Assessing the amount of LDH laid
I refer to Bill Gustin’s article “Working with Large-Diameter Hose, Part 1” (Fire Engineering, January 2000) in which he addresses the problem of the apparatus operator’s knowing how much LDH has come off the hosebed and some of the dangerous practices used to keep track of the unloading. I’d like to share how my department addressed this problem.
Approximately five years ago, we sold a hose reel that had a revolution counter. By counting the revolutions, we were able to closely determine the amount of hose unloaded (total load ~1 mile). However, since the number of hydrants in our first-due area was increasing and tanker usage and size were increasing in our mutual-aid areas, we felt we no longer needed this much LDH (four-inch).
Therefore, we designed an engine that would carry 2,200 feet of five-inch LDH. Not knowing how much hose was unloaded presented a new challenge for our operators. To rectify this problem, we purchased five-inch yellow jacketed hose. However, the first 200 feet off the bed, the middle 200 feet, and the final 200 feet were red. Now, the only problem was being able to see the hose in the dark. Consequently, we installed two scene lights on the rear of the engine. These are routinely activated when the engine is laying LDH or backing, to provide better lighting. This system has worked extremely well for us-so well in fact that we put the same load sequence and lighting on our second-due engine (1,100 feet).
Thanks for the great articles.
Sam Huber
Upper Leacock Fire Company
Leola, Pennsylvania
Bill Gustin responds: This department’s method of color-coding hose looks like an excellent way to determine how much hose an engine has laid out of its bed. Huber’s letter inspired me to check with other departments to learn what they use to determine the amount of hose deployed (something I should have done before I wrote the article).
The Chicago Fire Department has been using an interesting method for several years. According to Battalion Chief Paul Martin, each engine company paints two numbers on every length of its fabric-jacketed hose. One designates the engine number; the other designates the length number for that particular company. As the hose is loaded, each length number is written on a form that indicates where (in terms of feet of hose) that length is placed in the hoseload. The form is carried in a clear plastic holder attached to the driver’s side door for easy reference. We know it is difficult for paint to adhere to the synthetic rubber jackets of LDH. Chicago, therefore, stamps numbers into the couplings of its four-inch and five-inch hoses.
Regardless of which system you use for determining the length of hose laid, it is important to “send the water” first according to a standard starting pressure; then you can “fine tune” your pressure by determining the length and friction loss in the hoseline.
Cisterns and buried tanks present hazards for children
Reference is made to the excellent article “Dry Hydrants and Static Water Supplies” by Michael Hanley and Dick Murchison in the February issue. Photographs #5 on page 84 and #7 on page 88 show hatches to access a cistern and a buried tank, respectively. The photos are not sufficiently revealing to tell if hasps and locks are on the hatches, but there should be. There seems to be a children’s playground in the background of photo #5. I recommend that there be signing on the hatches for firefighters (self-stick vinyl letters are good) indicating that the location be constantly staffed when the hatch is unlocked and relocked when an attendant must quit the location, even for a short while.
In fire department inspector lingo, the hatches are an “attractive nuisance” to youngsters, posing a threat of accidental entrapment/drowning. I administer pumper service tests to fire department engines over a 50-department district, often using buried draft tanks with hatches at one end, a baffle in the center, and an injection port at the other end. Local fire officials are universal in accepting the precaution of having locking covers on openings of such devices.
Oklahoma Forestry Services distributes dry and conventional hydrants, funded by the state’s legislature, for installation (50/50 in-kind cost match) on rural water district mains and in towns with populations under 3,000. In addition to all-season availability of water and convenient spacing of hydrant locations, Rural Fire De-fense Program coordinators look at an all-weather approach. In unincorporated areas, county commissioners can be helpful in the following areas: accessing road construction, site leveling, adequate turnarounds, anticollision barriers around hydrants, and so on.
Charlie Enlow
Rural Fire Defense Coordinator
Oklahoma Economic Development Athority
Beaver, Oklahoma
Technology makes firefighting safer
I am a second-generation firefighter. My father is a retired chief officer from a big-city department. Recently, we were discussing the Worcester tragedy, and it dawned on me that the way we do business has changed little since my father came on the job 40 years ago. We still stretch lines into buildings, crawl down hallways, search for victims, and extinguish the fire. During all this, we hope to get out safely. If we are lost, we rely on the traditional follow the wall to the left, hoselines, rescue lines, and so on-just like my father did 40 years ago. The only difference between then and now is that we have a thinner fluorescent green-colored line as opposed to the old brown manila hemp rope.
Thermal imaging cameras are excellent for guiding firefighters to safety. It is a disgrace that many departments still do not have them as part of their equipment at fire scenes. Additionally, new electronic tracking systems are being developed. Some departments are using them to track their fleet of apparatus within their jurisdictions so that, when a call is received, a computer-assisted dispatching system recommends and dispatches the closest unit. How can we know the exact location of our apparatus on the street but still not be able to track our own in a smoke-filled basement of a department store? Technology is changing as we speak, and we need to adapt it to our needs and use it to make our jobs safer. How many more firefighters are going to be killed or injured while we wait?
Leaders, fire chiefs, and union officials across the nation need to keep pushing for change. Union leaders should put more emphasis on funded safety officers, thermal imaging cameras, quality training, radios for all personnel, and electronic accountability systems. These things have saved lives and make our jobs safer.
It is sad and unfortunate that progress in the fire service is measured by tombstones. How many of us is it going to take? Let’s do something now. We owe it to our fallen brothers and sisters.
Daniel G. Bingham
Firefighter
Arlington (VA) Fire Department
“Food for thought”
Bill Manning’s article “Finding Our Own Before It’s Too Late” (Editor’s Opinion, February 2000) certainly is food for thought for every fire department throughout America. It is sad to think that the military complex has technology to track expendable items at a cost that would be within most fire departments’ budgets. With the technology, we could track firefighters inside burning or otherwise compromised structures and perhaps save some firefighters’ lives.
Another sad fact is that equipment manufacturers boost the price of materials that are designated for firefighting or rescue. Certainly, they deserve to make a profit to survive in the business world. They have a captive audience just like the military complex, but not in size or monetary resources. Many of the technologies we use today were developed at taxpayer expense, and companies have still chosen to gouge the fire service for these technologies. The Worcester, Massachusetts, incident may have had a happier ending had this technology been in place.
The other item of note in the February issue was the line-of-duty deaths listed on page 54. Six deaths from heart attacks is unacceptable. Most were suffered by firefighters between the ages of 40 and 50 years; one firefighter was only 38. When we look at the statistics, we see that heart attacks are taking more than 50 percent of our firefighters’ lives. What were the underlying factors in each case? Were these personnel given a yearly physical including stress electrocardiograms? Were any of these personnel stricken with a second heart attack that took their lives? Should we prohibit these personnel from actively participating in operational activities?
Bill Manning is on track, and Fire Engineering continues to lead the pack in reporting the truth about the fire and rescue service in America. Keep up the good work!
M. “Mick” Mastrino
President Emeritus
United Fire Co. No. 3
Frederick, Maryland
Editor’s Note
“Little Drops of Water: 50 Years Later, Part 2,” by Andrew A. Fredericks, in the March 2000 issue:
-Endnote number three, page135: The first sentence should say, “KJ/g (kilojoule per gram) means that for every gram of fuel material consumed during a fire under strictly controlled conditions, one thousand joules of heat energy are released.”
-Page 114: The second sentence in the photo caption should say “fuel materials” instead of “fire materials.”
-Page 128: The second to the last sentence should say “plain water,” not “water plain.”
“Training Achievement Award 2000: A Look at the Nominees”:
-Page 82: Peter J. McBride is a member of the Ottawa (Canada) Fire Services, not Toronto, and he developed a course at the Ontario Fire College, not the Ontario Fire Academy.
