By Paul Shapiro
Over the years, one of the many skills that epitomizes the talented engineer is the ability to properly spot a hydrant with a short soft suction hose (10 to 15 feet long). Several methods have been developed to accomplish this task with some good results. Spotting the steamer connection on the pumper approximately three feet on either side of the port on the hydrant that is going to be used and about a car’s distance away, in most cases, gives a nice “S”-shaped lay that will come out kink-free after being charged. The tricky part is placing the pumper in the proper position to make this nice, smooth, kink-free spot and be able to do it from either side of the pumper.
No matter how proficient an engineer become in making this spot, there’s the possibility of some kind of interference that may prevent or at least make the deployment of the soft suction difficult. The hydrant could be recessed from the curb or have a vehicle parked too closely or directly in front of it.
Usually, the first few minutes of a good working fire are the most challenging for the engineer. Crews are pulling attack lines from the pumper and screaming for water, usually as soon as the hose clears the bed. Simultaneously, the engineer is doing everything possible to satisfy the water demands while making the supply line hookup to assure that the water supply is uninterrupted.
Given the above mentioned situation, try to imagine what it would be like if the supply line being used was a short soft suction and the pumper was spotted poorly making the hookup impossible. As we all know, these things do happen on the fireground. There is one way to alleviate this problem: using a preconnected, 50-foot long soft suction line (photo 1). It accomplishes two objectives:
- Being preconnected eliminates having to remove the hose from the compartment or hosebed which, in turn, saves in set-up time. Only the hydrant connection needs to be made.
- Using the 50-foot long soft suction eliminates having to make a near-perfect apparatus placement at the hydrant. The engineer simply spots the pumper in the general area of the hydrant, pulls the free end of the preconnected line to the hydrant, and makes the hookup.Unlike the short soft suctions, if a spot is made too close to the hydrant and causing a kink after it is charged, the hose can easily be straightened out. This is possible because the longer line has more room to expand or grow under pressure. More times then not, the kink will be removed on its own after the line is fully charged.
The key to avoiding kinks in a long soft suction line is to make wide bends whenever slack in the hose needs to be taken up.
The preconnected long soft suction line is the answer to troublesome hydrant spotting and is one more way of making the firefighter’s job a little easier.
The photos below demonstrate the deployment of the long soft suction preconnect.
