into garage on the Alpha side.

I sounded the door and it looked as if it was catching about 1/4 down. We tried using hand tools to attack the deadbolt the traditional way. The door flexed past the frame, but didn't open. We tried attacking again 1/4 down between the handle and the top of the door, again it flexed, but didn't open. At this time I grabbed the saw and began to make several cuts (seen in picture) to the exterior of the door. I initially tried to "doggy door" it, but it still wouldn't budge. I eventually made an inspection hole and found that there were shelves that had been placed against the door. The structure was inaccessible from that door. We decided our efforts were not going to gain us access, and we re-directed our strategy.

Lesson learned: I was able to apply a tactic learned from roof operations and use it to find out what we had behind a door. When you can't figure out why you're not getting in, try cutting a quick inspection hole to see what is keeping you from gaining access.

These pictures show the exterior and also the conditions we had on the inside on the garage.

Steve Norman

In addition to this, Q__ ran into another challenging door about a week earlier. It was a commercial door with drop bar, but there were no visible signs from the outsdie. They worked through their process and defeated the door.

The pictures below show the doggy door and the triangle cut.  These are not initial tactics but are used when the traditional methods fail.  These pictures are from a class by Lt Mike Ciampo (FDNY) presented by Travis County ESD 11.