For starters, understand that the role of firefighting is the preservation of life and property. However, your number one priority is the preservation of life. Second, not all tasks may come across as this glorifying job but they all make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things, from running a supply line to venting the building or running an attack hose. EVERY TASK YOU DO OR IS AVAILABLE TO YOU IS FIREFIGHTING.

We'll start off in order of starting a mission all the way to finishing and seeing that beautiful Maltese cross on the screen

After you have come back from your first mission, it will send you to the Training officer to run a drill, after you complete the task the game opens up and allows you to start choosing missions. You can start choosing your missions by either pressing M or following the blue line to the ops room with the screen on the wall next to the truck bay, past the gear racks.

You can do the missions in any order you wish and is of really no consequence. However, I suggest 3 side missions to every minor mission just to help flesh out your tactics and understanding how to approach situations.

At the time that this guide is written there are seven trucks in the game. They all carry the same equipment but with different roles. You can follow the Recommended on selection and it's not that big a deal. Personally, I always use a ladder truck and typically prefer the viper or cobra, the advantages are just far to great not to have. At the the current time, you cannot choose your secondary truck but I hope that changes soon.

This is the part of the guide that gets exciting. On arriving on scene, you and your squad should be running around like mad. For starters have your supply lines setup to the truck and while that is being done grab a Halligan and start walking around the building take a mental note of what you see and hear.

How many entry points are there?

Is there external fire?

What victims do you see? Are they internal or external?

Do you see black smoke coming from the windows with a thooming or beating sound?

Where is the gas valve? If you find it, turn it off

Where is the breaker box? If you find it, turn it off

Are there hazards? If so remove them

This is getting an idea of the situation where you can start sending your people.

From there go ahead and send one person to do Search and Rescue and a second to search the building. It is up to you with what you do with the third person, I typically let them start controlling the fire to prevent it from spreading to much. Your role should be to either assist in Search and Rescue or to start considering venting the roof (if it's industrial). Remember what I said in the introduction? The preservation of life is your number 1 priority. So always make sure to get it started as fast and as soon as possible.

There will NEVER be a survivor in a room with black smoke coming from the door or the windows. Anything and every living thing in that room is already dead if anything was in there.

Your list of priorities should be as follows:

• As previously stated, SAR should be top priority
  
  
• Shutting off Gas or Electrical. Otherwise, you're just treating the symptom rather than the cause
  
  
• Venting. If the fire is industrial, venting the roof will improve survival of survivors and greatly improve visibility.
  
  
• Lastly actually putting the fire out

I know many people have seen streamers and Youtubers just run around and open windows where they see them. This is not always a great idea and could potentially create more issues for you.
So why did I say it was okay to vent the roof then? Hot air rises, simple as that. The hot air pushes the cold air out of the hole preventing it from feeding the fire. Opening a window does not have the same benefit and will feed the fire. So the less doors and windows you open at one time the better it is for you.

Backdrafts:

You will run into backdrafts pretty early in the game. Backdrafts are when a fire has used up it's oxygen supply with in the environment and is now trying to get whatever oxygen it can find. This creates super heated gases trapped within the room. Do not open the door! It will explode and spread fire and hurt the character and any crew member around. You have three ways of handling these things. Option 1) YUP! you guessed it! Venting. Venting the roof will allow the gases to escape from the roof. Option 2) Use a hose on the mist setting on the door. Cool the door and have a teammate open it. Sometimes it's best to sit and cool it for a little bit before opening it. Option 3) Break the windows, the least desirable but it will "disarm" the bomb (irl, don't do this method) and make the fire take off again.

Nozzles:

Think of the nozzle settings as a shotgun and a rifle.

Straight stream: Better for distance and hitting a more concentrated spot.

Mist: More like a shotgun. Better when you are hitting just a wall of flames on the ceiling, floors and walls. It also does God's work on furniture, trash piles, and plants. It covers a wide area and can make getting in to a room so much easier.

Tactics:

When you finally start getting to putting out the fire, don't run around and spray randomly, you wont get anywhere very quickly. Take your time and be methodical, put the water over the flames and keep it there till it gone. Adjust your nozzle to meet the needs of the situation. When you enter a room slowly put the flames out on the walls, floor and ceiling before you enter. When you do enter, just slowly start working your way in hitting the floor, wall, and ceiling.

Just try to remember slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Take your time set up your priorities and use your squad mates accordingly.

This is my first guide, so if I missed anything or if other firefighters wish to give feedback I am open to it. All I ask, is be polite. I tried to write this so it doesn't sound like someone being condescending so I may have missed some things.