With more than 100 firefighters and 25 appliances in attendance, Scoresby Fire Brigade under the leadership of Leading Firefighter Glenn Bosua conducted a large-scale pumping exercise to demonstrate the challenges and issues associated with supplying water to the fireground.
Held at Caribbean Gardens in Scoresby, the aim was to highlight the benefits that a hose layer unit can provide to assist in supplying water to the fireground.
Four scenarios were conducted to demonstrate the correct relay set-ups to supply 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 litres per minute and incorporated the use of trailer pumps, bigfill pumps, tankers, pumper/tankers and pumpers. The ladder platform from Dandenong was also used in one of the relay pumping scenarios.
In the first exercise water had to be supplied and maintained to a ground monitor, delivering 950 litres per minute, using only tankers to complete the task. It's important to note that 950 litres per minute is the rated capacity of the 3.4C and 3.4D tankers. The distance from the monitor to the water supply was 600 metres.
Initially, five tankers were used in a tanker shuttle. This is representative of a 'standard response' by incident controllers when water is a considerable distance from the fire/incident. One tanker fulfilled the role of the attack vehicle supplying the monitor. One tanker was required to set up a draught to refill the other three tankers, which shuttled water to the attack vehicle.
Due to the distance, crews found themselves struggling to maintain water supply to the attack vehicle. Within 10 minutes water supply had ceased at the monitor. This is a poor position for fire brigades to be in if water supply is lost to the fire and a number of the principles of operations are not being met.
Struggling to maintain the water supply, the call to “make tankers 10” was made. Now with eight tankers to shuttle water and a lot of coordination, the tanker shuttle worked effectively and water could be maintained.
There are some important points to consider when calling for 10 tankers.
• Potential numbers in attendance could be up to 50 firefighters.
• The request for 10 tankers to a fire/incident leaves a large footprint that can create fire coverage issues. Depending on the day of the week and the time of day some brigades may struggle to crew one vehicle let alone two. Areas could potentially be unprotected to some degree should a second fire call be received in the brigade's local area.
• There is a cost to the community when people have to leave their jobs to attend fires or incidents.
• There is a cost to families when people have to leave home to attend fires or incidents.
• The costs associated with the vast number of resources requested increases considerably. There are costs associated with volunteers’ time, fuel, wear and tear of the vehicles and pumps, equipment, catering and crew rotations potentially.
The significance of this scenario was realised when the Scoresby hose layer laid a single 90mm hose line from the draughting tanker to the attack tanker at the fire.
The eight tankers conducting the tanker shuttle were parked off to the side of the roadway and no other vehicles were required. The two tankers were able to maintain a constant flow of 950 litres per minute to the ground monitor over the 600 metres.
The logistics for this scenario now is only two tankers, Scoresby hose layer and 12 firefighters. This is significantly less than 10 tankers and 50 firefighters.
Other advantages of this set-up include:
• Constant supply of water
• Crews from the other tankers can be reallocated to tasks such as BA operations.
• If retasking is not required then the other tankers can be released back to their home location. This will assist to overcome the fire coverage issues.
• Pump operator does not have to constantly conduct changeovers from first aid tank to the suction inlet.
• Vehicular traffic issues are resolved. There is no need for traffic management plans to be produced as vehicular traffic has ceased. The risk to firefighters is minimised around both the draughting and attack vehicle work areas. The risk to other road users is reduced as the issues associated with tanker shuttles in transit from one point to the other no longer exist.
Richard Cromb an instructor for pump operations and one of the leading mentors for hydraulics in District 13 feels that the hose layer is largely an underused resource because of the stigma that traditionally it’s only use was in supporting aerial appliances at factory fires.
“As we’ve seen today with the 90mm hose, it cuts down the number of appliances we need and makes the operation more efficient.”
What made this scenario possible is a thorough understanding of hydraulics. If we want to move water, regardless of how much, it becomes easier when the hose is a larger diameter. 90mm hose is two and a half times more efficient than 64mm hose for the same flow.
Chief Officer Euan Ferguson stated in regards to these challenging incidents, “You need to call on specialist advice and specialist equipment.”
The experience of members at Scoresby Fire Brigade with the development of the hose layer has led to an increased understanding of hydraulics. Water management through the aide of custom built calculators to ensure that the correct theory is applied means that the old adage of 'operations hampered by a lack of water' can be forgotten as we learn to manage the water we have more effectively. With larger hose and greater knowledge about how to space the pumps in a relay, Scoresby is well equipped to improve the firefight.
As an asset that can improve the operational effectiveness of any brigade, group or district, water management vehicles could change the way CFA operates. Timothy Desmond from Volunteer Fire Brigades of Victoria (VFBV) recognises the impact this could have for Victoria.
“I think it’s very important that CFA considers water management vehicles in the future… and looks at putting them strategically around the State.”
When Leading Firefighter Glenn Bosua briefed all the attendees before the exercises commenced, he discussed the value of requesting the right appliances early. He acknowledged that the hose layer may not be there early, but once on scene resources can be reallocated or can be released earlier. Calling for the hose layer early will also improve the effectiveness of the firefight.
Leading Firefighter Bosua also highlighted some trigger points to help incident controllers decide when to request the hose layer.
“If you call for one or more aerial appliances, call the hose layer. If you make pumpers four, call the hose layer. If you make tankers five, call the hose layer.”
Anyone wanting more information or wanting to book the hose layer for a demonstration can contact the station on 9763 6858.
Images by Blair Dellemijn & Keith Pakenham CFA Strategic Communications
Subscribe to this comment's feed
