BY BRIAN A. COLELLA
Today’s small fire departments, those with 50 or fewer firefighters, face a number of challenges. Whether a small municipal career department in an urban area or a volunteer or combination department in a suburban or rural area, these departments share common problems. Unlike their big-city brethren, they rarely have the luxury of an excess of equipment or firefighters, but they face many of the same challenges and hazards. The key for these departments is to be as effective as the larger departments with far fewer resources.
PROPER PUMPER SETUP CRUCIAL TO EFFECTIVE ENGINE FUNCTION
One area in which effectiveness could be maximized is pumper operations. The pumper should be designed (if purchasing a new pumper) or set up (existing pumper) for ease of operation and maximum capability. Factors that can affect these objectives, in addition to poor pump panel design, include the following: lack of a variety of attack lines, difficulty in the attack teams’ reaching the lines, using an incorrect nozzle for the task, improperly loaded preconnects, using small-diameter supply line, the lack of a foam system (where appropriate), and the absence of important accessories and complementary equipment.
Do any of these problems sound familiar? Properly setting up a pumper is basic to your department’s engine company operations. Modern pumpers represent a major cost for today’s small fire departments. We often expect these vehicles to last 15 to 20 years, yet we give little thought to how we are going to use them and what we could do to make them more user friendly. We rarely think about the personnel who will be most affected by its design-the attack teams and the pump operator-when creating specifications for a new pumper.
SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING ENGINE OPERATIONS
Following are some suggestions for getting the most from your engine company operations.
 (1) Combination pressure gauges and flowmeters. The pressures of the preconnects are marked on the gauge. (Photos by author.) |
• Design a pump panel your operators will love. When designing a panel for a new pumper, your primary concerns should be ease of operation and pump operator safety. As an instructor of pump operations, I’ve had the opportunity to view many types of pump panel arrangements. The top-mount pump offers the most advantages. From the perspective of ease of use, a pump operator operating from a top mount has an unobstructed view of the fireground; is up off the ground, which can be slick from water in summer and ice in winter; can easily monitor the operation because the valves are usually located just under the individual gauges; and has fewer opportunities for distraction and thus will not have to wander away from the pump position.
 (2) Design your preconnects for versatility and easy accessibility. |
Consider combination flowmeters/pressure gauges for your pump panel. Flowmeters simplify pump operations and minimize the need for hydraulic calculations. “Dialing up” to the required flow is all that is usually necessary. But, be aware that flowmeters alone are not always the best solution and will not completely relieve your pump operators of all responsibility for calculating correct pressures. The hoselines often will not be in a flowing mode long enough to register an accurate reading, or they may be inaccurate or out of calibration. To get the best of both systems, consider the combination pressure gauge/flowmeter. Even if you do not get an accurate flow reading, a well-trained pump operator will be able to compare the flow reading with the pressure reading.
If you’re just trying to improve the pump panel of an existing pumper, you can simplify the pump operator’s work by marking the pressures of the preconnected lines on the gauges. Small, stick-on numbers work well (e.g., 135 psi). While you’re at it, color code your gauges and discharge valves to match the colors of your attack lines. Orders like “charge the green line” are much easier to follow if there is a green handle or switch to operate.
 (3) Pack the heavy caliber (21⁄2-inch) line in a minuteman load at a manageable height. |
• Use a variety of preconnects. Not all fires are 13⁄4-inch fires. If you accept this idea, why would you set up your attack pumper as though they were? Add some versatility to your attack-line arrangement, and give your officers and crews the option to choose the proper caliber for attack. A successful formula is to set up your pumper with a minimum of 150 percent of its hoseline capacity preconnected. You won’t use the lines all at once, but you’ll have the right tool for the job.
Your bread-and-butter lines often will be of the 13⁄4– or two-inch variety. I suggest the 13⁄4-inch with low-pressure nozzles (discussed below). Considering minimum staffing and ease of use, the 13⁄4-inch usually is easier to maneuver and resists the kinking often found when two-inch lines are operated at lower pressures. An effective flow of 150 gpm is easily achievable at 135 psi when using a low-pressure (75-psi) nozzle.
 (4) Deploying a three-inch leader line with a �water thief� device. |
Don’t forget the 21⁄2-inch attack line; it can be very useful. A 21⁄2-inch line with a solid-bore nozzle and a 11⁄4-inch tip will flow 325 gpm for maximum penetration and reach while operating at a manageable nozzle pressure of 50 psi. Large interior areas, hallways, and areas of heavy fire load still call for the use of this traditional fire service heavy hitter. Although it might take four firefighters to deploy and use properly, I would argue that it uses less resources than the two 13⁄4-inch lines needed to match the punch of a 21⁄2-inch line.
The “leader line” (also known as a “mall pack”) is another technique you can use to get the most from your resources. This line normally consists of 150 to 200 feet of lightweight three-inch line connected to a wye or “water-thief” appliance. It is useful for hose stretches that go beyond your standard preconnect length. In essence, it serves as a portable standpipe that can be carried into a structure with one, two, or three other lines (11⁄2– or 21⁄2-inch) taken off it. Often used in conjunction with high-rise packs, it is very effective at mid-rise (three- and four-story) apartment building fires and in large area fires where no in-house standpipe system is available.
 (5) A tailboard-mounted master stream provides tremendous knockdown capability and easily can be deployed by one firefighter. |
Tailboard-mounted master streams, also called “step guns,” provide an excellent method of putting a large-caliber attack line into play with one firefighter. Extremely effective as a “blitz” attack tool on storefront or other commercial type fires, this tool can blacken down a large fire within a minute or less if properly positioned. Combined with stacked tips for maximum penetration, well-trained personnel can safely use it to flow 500 to 600 gallons per minute in unanchored portable mode. The step gun should be preconnected, usually on or near the tailboard (within easy reach) and fed with about 150 feet of preconnected three-inch lightweight line. Three-inch line is preferred over larger-diameter hose because the lighter weight will allow your crews to shut down the step gun and reposition it if necessary.
Finally, the apparatus-mounted monitor (or deck gun) is also a valuable resource, provided you can maneuver your pumper into the proper position. I wouldn’t specify it instead of the tailboard-mounted step gun but in addition to it. Make it detachable so it can be deployed as a portable unit if needed.
• Place preconnects where your firefighters can reach them. One of the most important things you can do to ensure safety and ease of use for your attack teams is to place preconnects at manageable heights. Whether the arrangement incorporates crosslays, speedlays, or lines deployed from the hosebed, it makes little sense to place them out of the reach of the majority of your firefighters.
 (6) The deck gun, an important tool, should be detachable. |
Ergonomics has been a hot topic in most work settings for many years; but for some reason, this concept has not made it into the design of the modern attack pumper. As fire apparatus get larger, preconnects are packed higher and higher without regard to how the nozzleman and his backup will reach and deploy them safely. Use arrangements like the speedlay, a preconnect at shoulder height easily deployable by firefighters of average height.
While on the subject of preconnects, slide-out trays are a recent design that allows for easy repacking. Don’t forget to consider ease of use in these nonemergency procedures as well. Finally, don’t use bumper trays or sidewells for your main attack lines. Although okay for trash lines, they can rarely be packed or advanced with the efficiency of a standard preconnect, and their use often leads to a pile of spaghetti in front of the bumper.
 (7) Pull-out trays help in repacking preconnects. |
What do you do if you have no intentions of purchasing a new pumper? The ideas I’ve mentioned, with a little creativity, can be incorporated into your present fleet. I’ve seen departments vastly increase the capabilities of their pumpers by adding preconnects in every conceivable location. It may not look pretty, but it works.
• Use low-pressure nozzles. Where is it written that combination nozzles must operate at 100-psi nozzle pressure? Advancing the attack line into a hostile environment is difficult enough without adding excessive pressure and nozzle reaction.
Modern low pressure, combination (fog) nozzles work perfectly well at 75 or even 50 psi. Both will flow 150 gpm, a flow many believe to be the optimum for a 13⁄4-inch attack line (when knockdown potential, flashover protection, and physical stress on the hoseline crew are considered). The beauty of using a low-pressure combination nozzle is that you can combine it with a break-apart nozzle with a smooth bore 7⁄8-inch or 15⁄16-inch tip and that the pump operator has to do very little adjusting if the attack team switches from combination to solid bore tips, as both operate at roughly the same pressure.
• Don’t leave the hose next to the pumper. Get it to the fire efficiently. How do you pack your preconnects? Are they in a neat little stack with the nozzles on top, or are they in a rapidly deployable shoulder-loaded arrangement? The latter, often referred to as the “minuteman load,” is hard to beat for ease of use and efficiency. The minuteman load gets the hoseline where it’s needed, to the fire. Attack line arrangements with the nozzles on top, also referred to as the “grab-and-run load,” leave the majority of the hose where you don’t need it, next to the pumper.
The minuteman consists of two stacks of hose, packed side by side, and is designed to be carried on and flaked off the nozzle and backup firefighters’ shoulders as they advance toward the fire. Once at the desired point, the rest can be easily spread out for rapid entry into the fire area. A modified version can be used in single-stack form for hoselines packed in narrow hosebed trays.
 8) Store key pump/hose accessories in a compartment near the pump panel. |
Try an experiment to test the minuteman’s utility. Pack lines with each type of load, and give each a two-person team. Challenge these teams to deploy their hoselines up stairways, around bends, and through other obstacles with the goal of reaching a simulated fire. You’ll see how much faster and easier it is for your limited personnel to stretch the minuteman load to the objective. The minuteman minimizes physical exertion, allowing your crew to save their strength for the firefight while crews deploying the grab-and-run load expend much of their energy just trying to pull the hose-before ever reaching the fire. With a little training, there’s nothing to stop you from putting the minuteman load into effect. Any modern fire service essentials text has step-by-step instructions. Give it a try,
• Use large-diameter hose. One of the easiest ways to increase the efficiency of your pumper and maximize its capability is to outfit it with LDH (typically four- or five-inch diameter). This holds true for rural and urban departments regardless of the capabilities of the local water distribution system. Get all the water you can to the pump; there’s a chance you may need it.
I’ve spoken to chiefs in rural areas who’ve said, “We don’t have enough water to use LDH”; those in areas covered by old municipal water systems have told me, “Our water mains aren’t big enough to use LDH.” I have the same response for both: “The worse your water situation, the more you need LDH.” The department with 175-psi hydrants flowing 1,500 gpm are in fact those that need LDH the least.
Whatever your situation, LDH will get your available water to the scene more efficiently, and with a minimum of apparatus and staffing. Four-inch hose will deliver a tactical flow of about 1,000 gpm, whereas five-inch can deliver up to 2,000 gpm with very reasonable amounts of friction loss. At lower flows, these supply lines will have negligible friction loss. Small fire departments that don’t use LDH are unnecessarily limiting their capabilities to deliver water to the fire scene.
• Install a foam system. Whether it’s a top-of-the-line CAFS or a simple add-on foam eductor, don’t ignore the advantages of adding foam capability to your pumper. Class A, Class B, and combination foam systems are available. Class A foam will aid in knocking down and overhauling most structural fires, lowering the surface tension of water (thereby allowing it to sink in), and allowing you to do more with less. Class B foam can assist in extinguishing most flammable liquid fires you might encounter without the need for additional resources.
On newly designed pumpers, it’s most cost effective to specify a combination A and B system. Choose a foam system that allows you to proportion for all the types of foam you use (i.e., Class A at 1⁄2 percent and Class B typically at 1 percent, 3 percent, or 6 percent). A pumper featuring 40 gallons of Class A foam and 50 gallons of Class B foam will prove quite versatile. Pumpers already in service can be modified with a permanently mounted in-line eductor. At a minimum of expense and cost, you can increase the capabilities of your existing fleet by using portable eductors in combination with five-gallon pails of foam.
• Include accessories and complementary equipment. Outfit your pumper with the proper hose-related accessories. Nothing is worse than not being able to find the right fitting or adaptor when you need it. Your entire water movement scenario can be brought to a quick stop. Such equipment includes the following, but should be based on local conditions:
• siamese and wye adaptors,
• LDH by 21⁄2-inch adaptors (they are surprisingly handy in many situations),
• extra handline nozzles (21⁄2– and 13⁄4-inch),
• specialized nozzles (partition, cellar distributors, and so on), and
• hydrant steamer to LDH fittings (both at the end of your supply line and in a compartment in case you reverse lay to the hydrant).
Although I won’t cover these in detail, consider adding the following to your attack pumper to make it as self-sufficient as possible (remember, the idea is to do more with less):
• generator and electrical reels;
• a light tower;
• basic truck company tools
-electric PPV,
-ropes (including search taglines),
-salvage covers, and
-toolbox; and
• the right size ladder for your locale (not necessarily the standard 24-foot extension).
ACT TODAY
Whether buying a new pumper or trying to improve your existing fleet, be flexible and try something new. Consider some of the suggestions presented here. Use your imagination. Get ideas from your firefighters. Chances are that you can do a lot to increase your capabilities and make your small team a more effective one. ■
■ BRIAN A. COLELLA, a 25-year veteran of the fire service, is a career firefighter/lieutenant with the Allegheny County Airport Authority, at the Pittsburgh International Airport, and chief of the Highland Fire Department in McCandless, Pennsylvania. He is a local-level fire suppression instructor for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy and a staff instructor at Pittsburgh International’s FAA Regional Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Training Facility. He has a bachelor’s degree from Youngstown State University.
