fire hose in the street

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Oldman on June 10, 2009 at 8:05pm

Mark, I have to disagree.

Yes, hose bridges are pricey, but compared to the cost of rebuilding the pump, they are a very necessary expense. Water hammer can and does override relief valves and either render the pump, the water line or hydrant inoperative.

Another, and more common problem is damage done to the supply line by the undercarriage of a vehicle. If you have vehicles in your area like I have in mine, that have 3" ground clearance, they can get "high centered" on the hose. The hot exhaust does the rest.

In my area, when we have had to lay across a road, we usually have a couple of members show up POV. Their vehicles make an excellent barricade when placed in the road to protect the line, at least until law enforcement shows up.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Klaene on June 10, 2009 at 8:48pm

thanks for bringing up the water hammer issue . As I said I had not run across this is real life.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by doug on June 11, 2009 at 3:14pm

hello mark bridges are $$$ but whats the cost of a length of LDH. most cars cant get over 4/5" they just push it and by then we got them stopped but they can get over 2.50". you can make up a crossing with 2x6 and 2x4 together but around here nobody goes over or p.d. has them buy a new length of hose for us.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Klaene on June 11, 2009 at 3:25pm

our supply hose is 3" and of course here in NM 80% of the vehicles on the road are pick up trucks

on the rare chance I need it and damage a hose I would rather just replace the hose than haul around multiple sets of hose bridges or 2x6's. Here if we bar traffic over a hose we have shut down the road since nearly all traffic only has 1 road in or out. There is no going around.

If I have the folks and can roll my rescue truck I definitely like the idea of using some of my cribbing 2x4 and 2x6's.

I certainly worry about damaging a pump if that is truly a possibility

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Gaudio on September 26, 2009 at 11:51am

You lay a line, you block that street. Never let anybody drive over the hose line.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Menchen on September 26, 2009 at 5:26pm

In the departments I've been in, the hose was usually laid as close to the truck as possible. Sometimes, this would mean having the truck on the "wrong side" of the road, if the pump couplings were on the side instead of in front. If the hose absolutely had to cross the road, then we'd have the fire police close it off.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by John Sherrer on September 27, 2009 at 12:42am

I literally just walked back in the house from a mutual aid call with two fatalities and hoses everywhere from tankers to engines and attack lines on a two lane road. The only way you can drive over a line safely is if you shut it down. We kept having to bring the tankers to the front and would have to shut down the lines to get them in positon. A hose bridge would have been great but we hardly ever have to cross over the lines like that. I would buy the hose bridge any day over a pump

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Derek R. on September 27, 2009 at 3:56pm

We try to situate the trucks so that lines aren't laid across the road.. But if the situation arises when we have to, we shut the road down. And we have full support of the police. We do have hose bridges also, just in case. And those don't have to be something pricey and they don't take up that much room.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Josh Van Vlack on October 2, 2009 at 10:52am

correct me if I'm wrong, but i believe it's illegal in almost every state for a vehicle to drive over a fire hose. I know for sure it is in SD. we recently had a fully involved downtown fire where we had several supply and attack lines running throughout the 2 blocks. About mid-incident we had a carload of teenagers fly right through the scene running over two 2 1/2 inch attack lines and a 5 inch supply. From my position operating the pump to clearly watch them continue down the street to the mini-mart. I radioed for the on scene deputy who proceed to write several tickets and gave a very compelling and energetic lecture about the meaning of flashing lights and men in bunkers.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mark Klaene on October 2, 2009 at 1:02pm

Josh

as you mention just because it is illegal doesn't keep it from happening. I am curious did you see and change in pressure/flow as a result of the hoses being run over

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Josh Van Vlack on October 5, 2009 at 12:18pm

it was a small honda, and I didn't notice any pressure/flow changes. i don't doubt that a larger vehicle, say a tender, would have an impact.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Chief Mike France on October 2, 2009 at 1:08pm

Well from experince i can tell it's not a pretty , we had 700 feet of 4 inch laid out call on one of side streets , and was kinda funny to watch the Police car [ mind you he saw it] drive over it, no damage to the hose but did a little to the police car. But in most cases we tend to block of the area to keep the traffic out. And in New York it illegal

▶ Reply to This

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last