Put the Wet Stuff on the Red Stuf
The most basic and well known piece of fire equipment is a hoseline, ask little kids what they think of when you say firefighter and they usually say something about a hose or any an axe. Unlike a regular garden hose, a fire hose packs one hell of a punch, around a hundred or more pounds per square inch, you have to know how to control it and know you can trust your crew.
And fighting a fire is not just about spraying the water on the fire, you can do that but that will screw up thermal layering, the way the heat and toxic gases have stratified in the room on fire. Disrupting that is a good way to get yourself killed. Instead, you need to know how to use the cooling and changing properties of water to your advantage.
Water turns to steam, easily, steam burns even worse than dry heat because it can get under your gear, in your mask, cook you like a lobster. Firefighters need to be aware that the stream they are using is important to the water's ability to turn to steam. Fog and straight streams have their own unique uses and if misused, can lead to serious injury or even death.
With all of this running through my mind, I listened as an instructor showed us how to set up a Chicago loop. In order to make a two inch line easier to handle, you lay it out for fifty feet and loop it over the top then sit on it. With the nozzle between your legs, sitting Indian style, you have more control over a large bore stream. While this is good whe you dont have to move, it persents problems when you have to work a smaller line and be a bit more mobile.
Another tactic is to create whats known as a Lazy S, forming the hose into an S and bracing it with your arms and shoulders. Body mechanics, when used propperly allow you to control the hose with as little effort as possible.
Sometimes water is not as effective as one would think. Just think of the old adage, water and oil don't mix. Its true, try to fight an oil fire with awater and the flaming oil will simply float on top of the water. You need to be able to apply a substance that will both smother and cool the conflagration. This is where foam comes into play, foam makes it possible to cut to the seat of the flame and sucessfully douse the fire.
Plus it looks pretty damn cool.
Running a foam system is fairly simple, small amounts of foam concentrate can blow up to incredible porportions. After half a day of running a foam system, we had six feet of shaving cream blanketing the entire gas yard. One of the oldest foams, a prtoein mixture came out a dingy brownish color and smelled like the animals it once was.
While the day was not particularly taxing, it left me exhausted. I've been running myself a bit too hard. Every morning and every other afternoon I find myself at the gym, I work my ass off in an effort to be in the best shape I possibly can, I've been on a new exercise plan modeled after an old Bulgarian powerlifting routine from the earl 1930s.
With Thanksgiving coming up, I have a great oppurtunity to go home and spend some time with my family. A day of skeet shooting and over eating should be a nice way to relax.
And fighting a fire is not just about spraying the water on the fire, you can do that but that will screw up thermal layering, the way the heat and toxic gases have stratified in the room on fire. Disrupting that is a good way to get yourself killed. Instead, you need to know how to use the cooling and changing properties of water to your advantage.
Water turns to steam, easily, steam burns even worse than dry heat because it can get under your gear, in your mask, cook you like a lobster. Firefighters need to be aware that the stream they are using is important to the water's ability to turn to steam. Fog and straight streams have their own unique uses and if misused, can lead to serious injury or even death.
With all of this running through my mind, I listened as an instructor showed us how to set up a Chicago loop. In order to make a two inch line easier to handle, you lay it out for fifty feet and loop it over the top then sit on it. With the nozzle between your legs, sitting Indian style, you have more control over a large bore stream. While this is good whe you dont have to move, it persents problems when you have to work a smaller line and be a bit more mobile.
Another tactic is to create whats known as a Lazy S, forming the hose into an S and bracing it with your arms and shoulders. Body mechanics, when used propperly allow you to control the hose with as little effort as possible.
Sometimes water is not as effective as one would think. Just think of the old adage, water and oil don't mix. Its true, try to fight an oil fire with awater and the flaming oil will simply float on top of the water. You need to be able to apply a substance that will both smother and cool the conflagration. This is where foam comes into play, foam makes it possible to cut to the seat of the flame and sucessfully douse the fire.
Plus it looks pretty damn cool.
Running a foam system is fairly simple, small amounts of foam concentrate can blow up to incredible porportions. After half a day of running a foam system, we had six feet of shaving cream blanketing the entire gas yard. One of the oldest foams, a prtoein mixture came out a dingy brownish color and smelled like the animals it once was.
While the day was not particularly taxing, it left me exhausted. I've been running myself a bit too hard. Every morning and every other afternoon I find myself at the gym, I work my ass off in an effort to be in the best shape I possibly can, I've been on a new exercise plan modeled after an old Bulgarian powerlifting routine from the earl 1930s.
With Thanksgiving coming up, I have a great oppurtunity to go home and spend some time with my family. A day of skeet shooting and over eating should be a nice way to relax.
posted by Nick Stabile at 4:56 PM
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