FE Halligan Spike - Fire Engineering

TRADITIONS TRAINING, LLC.
“COMBAT READY” FIREFIGHTING
FIREGROUND PROVEN TIPS, TECHNIQUES & DRILLS
Forcible Entry; Outward Opening Doors and Limited Space
By Donald L. Wedding, Firefighter; City of Fredericksburg Fire Dept. (Virginia)
With a wall or obstacle present on the hinge side of a right handed, narrow outward opening
door, the “adz” of the halligan cannot be set. As an option, place the bar parallel with the frame
on the lock side, striking the halligan until the “spike” is set between the jamb of the door and
hits the door stop (photo 1 and 2). The Halligan Firefighter then rotates the bar down along
the face of the door about 45 degrees. The Axe Firefighter drives the spike into the jamb until
the spike passes the backside of the door, to avoid “skinning” the door (photo 3). The door can
then be forced open by pulling the halligan away from the door, in the same manner as if the
adz end where set (photo 4).
This same technique can be used on left handed, outward opening doors. Simply place the
forks of the halligan toward the floor, parallel with the jamb. The spike of the halligan can be set
in the same manner as shown below. To force the door the halligan would then be rotated up,
away from the floor along the the face of the door, and forced open.
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