Chapter 18: Firefighting, Rescue and Assistance
Fire Axe F.40. General
Coast Guard boats are equipped with a type of fire axe referred to as a “pike head axe.�
F.41. Description
A pike head axe has a wooden handle securely attached to an axe head. The axe head has 2 different ends. One is a typical broad head blade, well sharpened along the leading edge. The other end of the head, the pike, is pointed and is also well sharpened.
F.42. Safety precautions
Crew members must always wear gloves, goggles, and other protective clothing when using axes to force a door or break glass.
F.43. Operating procedures
The pike, or pointed end of an axe, is used to break through light metal like that found in metal fire doors, to make quick openings that can be used to check for smoke and intensity of a fire. It may also be used for tearing apart mattresses or for shattering glass. The broad or blade end of an axe can be used to pry doors open, to pry other objects apart, to remove paneling, or to chop doors open.
F.44. Maintenance
Both blade and pike should be kept sharp and oiled. The handle must always be tightly fitted into the head of an axe. It must be free of splits and splinters and should never be painted (See Figure 18-11).
Fire Axe Figure 18-11
18-44