Title: Demonstrate methods, components, and considerations of forcible entry.
Course: Public Safety II (15101-II) > Section: FIREFIGHTING: Following Forcible Entry Procedures

Demonstration should include

- making sure doors are unlocked (i.e., Try before you pry.)
- check for a lockbox (e.g., Knox box)
- forcing the locking device(s)
- attacking the fastenings
- cutting gates or bars.

Techniques for breaching floors and roofs should include cutting through wooden floors or roofs with power saws and axes. Other factors affecting forcible entry might include building construction and available tools.

Description might also include breaching types of doors, such as

- wooden—panel, slab, or ledge
- metal—hollow core or metal clad, overhead, commercial, or residential garage doors, or roll-down
- glass—metal or tubular frame, tempered or frameless, sliding, or revolving.

When breaching doors or windows, consider

- frame/jamb materials (whether rabbeted or stopped)
- mounting hardware
- locking device
- direction of door swing.

Types of glass might include

- regular or plate
- tempered
- laminated (i.e., safety)
- wire
- polycarbonate.

Types of windows might include

- double hung
- check rail
- energy efficient
- casement
- awning
- jalousie
- projected
- fixed.

Types of locks might include

- key-in-the-knob
- mortise—dead bolt, dead bolt and latch, pivoting dead bolt
- rim locks—surface locks
- tubular locks
- padlocks
- special locks.

Types of walls, floors, and roofs might include

- wood-framed
- masonry (e.g., block, brick)
- concrete-reinforced
- metal.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What hazard do firefighters encounter when forcing an overhead door?
- What products are available to assist with nondestructive entry?
- What should be considered after forcing entry through a fenced area?