Chapter 9 - Forcible Entry
Glass Block Windows/Walls
2 to 4 inches thick and may be individual blocks held together with mortar or panels of blocks up to 47 inches square. Require a sledge hammer or battering ram to break.
High Security Lexan Windows
250 times stronger than safety glass and classified as self-extinguishing. Use a rotary saw with a carbide-tipped medium-toothed blade and make the horizontal cuts first, and then the vertical cuts.
Bam-Bam Tool
A tool with a case-hardened screw, which is secured in the keyway of a lock, to remove the keyway from the lock. Will not work on high-securtiy locks.
Adz
A wedge-shaped blade attached at right angles to the handle of the tool.
Rapid-Entry Lockbox System
All necessary keys or numeric keypad combinations to unlock the building, storage areas, gates, and elevators are kept in a lockbox mounted at a high-visibility location on the building's exterior.
Locksets
All types of door latches, locks, and locking devices. Purpose is to secure doors and prevent unauthorized entry into a room or structure.
Breaching Metal Walls
An axe, rotary saw, or air-chisel can cut these then metal panels with relative ease. Have a hose line charged and ready.
K-Tool
Bites on to a lock cylinder. Using a prying tool, a firefighter can pull the K-tool and the lock cylinder out of the door.
Drop Bar
Brackets are attached to the door and a bar rests in the brackets and extends across the door frame.
Vacant Protection Systems (VPS)
Cables are used to pull a metal grate to the structure over a window and metal strong backs on the interior. Cut mounting tabs or bolt heads off the frame with a rotary saw or adz of a halligan tool.
Breaching Wood Frame Walls
Can cut with an axe or shatter with sledgehammers before prying the wall open. A rotary saw or chain saw is faster and more efficient.
Mortise Latch and Lock
Consist of a doorknob or lever operated latch and a key-operated dead bolt.
Door Limiter
Consists of a frame-mounted plate with a shaft and knob and a hinged u-shaped shackle that mounts on the door. Restricts the opening of the door.
Electromagnetic Locks
Consists of an electromagnet attached to the door frame and an armature plate mounted on the door. The door is locked by passing an electric current. Shutting off the power will release the door.
Lever
Device consisting of a bar turning about a fixed point (fulcrum), using power or force applied at a second point to lift an object at a third point.
Circular Saw
Electric power saw used when electrical power is readily available and heavier power saws are too difficult to handle.
Hurricane Shutters
Exterior coverings mounted over windows. Use a rotary saw with an aluminum oxide blade or break the lag bolts holding the rail with the adz of a Halligan tool.
J-Tool
Fits between double swinging doors equipped with panic hardware and is used to activate the door mechanism from the outside.
Shove Knife
Flat steel tool with a notch cut in one edge of the blade used to depress the latch of outward swinging doors, allowing them to open.
Irons
Flat-head axe used in combination with a halligan tool.
Internal-Mounted Bolt
Flush bolts installed in the edge of one side of a set of double doors permitting one side to remain locked while the other door is used for entry.
Rotary Saw
Gasoline powered with changeable blades for cutting wood, metal, and masonry. Have a charged hose line ready for cutting metal May spin at more than 6,000 rpms. Large-toothed blades for quick rough cuts, fine teeth for precise cuts, carbide-tipped teeth are less prone to dulling.
Handsaws
Hacksaws, drywall saws, and keyhole saws are the most common handsaws still in use where work space is limited.
Vertical Dead Bolt Rim Lock
Has a bolt that slides vertically into the receiver and does not cross the door opening. Impossible to open by spreading the door from the doorjamb.
Night Latch Rim Lock
Has a spring-loaded bolt with a beveled edge facing the door frame allowing it to lock automatically when the door is closed.
Plaster Hook
Has two knifelike wings that depress as the head is driven through a ceiling and reopen from self-contained springs.
Heavy Duty Padlocks
Have case-hardened steel shackles more than 1/4 inch in diameter. Some may be "toe and heel locking" meaning they will not pivot if just one side of the shackle is cut so you must cut both sides.
Standard Padlocks
Have shackles of 1/4 inch or less in diameter and are not casehardened steel.
Rebar Cutters
Hydraulic cutting tool used to cut steel reinforced bars in concrete walls or door or window security bars.
Cutting Edge Maintenance
If blade is too sharp, it could break and chip. If blade is too thick, it might not cut. Paint should never be applied to cutting surface because it might stick and bind.
High Security Locks
Include multiple bolt locks, electronic keyless locks, and electromagnetic locks.
Wooden Handle Maintenance
Inspect for cracks and splinters, sand if necessary, wash, rinse, and wipe dry, coat with boiled linseed oil, and check tightness of head.
Cylindrical Lock
Key-in-knob lock, which has a keyway on the outside and a push button on the inside. Single cylinder tubular dead bolt, which has a keyway on the outside and a thumb turn knob on the inside. Double action cylinder tubular dead bolt, which has a keyway on the outside and inside.
Hurricane Windows
Laminated glass combined with an advanced polymer which is 100 times as rigid and 5 times as tear resistant as common high-impact glass. Can use an axe or adz end of a Halligan tool to break similar to vehicle windshields.
Hydraulic Door Opener
Manually-operated spreader consisting of a hand pump and spreader device. Has intermeshed teeth that can be easily slipped into a narrow opening like between a door and frame. Opens inward-swinging doors. AKA rabbit tool.
Electronic Keyless Locks
May have a key pad, card reader, or fingerprint-activated screen. Generally battery powered.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Windows
One sheet of plywood secured with 2 x 4 inch boards on the inside and outside frame, the two boards (strong backs) are connected with long carriage bolts. 1. Use a rotary saw to cut off the bolt heads and push the bolt through the plywood. 2. Use an axe to split the wood away from the bolt head and then push the bolt through the plywood.
Casement Windows
Opened with a small hand crank and secured with one or more thumb latches. Glass must be broken to gain access to the latches and the crank.
Cheater Bars
Piece of pipe slipped over the handle of a prying tool to leg then it in order to provide more leverage. Exerts forces on the tool that it was not designed to withstand.
Carrying Tools
Point any sharp end away from the body. Point the heads of pike poles and hooks and striking tools towards the ground. Never carry a running power tool more than 10 feet. Carry saws with the blade forward and toward the ground.
Multiple Bolt Locks
Projects 1 inch bolts into two or more points on one edge of the door or all four edges of the door.
Halligan Tool
Prying tool with a claw at one end and a spike or point at a right angle to a wedge at the other end.
Unprotected Metal Surface Maintenance
Remove dirt and rust with an emery cloth or steel wool, oil the metal surface lightly to prevent rust and corrosion. Do not apply oil to striking surfaces and do not paint metal surfaces.
Flat-Head Axe
Same as pick head axe except that a flat striking face places the pick end. Used to strike other tools to force entry.
Fire Doors
Separate one area from another, enclose a hazardous process or storage area, or protecting a means of egress.
Pike Poles
Sharp prong and hook of steel used for pulling, dragging, and probing.
Reciprocating Saw
Short, straight blade that moves in and out like a handsaw. Ideal for cutting sheet metal on vehicles, metal doors, and wall panels.
Breaching Concrete Walls
Should be done only when there is no other alternative. Fastest tool will be a chain saw with a diamond-tipped chain or a pneumatic jackhammer.
Barred or Screened Windows
Should be removed from the building to allow for emergency egress. 1. Remove/cut the bolt heads. 2. Chip away the masonry around the bar. 3. Cut the bars or grille frame using a rebar cutter.
Striking Tools
Sledgehammer (8, 10, and 16 lbs.), maul, battering ram, pick, flat-head axe, mallet, hammer, punch, and chisel. Must wear eye protection.
Surface Bolt
Slide bolts that are manually operated supplemental locking devices that can be mounted on most doors and some windows.
Battering Ram
Solid steel bar with handles and guards, a fork on one end, and a blunt end on the other, used to break down doors or create holes in walls. Weighs 30-40 lbs and can be operated by one or more firefighters.
Breaching Reinforced Gypsum Walls
Some newer buildings use gypsum wallboard reinforced with Lexan. Must use power saws.
Tempered Plate Glass
Specially treated to become harder and more break-resistance than plate glass or a single sheet of laminated glass. Break by driving the pick end of a pick-head axe into the bottom corner.
Hydraulic Rescue Tools
Spreaders can spread as much as 32 inches. Rams can spread from 36 inches to nearly 63 inches. Rams can be placed inside a door frame to spread it far enough apart for the door to swing open.
Storing Composite Saw Blades
Store in compartments where gasoline fumes will not accumulate because hydrocarbons can attack the bonding material causing them to deteriorate and violently shatter during use.
Fulcrum
Support or point of support on which a lever turns in raising or moving something.
Factors of Where to Force Entry
Tactics that must be fulfilled, location of the fire or hazard, stage of the fire, effect on ventilation, amount of effort required to force entry.
Forcible Entry
Techniques used to gain access into buildings, vehicles, aircraft, or other areas of confinement when normal means of entry are blocked or locked.
Breaching
The act of creating a hole in a wall or floor to gain access to a structure or portion of a structure.
Door Chain
The chain permits the door to be opened wide enough to see and speak to a visitor but still restrict access.
Try Before You Pry
The door or window may be unlocked and can be opened in a normal manner.
Breaching Brick or Concrete Block Walls
Use a battering ram, rotary saw with masonry blades, or a jack hammer. Not practical to make a hole large enough for a firefighter to pass through. Make small hole large enough to fit a hose nozzle through. Can also use penetrating (drive-in) nozzle.
Forcing Overhead Doors
Use a rotary saw to cut a rectangular opening about 6 feet high and nearly the full width of the door. Once access is gained, the lift mechanism should be used to open the door fully.
Chain Saw
Use cutting chains for wood, concrete, stone, or brick. Should have kickback protection, chain brakes, carbide-tipped chains, and depth gauges for safety and better saw control.
Pushing/Pulling Tools
Use to break glass and open walls or ceilings and extend the reach of a firefighter. Include pike pole, clemens hook, plaster hook, drywall hook, San Francisco hook, Multipurpose hook, roof man's hook, and rubbish hook. Should not be used as a lever for prying because the handles are made of wood or fiberglass.
Pick-Head Axe
Used for cutting, prying, and digging. Cuts natural and lightweight materials. Head is made of hardened steel, handles are made of wood or fiberglass. Either 6 lbs. or 8 lbs. heads.
Bolt Cutters
Used to cut bolts, iron bars, pins, cables, hasps, chains, and some padlock shackles. Should not be used to cut case-hardened materials.
Cutting Torches
Used to cut security bars, grilles, or gates. Either oxyacetylene, oxygasoline, burning bars, or plasma cutters. A charged hose line must be in place to cool the metal and control any sparks.
Prying Tools
Useful for opening doors, windows, and locks and moving heavy objects. Use the principle of the lever and fulcrum for mechanical advantage. Include crowbar, halligan tool, pry (pinch) bar, hux bar, claw tool, kelly tool, pry axe, flat bar (nail puller) and ram bar. Most are made of single-piece high-carbon steel, 30 to 36 inches in length.
Dead Bolt Rim Lock
Uses a manually operated rectangular bolt.
A-Tool
Very similar to the K-tool except that a prying bar is attached to an "A" shaped head.
Power Saw Safety
Wear eye, hearing, and hand protection. Do not use in a flammable atmosphere. Never force beyond its design limits.
Duck-Billed Lock Breaker
Wedge-shaped tool inserted into a padlock shackle and struck with a striking tool until the padlock shackles break.
Wire Glass
Wire prevents the glass from shattering and falling out of the frame. Must use a sharp tool to chop wire glass out of its frame.
