Considerations for Interior and Exterior Vertical Hoseline Stretches

BY DAVE QUICK

DRIVE THROUGH ANY small community, and you will likely notice a similarity from one town or city to the next: an increase in the construction of large, 20-plus-unit, four- to six-story, occupied multiple dwellings, hotels, and office buildings. These buildings are usually built with Type 1 construction on the ground floor, with up to five stories of Type 5 construction above it (photo 1). Gone are the days when these types of buildings and occupancies were reserved for large metropolitan cities, the suburbs directly surrounding them, and coastal communities.

• Hose Stretches
• Making the Obstructed Stretch
• The Well-Hole Stretch
• Hoseline Operations for Fires in Multiple Dwellings, Part 1 | 2 | 3

We can identify many reasons for the influx of these buildings. The biggest reason is that the United States has not constructed enough housing to keep up with population growth and the number of newly formed households.^{1, 2} These buildings are forecasted to become even more prevalent until the housing shortage stabilizes.

These buildings create many challenges when you need to place handlines into operation (photo 2). These challenges include the following:

• A large footprint.
• The number of stories.
• Congested parking lots.
• Elaborate landscape features and fences.
• Large, open courtyards, which sometimes contain playgrounds and pools.

The stretches to and within these buildings can be long. And there are numerous places for the hose to catch during deployment. Stretches that fire departments often considered alternate or rare in the past are now considered normal. We can employ these stretches in any type of building, new or old, that is greater than one story, in any case where doing so poses an advantage.

These alternate stretches place water on the fire faster and more effectively than thetraditional interior “on the stair” stretch. And, although these alternate stretches appear easy, their successful execution on the fireground begins on routine runs and requires the following two steps:

1. Assessment of building and landscape features, obstacles, and compartment sizes.
2. Drilling on practical techniques.

Developing the Plan

Fireground success is determined by your knowledge of your district and the building construction and occupancies in it, which is accomplished through preplanning. During preplanning, your engine company members must focus on the speed and ease of the stretch. You must also look at all interior and exterior options for both the initial attack line and the backup/second line.

Interior Stretch Considerations

As you consider an interior stretch, factor in all of the following variables:

hose and stretch it to the fire compartment.

• How much time you’ll need to deploy the
• Whether any obstacles will impede an interior stretch, such as numerous hallway fire doors and congested lobby spaces.
• The number of turns/pinch points you will encounter due to building and stairwell layout.
• Whether you have enough hose available on the rig for an interior stretch.
• Whether you have enough firefighters available to complete the stretch.

Exterior Stretch Considerations

Take the time to determine the conditions that require an exterior stretch over an interior stretch. In addition to the obvious-speed and shorter stretch length-other conditions that warrant an exterior stretch include the following:

• Missing stairs due to a building under construction or renovation.
• Stairs that have burned away.
• A fire located on an upper floor after an alarm activation investigation.
• The need for an alternate means of stretching a third handline to an upper floor when two handlines have already been stretched in a stairwell or through an opening.

Also, evaluate the ease of gaining access to the area where the hose will enter the building, especially in commercial occupancies. Determine how fortified the area is and how long it will take to gain access. If you must force entry, determine how long it will take and if enough personnel are on scene to complete this operation.

Next, evaluate the windows. Do the windows open, or will-you need to break them? If you will need to break the windows, consider the following:

• The strength of the glass.
• The size of the window.
• The time it will take to fully trim the window.
• Anything below the window.

Identify whether firefighters or occupants will be entering/exiting the building directly below or if other hoselines are on the ground. Anytime you take a window, remember that you’ve created a ventilation hole. You will need to find a way to control the airflow, especially if you’re stretching to the fire floor or in the presence of wind.

Extended Stretch Hosebed Options

Both interior and exterior stretches require the engine company to have hosebed and hoseload options available to stretch beyond the standard 200- or 250-foot preconnected handline. These options can include longer preconnected attack lines, generally 300 to 500 feet, or long, nonpreconnected handlines, commonly referred to as static, dead, or bulk beds, which are usually 600-plus feet (photo 3). If the hosebed does not allow for the full amount of hose the department needs, then you can deploy atrunk line, with a reducer or break-apart nozzle. From there, you can add premade bundles stored in compartments to the end.

When you design extended stretch beds, it’s important to consider your community’s current built environment, future development, and the number of firefighters required to make the stretch. Even if the original hosebed was not designed for long stretches, you can make modifications in both bed layout and hoseloads to accommodate them. For example, the hosebeds can be altered if you move or add dividers. You can also use wood blocks to shorten the beds. In addition, you can pack the hose in front- to-back stacks.

Another option for dealing with limited hosebed length is to add a horseshoe on top of a dead bed. Understanding these options will allow the engine company to decide if an interior or exterior stretch from the rig is possible, or if you need to use a standpipe system, if applicable.

Vertical Interior Stretches

The most common interior stretch to upper floors is via the interior stairwell. This option generally provides direct access to all upper floors and allows for a safe area to retreat to if fire pushes you back. This type of stretch results in the hose being deployed up the stairwell with the hose laying on the stair treads. This works well on lower floors but can cause more issues and becomes more labor intensive the higher you go. Stretching to upper floors requires more lengths of hose, more firefighters to deploy, and more time to manage pinch points as the hose transitions from stairs to landing to stairs and so on.

A second interior option, if it’s available, is a well-hole stretch. A well hole is defined as “the space between the stairs and the edge of the landing of the public hall in multiple dwellings.”³ Here are advantages of the well-hole stretch:

• A reduction in the number of hose lengths required in the stretch. (Fifty feet of hose can generally reach the fourth or fifth floor, depending on stairwell height.)
• A reduction in the number of pinch points in the stretch.
• A reduction in the number of firefighters needed to complete the stretch.
• A faster stretch. (This is the most important advantage.)

It’s important to ensure that the well hole is wide enough to accommodate the diameter of the charged handline. To determine the width, make a fist with a gloved hand and place it in the well. One gloved fist will accommodate a 1.75-inch hose and two gloved fists will accommodate a 2.5-inch hose. Finally, ensure that you have enough hose at the base of the well to cover the vertical portion of the stretch, and when you secure the line, ensure that it does not impede the stairwell (photo 4).

If the building is equipped, a final option for an interior vertical stretch is the building’s standpipe system. Having a good understanding of standpipe system design and preplanning is imperative before you choose this option. Most buildings, especially today, are under 75 feet tall (from the floor of an occupiable story to the lowest fire department vehicle access).⁴ Builders often follow these parameters to prevent their buildings from meeting the definition of a high-rise building, which would incur the additional cost of installing automatic standpipe systems.

In these buildings, you’ll generally encounter manual wet standpipe systems. These systems contain water and rely exclusively on the fire department connection to supply the system demand (photo 5). The piping is designed to provide 500 gallons per minute at the first riser, 250 gallons per minute at each additional riser, and 100 psi at the two topmost hose outlets (post-1993 standard).⁴ However, it must be supplied by a fire department pumper. Fire departments must determine how quickly they will be able to establish a supply to the standpipe system and compare that to the time it would take them to stretch hose up the interior stairwell or via exterior means from a fire department pumper.

Vertical Exterior Stretches

Many factors will contribute to your choice to go with a vertical exterior stretch. The most prevalent are the speed and reduction in the amount of hose you need for the stretch. You can choose from seven viable ways to stretch hose vertically via the exterior of a building. These include the following, listed in order of efficiency:

1. Rope stretch.
2. Bundle with coupling drop.
3. Bundle with hose rolls.
4. Over a ladder.
5. Exterior stairs/fire escape.
6. Tools.
7. Flying standpipe.

Here’s a detailed description of each of the vertical exterior stretches listed above.

1. Rope Stretch

A rope stretch is one of the easiest, quickest, and most effective ways to vertically stretch a hose up the exterior of a building (photo 6). When you assemble a rope bag, the following equipment is recommended: 80 feet of %-inch utility rope, two carabiners, and a piece of pre-tied webbing. Ideally, use 80 feet of rope, as it allows for a large knot to be tied in the end and still leaves enough rope to reach the ground for most buildings considered nonhigh-rise.

Once you choose a rope stretch, you must determine whether it is better to lower the end of the rope or throw the rope bag. Whenever you can, lower the end of the rope. This approach allows you to use the rope for other operations in the building once you’ve hoisted the hose. If a knot isn’t pre-tied at the end of the rope, you will generally have an easier time tying one there as opposed to tying one in the middle. And, while it’s ideal to lower the end of the rope, it may be necessary to throw the bag instead.

When you encounter obstructions below the deployment area such as porches, awnings, landscape features, and vehicles, throwing the bag is necessary so you can avoid these obstacles. In addition, throwing the bag offers the advantage of providing a tagline to keep the hose away from obstructions when you’re hoisting it. If you throw the bag, remove one carabiner and the pre-tied webbing. Keep them inside the building so you have them to secure the line.

Hoisting dry lines. Whenever possible, hoist uncharged hoselines over charged lines for ease and speed. When you’re hoisting with a rope, try to hoist the nozzle and approximately 35 to 50 feet of hose at a minimum, depending on how much space you have where the hose enters the building (photo 7). This makes for a more efficient stretch and allows the hose to flake out faster once it’s inside.

Hoisting charged lines. While it’s a heavier and more cumbersome approach, hoisting a charged handline might be the best way for you to stretch a handline vertically when you have limited space to flake the hose out or if the operating area is just inside the building. Departments most commonly use this method for fires on porches or in mechanical rooms off them and during overhaul. When you’re hoisting a charged line, tie a figure eight on a bight in the rope and run the bight through the bail of the nozzle and over the nozzle tip. This ensures that the nozzle will not open while hoisting.

2. Bundle with Coupling Drop

For this operation, you’ll bring a dead loaded hose bundle or bundles to a drop point. Drop point examples include any of the following:

• Interior windows of a building.
• Landings on exterior staircases.
• Outside walls of a parking garage.

Once you’re at the drop point, you’ll lower or drop the female coupling of the hose bundle to a firefighter below, who will connect it directly to an apparatus discharge or to a “leader” hose on the ground from an apparatus.

You have a lot to consider when you’re evaluating this option. First, think about how much hose is carried in the bundle. Since you’re lowering part of the bundle to cover the exterior stretch, you’ll need to evaluate how much hose is left inside the building for fire attack. You’ll also need to think about the number of hose bundles required for the vertical stretch and the number of personnel available to carry out the operation.

3. Bundle with Hose Rolls

This operation is very similar to the hose bundle with a coupling drop operation detailed above. However, in this operation, you’ll carry a roll of hose to the drop point along with the bundles. And, you’ll use it for the exterior portion of the stretch. The advantage of this is that the entire amount of hose in the bundle is available for interior fire attack.

When you employ this operation, use a straight hose roll that’s rolled backward. This ensures that when you unroll the hose down the outside of the building, the male end is left inside to connect to the hose bundle and the female is outside, where you can quickly connect it to the apparatus or a leader line (photo 8).

4. Over a Ladder

Firefighters throw ground ladders at almost every building fire for a quick and easy avenue to get hose to upper floors. When flaking out the hose at the base of the ladder, ensure that you have enough hose for the nozzleman to bring the nozzle and at least a 25-foot bight up the ladder.

You’ll also want to stage enough hose at the base of the ladder to cover the length of the ascent (photo 9). Finally, when you can, have a firefighter at the base of the ladder to feed the hose to the firefighter during the ascent, and foot the ladder as necessary. Once the hose is charged, ensure that it is not left on the ladder, obstructing the ladder’s use for ingress and egress. The same principles apply if you’re using an aerial ladder.

5. Exterior Stairs/Fire Escape

Exterior stairs provide another option for you to stretch hose vertically. Generally, they allow access to all floors and allow you to stretch to the fire floor dry and flake the hose out in a nontoxic environment. In addition, they allow for multiple options for you to deploy the hose vertically. Options could include deploying on the stairs like an interior stretch, rope stretch, coupling drop, etc. Once it’s charged and moved through the building, the hose can lead a disoriented firefighter directly to the outside.

If you choose this method, consider the following:

• Exterior stairs usually have small landings that do not leave much room to flake hose out.
• If the exterior stairs are on the end of a large building and the fire is on the other, staging enough hose prior to charging may prove difficult and can lead to a more difficult advance.
• You need to examine access to the building.
• You’ll often find security features at the base of the exterior stairs (photo 10).
• Entry doors on exterior stairwells are generally outward swinging and need to be forced.

Using fire escapes is another way you can stretch vertically on the outside of a building. When you choose this option, examine the condition and structural stability of the fire escapes prior to ascending. Also, be sure to evaluate windows, doors, and security features for ease of entering the building. Finally, keep in mind that a fire escape’s small landingsdo not always allow for hose to be flaked out. So it’s important for you to have a location directly inside to flake and store hose for the advance.

6. Tools

You can also use a tool to vertically stretch. This method is the least complicated way to stretch an unchargedhandline; however, you must be within reach of the tool. Also, it does not lead to a quick or efficient flaking of the hose once you’re inside the building or on an exterior porch. Generally, once the nozzle is inside, you’ll hoist the hose in a hand-over-hand method, which leads to a pile of hose at the feet of the firefighter, making it difficult to flake out. When you perform this method, use a six- to eight-foot hook. This is your most versatile option, and it provides the greatest reach. The end of the tool hooks the bail of the nozzle and pulls it up (photo 11).

7. Aerial (“Flying Standpipe”)

The final, and least desirable, option for performing a vertical exterior stretch is using an aerial device. You may also hear people refer to this tactic as a “flying standpipe.” In theory, a flying standpipe sounds quick and easy but, in reality, you’ll have many components to evaluate prior to implementing.

The first component the engine company needs to evaluate is the hose. Consider the amount of hose needed inside the building, where the hose will come from (hosebeds, bundles, etc.), and how to transport the hose to the tip of the aerial (interior stairs, climb stick, bucket on tower ladder). Once you’re at the tip, the pipe diameter and threads must be evaluated and compared to the couplings on the hose you’re using. Reducers must be readily available either on the hose packs or at the tip of the aerial.

Since you’re using the aerial waterway like a building standpipe system, you’ll need to use a gate valve and inline gauge to provide the correct pressure for the fire attack package. Consider where these appliances will be attached and where the control firefighter will be located. Options include placing the appliances directly on the aerial device or using a length of hose from the aerial device to the inside of the building and attaching the appliances there. The latter is the recommended practice.

The pressure you need for the attack package must be predetermined so the control firefighter can properly set the inline gauge. You’ll also need to determine how much pressure to have at the base (intake) of the aerial and compare it to the pressure-reducing valve setting on the waterway to ensure that the proper pressure and volume are delivered to the tip for the fire attack package. Finally, consider where the backup line or second line is deployed from.

Access to the building is the first consideration when you evaluate a flying standpipe. Many modern buildings feature elaborate landscape designs, large courtyards, security gates, and parking spaces close to the building, which hamper the aerial’s ability to get close. It’s also important for you to evaluate the time you’ll need to set up the aerial and the stability of the terrain. The truck company must determine the distance from the building and the height of the building and use this information to determine if the aerial device is long enough to support the operation. Finally, once an aerial device is committed to a handline operation, it must remain in place. The aerial is no longer available for other operations such as rescue, ventilation, and overhaul.

Securing the Hose

Once you bring the handline into the building and flake it out, you must secure it. When you’re determining where to secure the line, consider the strength of the anchor. The anchor needs to be able to support the weight of the handline once it’s charged and the opening and closing of the nozzle. It is also important that you find a location where the hose will not impede access to hallways or stairways.

Firefighters routinely secure the hose to a railing or a substantial object like a piece of furniture, but sometimes those are not available, and you need to consider an alternate means (photo 12). When you secure the hose, try to secure the line as close to the supply side of the coupling as possible. This will allow the hose to transition into the building without a kink. It supports the hose at a sturdy point and prevents the webbing from slipping up the line or losing grip. Although securing the hose close to the coupling is ideal, do not stretch an excessive amount of hose into a tight area to do so.

Safety

Once the handline is in place, secured, and charged, place a ground ladder where the hose has entered the building if no exterior stairs are present. This will help if firefighters become lost or disoriented. When they follow a hoseline to safety, they’ll have a means of egress. Ideally, you would bring the line inside one f loor below the fire, but doing this is not always possible.

Hose Strength and Hydraulics

Although there are many ways to vertically stretch, firefighters must determine if the hose they’re using is strong enough to support the operation and must calculate the required pump discharge pressure for the line.

Fire hose’s weakest link is where the hose attaches to the coupling. When you’re stretching a hose vertically, pressure is put on the hose at this connection once it’s charged. The charged weight of the hose, the length of the vertical portion of the stretch, and the department’s own safety factors will determine how high you can vertically stretch a hose. The industry standard for stretching 2.5-inch hose vertically is 200 feet (8:1 safety) to 400 feet (4:1 safety). The industry standard for stretching 1.75-inch hose vertically is 250 feet (8:1 safety) to 500 feet (4:1 safety). This recommendation is based on the coupling retention standard in Underwriters Laboratories 19, section 28.1.⁵

Once the realistic height of the stretch is determined, the pump discharge pressure must be calculated and compared to the maximum operating pressure of the pump. Calculations should include the required nozzle tip pressure, the friction loss in the hose, and elevation loss.

Looking Ahead

The building construction, height, and occupancy landscape is changing faster now than ever before. Traditional handline stretches of the past will no longer be effective in many of these buildings. Instead, you must assess the need for alternate stretch methods and evaluate the best way to deploy them based on your department’s operational structure. Once you have selected the best deployment methods, take the time to list them in order of efficiency. Finally, to be successful, make a point to constantly train and drill on these alternate stretches. This will help you build a strong skill set, which will ultimately lead to successful execution on the fireground.

ENDNOTES

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DAVE QUICK is a 30-year veteran of the fire service and is a lieutenant with the Manchester (NH) Fire Department assigned to Engine Co. 11. He is a lead instructor in the department’s recruit school, where he teaches engine company operations. He is a senior staff instructor at the New Hampshire Fire Academy. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from the University of New Haven.