As columnists for FireRescue, we rarely get to see the fruits of our labor. We know people read our columns, but we often don’t get a chance to interact with our readers. However, earlier this year, Chief Spruce McRee of the Brierfield (Ala.) Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) contacted me about water-on-wheels (WOW) operations. Our conversations led to me conducting a 2-day WOW course sponsored by the BVFD in May, which ended up being both a pleasure and a success.
The success of this operation was due to many factors: the can-do attitudes of the rural firefighters in the area; the enthusiasm of the members of the Montevallo Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD), an urban department that protects a municipality with a public water system; the Fire Act grant monies that allowed departments to purchase water supply equipment; firefighters from Cleburn and Randolph Counties, Ala., and Tennessee who traveled several hours to bring newly acquired equipment for class use and to help oversee the operations; local industries in Brierfield that funded the course; manufacturers who provided equipment for us to use; and the University of Montevallo, which allowed us to use its private lake for filling and a key parking lot for dumpsite operations.
The Course Goals
There were two goals for this WOW course. The first was to allow participants to use the available apparatus and equipment to set up a WOW operation to deliver as much water as possible (gpm). The second was to show the students how they could set up tests to evaluate WOW performance themselves.
Although departments in the area had tankers and some water shuttle equipment, they had never really trained together in a major water-shuttle operation. My role as instructor was to use whatever equipment we had to safely haul water with tank vehicles and to ensure attendees learned how to use the equipment properly.
Because we were to evaluate operations based on the gpm delivered, my first order of business was to test each of the tank apparatus available to measure their discharge rates and determine if there were any preexisting problems.
Tanker Weight Tests
On Saturday, the first day of the course, we conducted weight tests of the apparatus we would use. Chief McRee arranged for us to use scales at the Seaman Timber Co., Inc., one of the target hazards located in the BVFD’s district.
We began by setting up a 3,000-gallon porta-tank adjacent to the scale to collect the water from the tanks with rear dumps, which allowed us to recycle this water. The BVFD’s 1,250-gpm pumper then drafted from the porta-tank to refill the test tank apparatus. Pea Ridge Volunteer Fire Department’s 1,850-gallon tanker was used to supply any make-up water needed.
The tests consisted of weighing tank apparatus full and then taking measurements every 10 seconds until the tank emptied. These numbers were then plotted and graphed to show the elapsed time until the flow from the tank apparatus was too small to be of benefit.
In addition to testing the tank apparatus, we also conducted tests on three pumpers that off-loaded through side-discharges.
Site Setup & the ISO?
On Sunday morning, we walked through how to set up a dumpsite consisting of one to three porta-tanks, as well as how to set up jet siphons to transfer water from the outer porta-tanks to the draft (center) tank. We then walked through how to set up the fill site at University Lake.
The remainder of Sunday was spent conducting a performance test based on ISO? tests. The crew was given 5 minutes to start to flow 250 gpm once the first apparatus arrived on scene. Within the next 10 minutes, the operation increased the flow, receiving credit for that flow as long as it was maintained for 2 hours. A total of nine apparatus were used-seven transport apparatus, a fill pumper and a dumpsite pumper.
Prior to the start of the test, all apparatus were staged in a campus parking lot. The first apparatus in line was the dumpsite pumper (County 17). The second apparatus was the fill site pumper (BVFD’s engine). The seven water transport apparatus were next and were followed by Montevallo’s aerial tower.
At the “go” signal all apparatus responded to their assigned spots, with the fill site pumper and crew going to the lake to set up. The dumpsite pumper crew set up to supply a portable monitor to flow 250 gpm with 100 feet of 3″ hose. The tank apparatus responded to the dumpsite, set up porta-tanks and dumped as much water
as it could to build a large reserve. Montevallo’s tower ladder then laid 500 feet of 5″ hose from the dumpsite pumper to the other end of the parking lot to set up for a 500-gpm flow.
The Fill Site & Flow Increase
The fill site (Figure 4) utilized the BVFD’s 1,250-gpm pumper using double-suction lines and pumping through a 5″ line to supply a large-diameter hose (LDH) manifold, which supplied 3″ fill lines.
The flow at the dumpsite was increased to 850 gpm within the allotted 10 minutes and maintained for 2 hours. This flow was achieved by flowing 600 gpm from the Montevallo tower master stream and 250 gpm from a portable monitor. Eventually, all flow was fed to the tower. Once we proved that we could supply 850 gpm with no problem, we increased the flow to 1,000 and then 1,250 gpm to determine when we would run out of water. We maintained a flow of 1,250 gpm for nearly 30 minutes before running the porta-tanks dry.
Lessons Learned
Over the course of the weekend, we learned a lot about WOW operations. We determined:
- Pumpers can be used to effectively transport water;
- Side dumps on tank apparatus are a necessity;
- An aerial master stream can be supplied by a WOW operation; and
- Tank apparatus can be filled at over 1,000 gpm using dual suctions and LDH.
Sharing the Experience
I often receive e-mails requesting information about how departments can set up and operate a WOW operation. As I pointed out in this article, it can be done relatively easily. And once the operation has been conducted to demonstrate what flow can be delivered, the apparatus and equipment can be tweaked to increase performance or to maintain the same performance with fewer people or pieces of apparatus. Keep this in mind as you consider ways to move water in your own district.
‘Til next time, stay safe.
