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In our last post, we discussed 2 FF forcible entry on an inward swinging door. This post will discuss 2 FF forcible entry on an outward swinging door.
When forcing an outward swinging door, you will not need to shock the door like you would with an inward swinging door. The bar FF will approach the door and set the adz just below the locking mechanism. The axe FF will then hit the adz in until he hits the door stop. The bar FF should know when the door stop has been hit because he will not see the adz sink anymore. When this happens, the bar FF will start to pull the forks away from the door and with every pull he makes, the axe FF will hit the adz into the gap further. When your adz are set around the door, you are ready to force. Remember to capture your progress with the axe if you ever need to reset your halligan. Once you have forced, control the door and you are ready to make entry. As always, feel free to add any comments or questions in the comment section and/or share with fellow firefighters.
So in our previous couple of posts, we discussed forcible entry for commercial buildings. In this video we will be demonstrating forcible entry for residential buildings with 2 firefighters. Most single-family dwellings have wood doors with wood frames. Some have more durable locks and others have cheap locks with very little strength. When forcing entry, do not rush. Rushing can force you to make mistakes that will increase the amount of time it takes to gain entry. It is better to take an extra second and do it right rather than try to rush and mess up the door, making it even harder to get in. Forcible entry is not a race.
When approaching the door the first thing that you want to do is identify whether it is an inward or outward swinging door. With inward swinging doors, you will not be able to see the hinges. If you can see them, it is an outward swinging door. if it is an inward swinging door the first thing that you want to do is check to see if it is unlocked.  assuming that it is locked, the next thing that you will want to do a shot the door high, low and in the middle. Shocking the door will allow you to get a gauge on where exactly the locking mechanisms are, in addition to start to weaken the lock. The next thing you want to do is create your gap. You can do this by inserting the adz and either pushing up or down on the halligan, whichever way will be going away from the pick. A general rule is that if the lock mechanism is on the left side of the door you will pry up. If the locking mechanism is on the right side of the door you will pry down. After you have gapped, you will want to set your forks into the gap you have just created and have your second fire fighter with the axe drive the forks in until you reach a point where you have enough leverage with the forks to force. Once you have enough leverage, have your second fire fighter save the progress you’ve just created with the axe and take the halligan out. Reinsert your adz into the gap and pry inward until you complete the force.
When you have fully made entry, immediately close the door has to limit the amount of oxygen that the fire can suddenly gain. It is also not a bad idea to do a quick sweep of the area around the door to check for any victims and potentially check if you can see the fire. Many victims are rescued within a couple of feet of a door. When dropping down to mask up, DO NOT BLOCK THE DOORWAY. Get out of the way so that the engine company can get in. By this time, there should be a charged hoseline and an engine crew ready to go.
Many times when forcing entry, you will have limited or zero visibility conditions. Repetition is the key with forcible entry. Repetition allows you to be able to go through the motions in zero visibility comfortably. When training on forcible entry, challenge yourself to do it in low visibility to re-create real life scenarios. This can be done with a blindfold or a hood over the face.
Feel free to add any thoughts you may have in the comments. And as always, feel free to share this video with friends.

In our last post, we discussed forcible entry to the rear of a commercial building using irons and a forcible entry saw. In the scenario in the video below, imagine that you do not have a forcible entry saw. Whether it is OOS for repairs, it wouldn’t start, the blade is no good. Whatever the reasoning, this is a situation that could happen to any firefighter at anytime. So it is important to have a plan for if it happens to you.
So to start, you will need a firefighter to man the halligan and another to man the axe. You will want to drive numerous holes around the bolt head, using the pick of the halligan. Each time, ensure that the pick is curved inward toward the bolt. When you feel that you have driven enough holes and the bolt is loose enough, you can then drive the bolt straight in. The video below will give you a full demonstration.
Feel free to add any thoughts or ideas in the comments!
In our previous post, we discussed forcible entry considerations for residential and commercial buildings. This video today focuses specifically on commercial buildings. Many times, rear doors on commercials have metal doors that are secured with drop bars. These drop bars are generally bolted to the door with 4 bolts. The easiest way to defeat these bolts is to cut off the heads with a forcible entry saw and hit the remaining shaft in, so the bar will fall and give you access.
When attacking the head of the bolt, the saw operator must approach as parallel with the door as possible. A sharp angle is necessary in order to properly remove the bolt head. With certain bolts being stronger or weaker than others, the cutting time will vary. It is vital to ensure that when you are cutting, you do not accidentally sink the blade into the door to a point where you cannot get it out. This will seriously hinder your operation and delay entry time. If you need to, reposition to the other side of the bolt if you start to sink the blade into the door.
Once you have successfully removed the bolt head, you must drive the shaft of the bolt in, in order to release the bracket holding the drop bar. You can to this with a set of irons. Set the pick of the halligan on the remaining shaft of the bolt and drive it in with the axe. This will fully remove the bolt.
Once you have removed the first bolt, you will move on to the remaining 3. Making entry into the rear of commercial buildings is not a quick task. While not overly manpower intensive, firefighters operating on the fireground must remember that’s it’s not like forcing a residential door. It will take much more time.
We're going to pick up where we left off yesterday with our forcible entry post.
First I just want to clarify ahead of time that when I refer to a forcible entry saw, I am talking about rotary saw, not a chain driven saw. This saw should have a blade suitable for forcible entry such as a diamond tip blade.......not a carbide tip wood blade.
Let's get into tool selection based on building type.
Single family homes:
- Obviously, just a set of irons will get us in most front entrance doors.
- Basement access on a single family home will most often just require a set of irons also, however be aware of the possibility that you may encounter a set of Bilco doors. If you suspect this you should consider bringing a forcible entry saw to help defeat the Bilco door.
- Roll down garage doors will require a forcible saw so you can cut an opening in the door to gain access.
Apartment buildings:
- Bring your irons but also consider bring a hydra-ram with you as well. You may end up having to force many doors and you may get worn out if you only have a set of irons.
- As a side note, in my experience, many apartment buildings in densely populated areas were built using poor quality building materials. This includes the poor installation of doors and door frames. Many apartment doors are hollow metal doors with either brittle wood or flexible metal frames and door stops. With that being said, these do have a tendency to become quickly mangled or downright break apart during an entry attempt. Don't be surprised if your door quickly turns into a mangled mess while forcing it.
Commercial strip malls:
-When making entry from the front of the building you will most likely encounter an aluminum framed door with glass and an Adams Rite lock. Bring your irons, your through the lock tools ( tools to both screw off the cylinder as well as to pull the cylinder ) and a forcible entry saw. You now have 2 options. Option 1 is to go "through the lock" which consists of removing the cylinder and then manipulating the locking mechanism that will now be exposed. To do this you either "unscrew" the lock cylinder with a pair of channel locks or you can pull the lock using either a k-tool, rex tool, etc. Once you have have removed the cylinder by using one of the methods previously mentioned, you can now turn the locking lever using your key tool thus unlocking the door. Option 2 is to use the the forcible entry saw. To do this you place the adz of the halligan bar between the door and the frame about 6" above the lock. Rotate the halligan bar slightly to create a gap so you can now cut the "throw" / "latch " with the forcible entry saw. Many untrained firefighters would just break the glass in the door and call it good. This should be your last resort. Breaking the glass means that now there is a whole pile of broken glass laying on the ground which could easily cut through a hoseline that is being advanced into the building. Additionally, you now are unable to control airflow into the building if for some reason the line is not able to be advanced.
- When making entry through the rear of a commercial strip mall consider bringing your irons, hydra ram as well as the forcible entry saw. You will most likely encounter a metal door in a metal frame. If it's only secured with a deadbolt you can force it with your irons or if you can't get it with the irons you have the hydra-ram. However keep in mind that the hydra-ram is meant to be used on inward swinging doors so if its an outward swinging door it may not be much use for you. If the door is secured by a security /drop bar on the inside, the irons probably won't work for you. You'll need to defeat the carriage bolts that hold the security bar in place on the inside of the door. To do this you have 2 options. Option 1 is to cut off the heads of the carriage bolts using the forcible entry saw ( there are usually 4 carriage bolts) and then knock in the rest of each bolt with the pick of the halligan bar. Option 2 is to use the irons to puncture numerous holes around the perimeter each carriage bolt thus creating a large hole around each carriage bolt which will now allow you to knock the entire bolt through the door using the halligan bar. ( we will be posting a few videos in the upcoming days demonstrating both of these techniques ). The forcible entry saw will also be necessary if you encounter any roll up doors in the rear.
These are just a few of the common building types that most of us have in our 1st due response area. If you bring a different tool with you to these building types please feel free to share it with us. We can , and should be, all learning from each other on this job.
Keep an eye out for our videos in the upcoming days.
Forcible entry is certainly one of the most critical tasks on the fireground. Lines can't be advanced into the building and searches cannot start until we get into the building.
When responding on a run, the firefighter assigned to forcible entry needs to start thinking. But what is there to think about some may ask. Well first he needs to think about what type of building are we responding to. Is it a single family home? ....an apartment building ?....a commercial strip mall?.....a warehouse or big box store?......etc, etc. The type of building we are responding to will play a big part in which forcible entry tools he brings with him to the door. Another thought to consider is on which side of the building will we be trying to gain entry from. At commercial strip malls for example, there may be a difference in tool selection based on if we are gaining entry from the front or rear of the building.
Stay tuned, tomorrow we will discuss tool selection and throw out some thoughts, ideas and share some experiences on forcible entry.
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