FORCING ENTRY..A LOST ART??

In the fire service there are a few basic duties that we in the fire service must be able to perform. The one I want to discuss and provide a few tips on is: FORCIBLE ENTRY.

 

Forcible entry is defined as the act of gaining entry into a building or structure via a door, window, or wall by the use of force. While attempting to cause minimal damage in the process.

Now the fire service is always coming up with some great new idea and technology in regards to forcible entry tools.

 

Let's be honest with each other - Forcible entry is a lost art in the fire service. It is my belief that we all, from the company officer to the probationary firefighter, need to return to the basics of forcible entry.

 

In this service (the fire service) we are very mission oriented. We are given a task and we will do whatever it takes to accomplish this task - in the safest way possible. Throwing your shoulder into a locked door is not the safest way to force entry. Kicking in a locked door is not the safest way to force entry. Just tearing a locked door apart until you finally pull the door of the frame and are unable to control the door is not the safest way. Do all of these ways get the job done? Sure, they do. But they also increase the risk of injury or even death to the firefighter forcing entry this way.

 

Accomplishing forcible entry safely requires using the proper tools and using them with the right technique. The tools I am speaking about are the flat head axe and the halligan, also known as "The Irons". When that hydraulic tool craps out and the gas saw won't start, there is always old faithful - the axe and halligan.

 

As we stated earlier, with all the new inventions in forcible entry tools as well as all the hydraulic tools available today, basic technique of forcing entry with a axe and halligan is almost lost. There are other reasons that members of the fire service are losing the art of forcing entry. There are less fires today then in years past, so obviously there is less forcing entry. Today's structures are more heavily secured then in the past, so forcing entry becomes alittle more intense. BUT in all actuality, these are even more reasons for us to make sure we are proficient at the basics of forcing entry. Basic forcible entry techniques will work even on the most secured structure, in theory.

  

 

So today I am providing a short video below of basic forcible entry techniques using the "Irons" (flat head axe and halligan) our bread and butter tools in the fire service. A big THANK YOU to our brothers in the FDNY for providing this great training aid. 

 

Check out the video and let us know what you think...