ON STANDPIPES AND THEIR USE
RANDOM THOUGHTS
A standpipe system within a building can save a responding fire company a tremendous amount of time, effort, and resources. Whether installed vertically (most of the time) or horizontally in large-area buildings, such systems are only of value if they are known. While most systems are simple and “user friendly,” there are some things that can go wrong—and are guaranteed to do so at the wrong time. Let’s take the system and the tactics and discuss them.
Know the system you are are using. Is it a dry pipe that must be supplied by fire department pumpers? These usually are found in belowground, unheated areas or on systems installed on the outside of the buildings—like in San Francisco.
Is it wet and constantly supplied with water? What type of supply is it —a city main that may or may not be boosted with a fire pump, a gravity or pressure tank that supplies constant pressure but limited supply, or a pump that uses its own water source collected in a sump?
Where is the fire pump? What size is it? How does it operate —automatically at the activation of an alarm device or manually by assignment of building personnel to that location? How do you start it if, like in the Interstate Bank building fire, it’s shut down for maintenance on the system? Is there a backup electrical supply if the main service fails—because of a hurricane, earthquake, or power outage? How do you contact a reliable person to assure problem-free pump operation?
Supply inlets—fire department connections (FDCs). These can take many shapes and be in many locations. Few municipalities require that they be at least on every building wall exposed to the street. Some allow them to be in areas that do not detract from the beauty of the structure. This requires a lot of individual structure preplanning. Are the Siamese connections free from obstructions and accessible? Are they properly marked? One municipality thought that they were supplying the standpipe riser when they actually were augmenting collected water in the sump supplying the fire pump in the basement. This would be fine if the pump was running, but in this case it wasn’t. Where was the water? As companies without it were backing off the floor, pumpers were bouncing on the street, increasing pressure.
Beauty results in a sacrifice in information for us at a time of emergency. Which inlets are for sprinklers and which for standpipes? Collections of these 2 ½-inch supply inlets stand against the building like gold and silver jewels, unmarked and usually unchecked. Some cities require colorcoding the caps, such as red for standpipe. green for sprinker, and yellow for combination systems. This can be a real time-saver for the pump operator, who has to make decisions on which to supply first, second, or at a later time.
Does the connection also supply a sprinkler system? If so. how do you regulate your hydraulics on the pump to provide enough water for both operations? This brings up another myth: “The first supply line should be stretched into the standpipe Siamese and one of the first into the sprinkler system.” Fine! But what’s missing? This is true only if you’re going to stretch handlines from the standpipe system.
Check the FDC just as you would a hydrant that you’re planning to use. Open the cap(s), feel for the clapper (swing check valve). Does it work? If there is only one in a two-way system, supply that one last! Is it frozen? Is there debris in the connection? Suspect that there could be if the caps are missing and the street is well traveled by pedestrians.
Detect a blockage at the pump. Watch your gauges! If there are flow gauges, no problem—water out is water out. If the handlines aren’t getting the water, it’s going somewhere. Without flow gauges, watch the pressure gauges. Does it increase with very little throttle increase? The system is probably closed—a blockage or the nozzle is not yet open. Watch the temperature gauge: If it increases above normal, water is not moving inside the pump —a blockage.
Take enough hose. One hundred feet is not enough for buildings usually requiring a standpipe. Ensure 150 feet and plan to augment.
Take the proper-size hose. Granted, most high-rise office and residence buildings can be handled with one or two small-diameter handlines. But what about fires that involve entire floors on arrival? We’re talking about 20,000 to 40,000 square feet of fire that is going to meet you when you open the 36-inch stairway door.
We will continue this discussion next month.
