By Joseph Dunnigan
The 2006 New York City Fire Department Forcible Entry Reference Guide tells a tale of FDNY members responding to a fire in a bank and discovering a strange metal object. According to the legend, the device was about 3 feet long, with a hook on one end and a fork on the other. Members determined that the metal object was a tool used by burglars who had forced their way into the bank. Because the tool had been used in such a manner, they decided it could also be useful for many other forcible-entry applications.
Thus, the Claw Tool was born — and with it, the groundwork for one of the most famous forcible-entry tools ever made.
The Forcible Entry Reference Guide (download below), compiled by Captain John Vigiano with the assistance of many other FDNY members, discusses the procedures, techniques and tools of forcible entry. It also highlights how many tools used in the fire service were not originally designed for firefighting but instead were adapted and modified over time.
From adaptation to adaptive innovation
In evolution, adaptation is fundamental to survival; it is what allows organisms to fit better with their environments. But beyond adaptation, there is also something called exaptation. According to evolutionary biologists Stephen Jay Gould and Elizabeth S. Vrba, exaptation occurs when a trait that evolved for one function, or arose as a byproduct of evolution, is used for a different function or becomes useful over time. One example the biologists used was feathers, which evolved for insulation and later were utilized for flight.
When it comes to firefighting, we can see a mixture of adaptation and exaptation in what we might call adaptive innovation: the fire service’s use or modification of a tool or procedure originally designed for another industry or purpose.
How the irons evolved
The Forcible Entry Reference Guide shows how some tools evolved into the form we see today.
After the Claw Tool came the Kelly Tool, designed by and named after FDNY Captain John F. Kelly. According to the guide, Kelly removed the hook and fork from the Claw Tool and replaced them with a 90-degree adz and chisel. He also shortened the tool to 2 feet. The Claw Tool was not replaced, however. Instead, a marriage of sorts came out of the innovation. The Claw Tool and newly created Kelly Tool were paired to form what was called “the irons.”
Still, the wheels of innovation continued to spin, forging what would become the most famous forcible-entry tool in the fire service.
The guide describes how the burdensome weight of “the irons” led to further adaptation. An FDNY chief considered a new design to address the problem. His creation included a tool with a pike, a curved adz and a fork. The two tools, which had a combined weight of approximately 22 pounds, were merged into a new design weighing roughly 8 pounds.
The chief who designed that new tool was none other than Hugh Halligan.
[Read next: How the Halligan tool changed the firefighting game]
From the racetrack to the rescue scene
Another example of adaptive innovation is a tool made for race car extrication that was later modified for use in the fire service. According HURST, the inspiration came after George Hurst witnessed a crash at a racetrack where a driver had difficulty getting free from the wreckage. As a result, he created a device designed to free drivers that ultimately became known as the Hurst Tool, or Jaws of Life.
Originally, the Hurst Tool weighed 350 pounds. According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Mike Brick, who was hired by George Hurst to expand the market for the tool nationwide, reduced its weight to 65 pounds and introduced it to the fire service.
Innovation did not stop there. The Hurst Tool was modified further. Originally, it was powered by a gasoline-fed hydraulic unit. In 2010, HURST introduced an eDRAULIC version that replaced the gas-powered unit with lithium-ion batteries. This modification made the tool more maneuverable while eliminating engine exhaust. It also led firefighters to consider new ways to use the device.
In 2018, the eDRAULIC Hurst Tool was used during an escalator extrication. After an unsuccessful attempt to use the Hydra-Ram and Halligan to free a person’s foot from the escalator, an innovative member decided to adapt the eDRAULIC Hurst Tool spreaders. Within seconds, members operating the eDRAULIC spreaders freed the person’s foot.
Had the Jaws of Life never been modified, perhaps that member would never have considered its use in that indoor environment.
Innovation throughout the fire service
Adaptive innovation can be found in many other tools that became part of the fire service.
- According to a 2005 article in The New York Times, “a team of city firefighters using their off-duty skills in rock-climbing and metalworking” designed an escape system.
- It is in pike poles with histories rooted in weaponry.
- And it is in the thermal imagers, which developed from military technology.
Could you imagine what the fire service would be like without these modifications and adaptations?
Innovation born from necessity
Many adaptations have evolved from tragedy. For example, lessons learned from the line-of-duty death of Denver firefighter Mark Langvardt informed an evolution in rescue training that is now commonly called the Denver Drill.
But adaptation and evolution in the fire service do not always come from disasters. Consider the practical adaptation of the 5-in-1 painter’s tool. Many firefighters have adopted this instrument as a personal shove tool.
Firefighters have also employed shoelaces to secure doors. The procedure often involves wrapping a shoelace around the thumbturn of a lock, then pulling the lace down and the door shut to engage the lock. This process can free fire companies from having to wait for a superintendent or police officer to arrive and secure the premises.
These are just a few examples of how firefighters have adapted tools and procedures. You or your colleagues could probably identify many more, and still others are waiting to be adapted by innovative firefighters.
From idea to implementation
Increasingly, firefighters are encountering scenarios that test the limits of their current tools and techniques. That is why those inside and outside the fire service must continue thinking about what devices and procedures can be adapted and evolved for the future. But what comes next?
Look at that idea critically. What problem does it solve? Does it improve safety, efficiency or effectiveness? Does it create a new hazard? Can the idea be tested in training before it is used operationally? Firefighters should be willing to experiment, but that experimentation should be deliberate. An idea that works once under ideal conditions is not yet a dependable tactic.
That is where the rest of the organization comes in. Bring the idea to others who can challenge it, test it and improve it. Company officers, training staff, safety personnel and members with technical expertise can help determine whether the concept is practical and whether it can be repeated safely. Depending on the idea, that process may also require consulting the manufacturer, reviewing department policy or involving the agency’s equipment or training committees.
Just as important, firefighters should document what they learn. If a modification works, explain why. If it fails, explain that too. Photos, measurements, training notes and clearly defined limitations can turn an individual workaround into something another crew can evaluate. That process is how an observation becomes an experiment, an experiment becomes a technique, and, in some cases, a technique becomes part of the fire service.
Not every idea will survive that process, nor should it. Adaptive innovation is about remaining curious enough to recognize an opportunity, disciplined enough to test it and humble enough to abandon an idea when it does not make the job safer or better.
The next adaptation is out there
The history of the fire service suggests that some of the next important tools or techniques may already exist. They may be sitting in another trade’s toolbox, serving a different purpose in another industry or being used in a way no firefighter has considered yet. The challenge is to recognize the possibility and then do the work necessary to determine whether it belongs in the fire service.
It is also why Captain Vigiano was correct when he stated in the Forcible Entry Reference Guide that, “Firefighters are a unique breed of people. Given a challenge, they will adapt, modify and do whatever it takes to overcome an obstacle.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Firefighter Joseph Dunnigan has served in the FDNY since 2015. He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice as well as a Forests and Climate Change graduate certificate and Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from Oregon State University. His writing has appeared in FDNY’s WNYF Magazine, Firefighter’s Association of the State of New York’s The Volunteer Firefighter, CRACKYL Magazine, and numerous other regional publications, covering topics ranging from fire service operations and technology to environmental issues and local history.
Author’s note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the FDNY.
References
Bettinazzi, V. (2021, February 18). Hooks and history: How pike poles came to be a firefighter’s most trusted tool. FireRescue1.
Carroll, T. (2019, September 3). Mayday Monday: The Denver Drill. Fire Engineering.
Dunnigan, J. (2024). Using the HURST eDRAULIC tool “off label”: Putting the tool to work at an escalator extrication. WNYF, 2nd 2024, 20–22.
Gould, S. J., & Vrba, E. S. (1982). Exaptation — A missing term in the science of form. Paleobiology, 8(1), 4–15.
HURST Jaws of Life. About HURST Jaws of Life.
National Museum of American History. (n.d.). Hurst power rescue tool (Jaws of Life). Smithsonian Institution.
FDNY. (2006, December). Forcible Entry Reference Guide: Techniques and Procedures.
O’Donnell, M. (2005, June 6). City firefighters build their own escape system. The New York Times.
Petrillo, A. M. (2016, January 7). Thermal imaging cameras for hands, apparatus, face pieces. Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment.
