Ladder Bail Out

August 2024

This month’s article focuses on a skill we as firefighters hope we never need to utilize, however, if the situation arises, you’ll be glad you have trained on it. If you find yourself on the second or third floor of a building with rapidly deteriorating conditions, performing a ladder bailout can be a lifesaving maneuver.

This will sound obvious, but to perform this skill having a ladder at the window sill is crucial. A proactive Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) should “soften the building” by placing ladders at windows on various sides of the structure. Additionally, pump operators can assist with deploying ladders once they have completed their initial responsibilities at the pump panel and established a water supply. To be clear, this does not mean the pump operator should abandon their primary duties or freelance on the fireground. However, if there is a ladder on the apparatus, it’s better utilized on the building than left on the truck.

To begin, ideally, the firefighter should isolate themselves in a room behind a closed door. Isolating the room from the fire helps prevent an unintended flow path from forming, as well as, buys the firefighter time. Realistically however, isolating may not always be possible. Therefore, when practicing this skill, emphasize exiting through the window as low as possible. This keeps the firefighter in the coolest area (relative to the rest of the window opening) and allows superheated gasses (and potentially fire) to exhaust through the top of the window.

With the ladder in position and the window open, it is time for the firefighter to exit through the window. A memory aid to remember how to grab the ladder is, “Wrap 2, Grab 4.” This means the firefighter will “wrap” the second rung from the top of the ladder by placing the rung in the elbow of their arm. With their other hand, the firefighter will grab the fourth rung. Grabbing the middle of the rung is ideal, as grabbing to one side can cause the ladder to shift. Additionally, in my experience, some firefighters prefer to grab the third rung instead of the fourth, this is fine as long as they maintain control throughout the maneuver.