Last month we looked at the importance of having a free flow of water from the hydrant to the pump; that means no kinks in the supply line. The next critical link in the fire-suppression chain is delivering water from the pump to the fire via the hose.
In the corresponding videos, we have a story from a July 2011 fire that destroyed a business and killed the owner. The news story focused on the concerns of the residents who watched the fire unfold and questioned why it took so long, in this case 14 minutes, to get water flowing.
It is normal for bystanders to raise this type of questioning as they expect quick results without knowing the process involved in getting water onto the fire.
We don’t know all of the facts surrounding the circumstances of this event. What we do know is that getting water flowing and delivered to our hose lines is a priority for the incident commander, the crew and others involved with the fire.
Process evaluation can help us determine where in the line of dominos being set up with our water delivery, did our water-delivery process go awry.
There are certain steps involved with getting water from the source to the pump intake to the hose being used to discharge the water. These steps must be trained on and practiced constantly to ensure a smooth and effective process of water delivery.
Critical not boring
This type of training may be viewed as being too basic and for some, not exciting enough to warrant the time dedicated to perfecting it. However basic this may be for some, it needs to be perfected so that no matter what the circumstances are at any fire, we can ensure that water will be flowing from the pump out to the hand lines for quick and timely water application.
Training for this skill can be adapted to work for different staffing situations such as a four-person crew, a three-person crew, and even a two-person crew.
There are shortcuts that can be developed to suit the needs of the fire department based upon staffing response so that when they arrive on scene, they can advance a hose line, get it flaked out, call for water and know that within a few seconds, that water will be at the nozzle ready for application.
What are the dangers of not having water at the nozzle? The dangers will be similar to those described in the video.
A life lost may be lost and the fire will grow in size and in intensity every minute. A firefighter’s life may be put in jeopardy during a search or interior operations due to inadequate water protection. The building will more rapidly deteriorate, leading to collapse. And other exposures may catch fire.
All of these items are what the dominos being lined up eventually lead to — a disastrous outcome and a much bigger problem. Remove the dominos by evaluating your process in water delivery and perfect it to make it work every time.
