There are very few things on the fireground will kill you faster than underestimating the
potential danger and arriving unprepared of a large commercial structure fire. History
has repeatedly shown us that taking residential tactics and strategies into a commercial
structure is extremely dangerous. Over aggressive tactics, improper hose line
selection, lack of SOP’s, lack of understanding of the dangers of large buildings,
overestimating the capabilities of the fire protection systems, not monitoring air supply,
not knowing the fire load, and committing to deeply into warehouses with high rack
storage are all common mistakes made by fire departments when confronted with big
box fires. This class will take an in-depth look at the building construction features of
modern, large commercial (big box) buildings including walls, roofs, mansards, and
doors. We will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of fire protection systems,
what to expect from them and how to use them to our advantage. We will discuss every
strategic, tactical, and command level fireground assignment and draw comparisons
between residential and commercial fires. We will have a conversation about the
different storage configurations that are commonly found in big box stores and how they
affect our tactical decision making. In addition, we will review multiple significant fatal
and near-miss fires that occurred across the country and evaluate what happened and
how we can prevent it from reoccurring.
Clark Lamping is a 26-year veteran and a 15-year Captain with the Clark County (NV)
Fire Department. He has a master’s degree in emergency management from UNLV.
He is a Rescue Squad Officer with NVTF01, where he deployed to Hurricane Katrina,
Colorado, Florida, and Lahaina. He served as the captain of training for 1 year. He has
taught both classroom and HOT at different fire conferences in the US and London.
