Re: OT - Small town vol. fire chief vehicles

Posted by kcm.MN on April 21, 2017 at 10:32:22 from (174.219.135.104):

In Reply to: OT - Small town vol. fire chief vehicles posted by BarnyardEngineering on April 19, 2017 at 05:34:20:

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Actually, it's not. Fire is fire, but fuel is different. In the south, most home buildings are built using 2x4 construction. Some parts of the country there isn't even insulation in many buildings. Farther north, you have buildings with 2x6 (or greater) construction. Most smaller commercial buildings and some private homes are using steel-framed structures. Along the southern and eastern coastlines, buildings have to withstand hurricane. Much of the Mid-west people opt for something a little better at withstanding the devastating effects of a tornado, though this isn't as common. In cities, you have multi-level structures to deal with, not to mention the congestion and tight work spaces.

The vol FD I was in once responded to a fire and explosion at a refinery down in....am wanting to say Baytown, Tx. We weren't anywhere near set up for that, but they were mostly needing manpower and definite water supply. There was a long line of equipment - probably over a mile long, and most of the equipment was fortunately not needed.

While at fire training school near Texas A&M University, we had to take turns manning the hose as well as being the one to stick our hand through the wall of water to close the valve on a 500 gallon (might have been 1,000...but makes no difference) LP tank spewing flames over 100' in the air. There are barns with hay/straw that can be difficult to extinguish, not to mention blown-in insulation. That stuff is NASTY to put out! With vehicle fires, you have larger quantities of fuels such as gasoline, diesel and even aviation fuel, all of which must be dealt with properly. ....Now let's add in all of the chemicals used in daily life - old chemicals as well as new stuff. Ever think about what happens when carpet burns? Carpet pad? A sofa? Not to mention paints/finishes, cleaning supplies, and a whole host of other unknowns.

Nope, fire isn't quite the same.

Oh, and when in cities with buildings above about 150' high, it gets increasingly more difficult to fight the fires as your normal average water pump may have a max head of maybe 120'. I don't for an instant envy those city fire fighters who have to haul all that hose up stairways!! Figure in about 60 lbs of bunker gear and breathing apparatus, then add in the weight of a charged 1.5" line and you're carrying a heck of a lot of weight into an unknown area, often with little or no visibility (it is normally NOT as you see on TV!!!!!!!!!!!), wearing all that cumbersome gear, and going into the additional heat of the fire. No sir, I don't envy those guys one bit!!

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