The thinking when I was in the job was to observe the signs of the smoke behaviour at leakage paths from the fire compartment and without intoducing air to give the upper part of the room repeated blasts with a water mist/ fine spray to reduce the temperature and replace the flammable atmosphere with a steam laden one. Ventilation can then follow once the back draught risk has diminished. Cant remember how they covered the entrainment of air wth the spray though. And this technique may be outdated- the idea originated in Sweden IIR.
This is the way I understood it should be done aswell, using 'door entry procedures' in a team of two. First FF positions him/herself behind the door and is ready to open it for a second maybe two on the second FF's command who is positioned out of the direct path of the door (ie to one side behind the wall). when ready the 2nd FF gives the command to open and immediately puts the HR in directed at the ceiling and lets off two or three quick sprays of water then quickly retracts the HR and resumes the rest position ready to repeat the exercise, thius works by cooling the combustible gases within the compartment and eliminating the danger of a Backdraught.
It has to be said that this is a really dangerous situation to find yourself in and I thought all FF's were taught how recognise the signs and deal with it correctly and safely, the above is a skill which should be practised, you probably won't get a second go on a job!. When you do it a good tip is to be careful where you position the HR in relation to your buddy's hands, any water wasted on their hands could cause them burns in a hot compartment.
This is just the way I've been shown, that said we haven't fully intergrated the use of positive pressure ventilation attack yet so I guess there could well be a different method using the PPV!
Lawman,
Ask about it and do a course or some proper on station training, it's a skill you definitely need to have!!
