Fire Streams and Nozzles Flashcards
1600’s
bucket brigade
1700’s
leather, copper riveted hose with playpipes
1800’s
2.5in cotton hose with underwriter’s playpipe
1940-1950
1.5in hose with assorted spray nozzles
1950-1960
combination of fixed nozzles and adjustable nozzles
1960-1970
added 1.75in hose and automatic nozzles
1970-1980
1.75 and 2.5in hoses with lots of automatic nozzles
1980-1990
Light weight hoses with dual pressure nozzles and special application attachments
Why do we use water to firefight?
a. Cheap, readily available, requires lots of specific heat and latent heat
Specific heat
The amount of energy required to increase the temperature of substance by one degree. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise a pound of water one degree Fahrenheit at standard atmospheric pressure
Latent heat of vaporization
Energy required to change a substance from a liquid to a gas
Water expands ____ times its original volume when converted to steam
1700
d. Although energy is required to change forms, the water still stays ____throughout the process.
212F
You must apply enough water to …
absorb the heat faster than it is being generated
Fire stream
a stream of water or other extinguishing agent after it leaves the firehose and nozzle until it reaches the desired target
Water streams are ID’d by
size and type
Size =
volume, GPM
Type =
pattern
Sizes
i. Low flow =
Types
i. Fog
ii. Solid
iii. Broken
Solid stream
a solid stream is a fire stream produced from a fixed orifice, smooth bore nozzle
i. Reach and penetration
ii. A good solid stream places 90% of its water in a 15in circle, or 75% in a 10in circle at the break over point
Breakover point
the point where the stream loses its forward momentum and falls into showers of spray that can be blown away easily.
Advantages of solid stream
- Reach and penetration
- Not likely to disturb thermal layers as much
- Less nozzle reaction
- Easy to see
Disadvantages of solid stream
- Can’t change pattern
- Can’t be used for foam
- Less heat absorption per gallon
Fog stream
has a defined pattern and is composed of small droplets; adjustable