Chapter 4: Positioning Fire Department Pumpers Flashcards
what will the operator will determine the best placement for the first arriving and later arriving pumpers on the fireground
- Local policies, the company officer and the driver/operator
- A fire department pumper’s: primary function
on the fireground is to provide water directly for fire streams or to support other pumpers or aerial apparatus
Positioning for fire attack
- Incident scene size up determines
the most advantages position for the attack pumper
- The driver/operator of the first arriving apparatus must
observe conditions and determine the best apparatus position based on initial attack strategy and department policy
what will set the scene at an incident
- The position of the initial company, local operating guidelines and orders from IC will set the scene
When positioning the apparatus, the driver/operator should:
o Pull past the front of the building: this position allows personnel on the apparatus to view 3 sides of the building
o Consider the best acess point for personnel and equipment entering the occupancy when parking the apparatus, this will allow personnel efficient acess to the building
o Remain with the apparatus in the event connections for water supply or FDC need to be made or to assist in pulling attack hoselines and operating the pump
Rescue situations
postion the apparatus to facilitate the most efficient deployment of ground ladders
Exposures:
position the apparatus so that fire streams can be deployed to protect the exposure if the fire has the potential to threaten exposure
o Consider the apparatus an exposure- avoid placing the apparatus in a location that may subject it to high levels of radiant heat, falling embers or other products of combustion
Water supply
if a confirmed fire is located in an area of limited access, such as narrow driveway or alley, the personnel of the first arriving pumper should consider laying their own supply
o Supply lines should be laid where they are accessible to later arriving apparatus
- Method of attack
determine the positioning of the apparatus. If handlines or portable master streams are to be used, the pumper must be positioned in close proximity to the building or incident scene to allow effective water supply
Hose line deployment
position pumpers to better support the deployment of hoselines for fire attack or supply lines to fire department connections
- Wind direction
attempt to position the apparatus upwind of an incident whenever possible
- Terrain:
park apparatus on hard surfaces whenever practical
o When operating at an incident involving hazardous or flammable liquids, an uphill position eliminates the chance of a hazardous liquid flowing underneath the apparatus
- Roadway response
block lanes of the road where firefighters are operating as well as an additional lane for a safety zone
o When laying supply hose into the fire scene, lay the hose to the side of the street
o LDH is almost impossible to move once charged
- Structural collapse
apparatus and personell should remain out of the collapse zone of at least 1.5x the height of the building
- The corners of the building are considered the safest
- Preincident planning:
- Overhead utility lines
- Falling debris
- Preincident planning: aids in identifying buildings with a high potential for collapse
- Overhead utility lines: dangerous especially in bad westher
- Falling debris: depending on the incident, apparatus equipemtn etc, the base of a high rise fire may need to be protected
- Ability tpo remove portable equipment: park somewhere all the doors can open
Positioning to support aerial apparatus
- Pumpers may arrive before aerial and must park somewhere good for them but also yield an optimum position close to the building for the aerial
- Inside/outside method
used to position aerial and pumping apparatus at a fire scene
o If the bulding is less than 5 floors tall, the attack pumper(s) are postioned on the side of the street closest to the building and aeriel is placed on the outboard of the pumper(s) as it should be long enough to reach over the pumper
o If building is greater than 5 floors the attack pumpers take the outside position to allow the aerial apparatus maximum reach to the building
Positioning to support fire department connections
- A pumper should position as closely as possible to the water source
- Fire hydrant is located in close proximity to the FDC this allows the pumper to connect to the FDC and chaieve water supply from the hydrant with relative ease
- Driver should not cross contaminate
- Driver should not cross contaminate a nonpotable (nondrinkable) water source and a portable water supply
- Fire department connection
: point at which the fire department can connect into a sprinkler or standpipe system to boost the water pressure and flow in the system
o Consists of a clammpered Siamese with two or more 2 ½ inch intakes or one large diameter intake
Relay
to shuttle water between a source and an emergency scene using mobile water supply apparatus
- Drafting
process of aquiring water from a static source and transferring it into a pump that is above the sources level
- Drafting operations are required when
a pumper must be supplied from a static water supply source such as a dry hydrant, storage, lake or stream
- static water supply
supply of water at rest that does not provide a pressure head for fire suppression but may be employed as a suction source for fire pumps
- drafting pumpers
may supply apparatus at the fireground directly or mayh serve as source pumpers for relay or water shuttle operations
- preference should be given to drafting locations that are
accessible from a hard surface and require a minimum length of hard intake hose or lift
- dry hydrant
permanetley installed pipe that has pumper suction connections installed at static water sources to speed drafting operations
- upon identifying suitable drafting locations, many places install dry hydranyts at these sites because it
o this allows the pumper to quickly connect the water supply source when drafting is happening
- be aware that hard intake hose is designed to withstand
vaccum associated with drafting operations
o some are not designed or intended for positive pressure conditions
- intake hose
hose used to connect a fire department pumper or a portable pump to a enarby water source; may be soft or hard sleeve suction hose
o common in 100Ft lengths but come in 10 to 50 feet
side intake connections:
- avoid blocking the street with the apparatus, the driver must stop close to the curb with the pump intake a few feet short of being in line with the hydrant
- stopping short of the hydrant allows the intake hose to curve slightly, preventing kinks that can drastically restrict flow
- a good way to minimize the chance of intake hose kinking is to put a counterclockwise twist in the hose when making connection between the hydrant and pumper which help prevent formation of kinks but do not restrict water flow
front and rear intake connections:
- driver should stop the apparatus either a few feet short or a few feet beyond the hydrant to allow the intake hose to curve
connection to 2 ½ inch hydrant outlets
- when the maximum flow from a hydrant is not required or large diameter intake hose is not available, connection to a hydrant may be using one or two of the hydrants 2 ½ inch outlets
- this accomplished by connecting one or more sections of 2 ½ or 3 inch hose from the hydrant to the pump intake
multiple intake connections
- occasionally a pumper will be required to use a large diameter intake (steamer intake) and smaller hoselines form an exceptionally well pressurized (strong) hydrant
- dual pumping
operation where a strong hydrant is used to supply two pumpers by connecting the pumpers intake to intake
o the second pumper receives the excess water not being pumped by the first pumper, which is directly connected to the water supply source
- tandem pumping
short relay operation in which the pumper taking water from the supply source pumps into the intake of the second pumper; the second pumper then boost the pressure of the water even higher
- form of relay pumping with the pumpers positioned close together rather than evenly spaced in the supply hose layout.
when are tandem pumps needed and used
- Used when pressures higher than the capability of a single pump are required
o Supply a high rise sprinkler or standpipe system
o Used in situations where the attack pumper is located a relitevely short distance from the water source but a great distsnce from the fire - Relay pumping used to increase the volume of water available at the fire scene while tandem pumping is most often undertaken to increase water pressure
tandem pumping operations can be how many feet apart
up to 300 feet apart
- Relay pumping used to
increase the volume of water available at the fire scene while tandem pumping is most often undertaken to increase water pressure
Positioning wildland fire apparatus Structure protection
- Second to life safety is protection of property
- Wildland/urbvan interface: the boundary between wildland and structural development
- Back the apparatus into position from the last know turnaround point and note the location of landmarks
- Once the apparatus arrives at the structure its assigned to protect, position it according to the following guidelines for safety and efficiency;
o Park the apparatus off the roadway (if conditions permit) to avoid blocking other apparatus or evacuating civilians.
o Clear away any nearby brush that may serve as fuel for a fire.
o Position the apparatus on the leeward side of the structure to minimize exposure to heat and blowing embers.
o Place the apparatus at a nearby but safe distance from the structure in ortes to keep hoselines short.
o Keep doors and windows closed to keep out burning material.
o Place the vehicle’s air conditioning on recirculation mode to avoid drawing in smoke from the outside.
o Do not position apparatus in close proximity to power lines, large trees, LPG tanks or other pressure vessels, and exposed structures
-Wildland fire attack
Any fire attack should begin with the apparatus
positioned in an anchor point
facing the direction of the exit path, front wheel straight and wheels chalked
- Anchor point
a natural or man made barrier that prevents fire spread and the possibility of the crew being flanked while constructing the fire line
o Typically roads, lakes, pond or previously burned area
- Fording
- Mop-up
- Fording: ability of an apparatus to traverse a body of standing water
- Mop-up: the act of making a fire safe after its controlled by extinguishing or removing buring material along or near the control line, felling dead trees and trenching logs to prevent rolling
- Apparatus operation safety guidelines:
o Position apparatus in a safe area and do not leave apparatus unattended.
o Communicate with the entire fireground organization for safe and efficient operations.
o Keep headlights on whenever the engine is running.
o Back apparatus into a position facing an escape route.
o Close all windows and doors to prevent burning embers from entering the cab.
o Establish an anchor point before beginning fire attack.
o Draw apparatus and crews to the flanks of the fire rather than attempting a frontal attack if the fire is spreading rapidly upslope.
o Position apparatus to maximize protection from heat and fire, taking into consideration overhead power lines, heavy fuel load areas, and incoming air drops.
o Keep a charged line ready for apparatus protection.
o Do not drive apparatus into unburned fuels higher than the vehicle’s underside clearance.
o Position apparatus using previously burned areas whenever possible
o Attacks made from the unburned side must allow sufficient distances to accommodate loss of water supply or mechanical failure.
o Consider the location of operating crews when moving apparatus. Do not drive into smoke near the location of other crews. Whenever driving through smoke, proceed very slowly, sounding the horn or siren intermittently.
- Staging:
standardized process or preocedure by which available resources responding to a fire or other inciodent are held in reserve at a location away from the incident while awaiting assignment
- Level I staging
used on all multi company emergency responses. The firt arriving vehicles of each type proceed directly to the scene and the others stand by away from scene
o Stage approximately 1 block away in direction of travel
o Engine companies usually stage near a water source
- Level II staging
used on large scale incidents where a large number of fire and emercengy services companies are responding; these companies are sent to a specified remote location to await assignment
staging manager
o Shut off emergency warning lihts but be ready to deploy
o Staging area manager
company officer of the first arriving company t the staging who takes command of the area
- Base:
location at which the primary incident management logistics functions are coordinated and administered; the I cident command post may be collocated with the base
o Primary point outside the incident area to which units report and receive initial orders
o Only one per incident
- Apparatus equipped with side mounted pump panels: should position
facing the incident scene, if at all possible, so that the driver at the pump panel has a view of the incident scene
- The following are basicprinciples the driver must consider when respomnding to any potential haz mat incident:
o Obtain infomon wind speed and direction
o Approach from upwind and uphill
o Do not drive directly to the scene
o Position the apparatus and personnel well short of the scene until hazard is determined
- hazard control zones
systems of barriers designated areas intened to limit number of persons exposed
o 3 zones restricted (hot) zone, limited access (warm) one, support (cold) zone
- May expand or contract during incident
Hot zone
potentially hazardous area immediately surrounding the incidentsite
o Requires appropriate PPE
o Typically limited to technician level personnel
o Area is exposed to gases, vapours, dust or runoff of the hazardous substance
o Must extend far enough to prevent people from suffering from effects of the release
Warm zone
area between hot and cold that usually contains the decontamination,
o requires lesser degree of PPE
o may be considered safe to enter briefly without special PPE
o used to provide support for hot zone
- cold zone
safe area outside the warm zone where equipment and personnel are not expected to become contaminated
o where all incident support functions are conducted
o no PPE required
o commandpost, staging area, triage/treatment,
o driver operator likely in this zone
operating near railroads
- apparatus should maintain min 30 feet from tracks
- consider all track live
- never position on tracks
- use the following guidelines when operating near railroad:
o Take care not to position the apparatus close enough to a track where a passing train may contact the vehicle.
o Cross railroad tracks only at designated crossing points in order to avoid the possibility of becoming stuck on the tracks due to the ground clearance of the apparatus and the height of the track bed.
o Park on the same side of the track as the incident in order to avoid stretching hoselines across the track and to keep firefighters from making repeated crossings of the track.
o Notify the rail company to confirm that rail traffic has been halted along the section in question if stretching a hoseline across a track is absolutely necessary. If this is not possible, the hose may be run underneath the rails or an aerial apparatus may be used to provide access for a hoseline over the top of a track location.
o Use consideration for railroads that operate using high voltage overhead
