Susquehanna Fire Company #1

Fire Company #1 < Wherever>, Pennsylvania

Roadway Operations

Purpose The purpose of this guideline is to increase safety of firefighters, the public, and other responders at emergency incident scenes.

Policy It is the policy of that operations are done so that contact with moving traffic is minimized. Traffic poses a risk to anyone present at an incident, including responders, the public, other motorists, and persons involved in the original incident. To this end, it is imperative that all members of this organization conduct operations within a framework designed to minimize the inherent risks. This organization adopts the MUTCD and PennDOT Publication 213 “Temporary Traffic Control Guidelines” as guidelines to be followed.

Definitions:

Fire Police: those members nominated by this organization confirmed by the municipality who have been properly sworn in and who function to provide traffic and crowd control in accordance with 35 CS 1201 et seq.

Flagger: person actually directing traffic, regardless whether they are Fire Police officers, firefighters, police officers, EMS personnel, or other authorized person under 67 CS 101.

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD): the Federal guideline governing traffic control. Part VI specifically applies to emergency situations.

Official Hat: for Fire Police, this includes a firefighter helmet, a construction-style hard hat, an eight-point or campaign style police hat, a police style fur cap, or other headgear approved by the Fire Police Captain. Baseball style caps are prohibited.

Responders: includes members of this organization, EMS personnel, police officers, HazMat team members, tow truck personnel, and any other group who have responded to provide a service or aid to the incident.

Shadow Vehicle: a vehicle, preferably a large truck, designed to provide protection to responders by its placement, to be struck by an errant vehicle before an errant vehicle can strike responders.

Traffic Control Point (TCP): the place where traffic for an incident is controlled. Depending on the circumstance, this point may not be in the immediate vicinity of the actual incident.

1 Protective Gear. For a member of this organization to interact with traffic, they must wear, at minimum, the following:

Firefighters shall wear a turn-out coat and a firefighter helmet.

Fire Police shall wear an official hat and the Fire Police badge of authority. Additionally, they shall wear reflective attire consisting of ANSI level II or greater vests, jackets, coveralls or raingear. If the attire is not organization issue, then it must be pre-approved by the Fire Police Captain.

Scene Markings

Advance Warning Advance warning is designed to capture the full attention of motorists to warn them that a hazardous or unusual situation is about to be encountered. This can be done by three methods, individually or in combination, and includes placement of flares, signs, and use of emergency lights. Some method of advance warning shall always be placed whenever traffic flow is affected.

Regardless of the method used, advance warning must be placed to be seen a minimum of ten times the speed limit away from a traffic control point or incident scene. This distance will to provide sufficient time for the motorist to be able to act in a controlled manner. This distance increases due to hill crests, curves, and other obstructions to vision. If on a freeway, the distance is ½ mile minimums in place of the “ten times the speed limit” rule.

Signs indicating “Emergency Ahead”, flagger ahead or other warning specific to the incident should be placed if available and if the duration of the incident is expected to be greater than one hour. Signs are to be placed at least two feet off the right edge of the roadway, at least one foot higher than the roadway level, and may not constitute a vision obstruction for motorists.

Flares have unparalleled recognition that an emergency exists and should be used whenever their usage would not constitute a danger of igniting flammables or otherwise being hazardous. Flares are never to be placed on the center of the roadway; rather, their usage shall be limited to the right edge of the roadway as a warning, not to guide traffic. When used on freeways, flares should be placed on both the right edge and left edge of the roadway.

Emergency lighting available at incidents typically includes red lights or blue lights. These lights not only warn motorists of an emergency situation, but also help to show the authority of the responder. Also, lights can delineate placement of the vehicle and can help the motorist to identify the position of the flagger. Lights must be minimized so as to avoid distracting motorists.

2 Scene The scene, if on a roadway or otherwise bordered by traffic, shall be delineated. This is to prevent traffic from flowing onto the incident scene, and to aid in keeping responders from inadvertent interaction with traffic. Delineation should be done with traffic cones; however, if unavailable, may be marked by flares if safe. The use of “Caution” or similar plastic tape may also be considered depending on the situation.

Cones shall be used when needed to provide a path for motorists. Refer to the MUTCD and Publication 213 for general layouts and positioning.

Emergency lights on apparatus, if not used to provide advance warning, shall be deactivated or minimized so as to reduce distractions to motorists. At no time after dark shall flashing headlights or other white or clear flashing lights be displayed on a parked vehicle. Traffic Signal Preemption Devices shall always be deactivated when any response vehicle is parked.

During the hours of darkness, floodlights shall illuminate the scene. The lighting used shall be positioned in such a direction as not to blind motorists. Traffic control points not part of the immediate scene should also be illuminated whenever equipment resources permit. Vehicle headlamps may be used for this purpose only if they do not blind motorists.

Detours

When necessary traffic may be detoured. Detours may affect one direction only or may affect both if needed. The decision to detour traffic is based on whether the incident already blocks the road, if the volume of responders will effectively block the road, if it is safe to go by, whether there is an easy detour route nearby, if enough responders are available to adequately staff the required TCPs and any other consideration that the Incident Commander takes into account.

When the decision is made to detour traffic, this shall be announced on Fire and Fire Police frequencies. The Fire Police supervisor shall assign someone to post directional signs on the detour route and to determine if additional TCPs are needed.

Vehicle Placement Except for a vehicle(s) used as a shadow vehicle, any vehicle not directly needed in the incident shall be removed from the roadway and placed in staging or other designated area, with emergency lights deactivated. This includes both apparatus and personal vehicles.

A shadow vehicle should always be considered when available. The shadow vehicle shall be parked 100 to 250' upstream of the traffic flow, be unoccupied, and have its wheels turned so that if struck it will be directed away from the scene.

3 Command and Control

Any incident involving traffic will involve other agencies. Traffic control at any incident is the responsibility of the police. Fire Police, though part of the Fire Department, are under the control of the police. The police may delegate this responsibility back to the Fire Department; therefore, it is imperative that open lines of communication exist to ensure everyone is working towards common goals. If conflicts occur, FD command staff should work with the police department to find a solution. Never shall an individual Fire Police officer be placed “in the middle” of a dispute.

Within the organization, a Fire Police Captain and Lieutenant have been designated to supervise the Fire Police officers. In the Captain’s absence, the Lieutenant shall supervise. If both the Captain and Lieutenant are absent, either the Police or FD line officer shall delegate a supervisor of the Fire Police or shall perform the task themselves.

The supervisor shall ensure the following is done at incidents: 1) Advance warning is placed and appropriate. 2) The scene is delineated. 3) Cones, flares, signs, and other tools are properly used. 4) TCPs are appropriately staffed. 5) All personnel are appropriately attired. 6) Communications has been established and maintained. 7) Accountability of Fire Police has been established. 8) Detour signs are placed when needed, and the route is appropriate. 9) Traffic queues, if created, are properly managed. 10) Personnel are provided with adequate breaks and relief. 11) This guideline is followed.

Conclusion of the Call

Upon conclusion of an incident, or of a person’s involvement at a call, the supervisor shall be informed as to any problems that were encountered or other situation that occurred that may be of interest to other responders. This should be done immediately at the conclusion of the person’s involvement in the incident, to obtain fresh information. The supervisor should consider these reports when determining topics for future training.

Upon completion of the call, release shall be obtained from the supervisor prior to ending involvement at a post or TCP. Persons must realize that breaking down a TCP or other post can be a very dangerous time; therefore, the flagger shall continue to wear reflective equipment, shall ensure emergency lights remain lit, shall stay off of the traffic lane as much as possible, and shall retrieve all equipment place during the call.

The supervisor shall ensure restocking of any expended item is conducted, and that any immediate needs are met. The supervisor shall inform the Chief of any untoward incidents that occurred on the call, and shall coordinate any future training needs.