By MICHAEL WALKER
Scenario: Firefighters arrive on-scene at a very large house fire and observe a large amount of fire pushing from the Charley side, which is threatening a nearby exposure. The officer is told that a victim is inside the house, so he decides to use the 2½-inch handline to achieve a quick knockdown. He only has one other firefighter to assist with the line, so lugging the big line around the friction points to reach the fire is going to be tough. As the search team enters the structure, the officer begins attacking the fire without hesitation and moves the line effectively with just one other firefighter. They quickly bring the fire under control and rescue the victim.
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| (1) Photo courtesy of Mackbow Fire Tools. |
This very operation occurred and was successful because the officer carried a tool that allowed him to advance the line with much less effort than usual. That tool was a Bowring.
You can easily place this new, first-of-its-kind tool on a charged handline to lift and move the line more easily than ever before. Since stretching and operating hoselines are critical at all structure fires, firefighters must deploy and advance attack lines in the safest and most efficient manner possible for victim and firefighter safety. The Bowring allows each firefighter to use larger back, shoulder, and leg muscles for hose advancement rather than only grip and forearm strength, thus maximizing energy and speed. You can easily and efficiently manage friction points with a pull and slide of the Bowring.
You can also use the Bowring as an emergency bailout device. It is constructed of stainless steel, and you can quickly rig it with a firefighter’s personal escape rope, providing the necessary friction for a quick, safe descent from harm.
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| (2)Photo by Cort Smith. |
The Bowring’s other lifesaving capability is the rapid intervention team (RIT) drag application. The tool’s design provides a natural hook that you can easily place through the shoulder straps of the downed firefighter’s self-contained breathing apparatus. The RIT firefighter can then begin to drag the downed firefighter to safety.
One aspect of the Bowring that inventors Clint Bowring and Tony Mack (both active firefighters) point out is that it is as easy to remove it from the downed firefighter as it is to put it into place. If during extraction you need to reposition, you can remove the Bowring from the firefighter’s shoulder straps long enough to negotiate around a particular obstacle and then reposition it when you clear the impediment.
Other design features include an integrated spanner wrench that you can use for hose coupling sizes ranging from 1½- to four-inch storz and slots for both 1½-inch and 2½-inch pinlug couplings.
If you need to shut off the water to the structure or shut off the gas meter, the Bowring has two slots built into the tool for those very applications. You can also use the device as a replacement standpipe wheel for many different standpipe valves; if the pipe wrench comes up missing, the Bowring is a quick replacement to prevent a stalled fire attack in a high-rise fire. The Bowring even has a built-in oxygen bottle wrench.
If you need to remove the windshield at a vehicle extrication, the Bowring has a built in “glass ripper” integrated into its design. All the rescuer has to do is punch the tip of the Bowring through the windshield and begin sawing it out.
The Bowring is 8.1 inches tall × 5.9 inches wide × .375 inches thick and weighs 22 ounces, so it easily fits into a firefighter’s bunker pants.
The Bowring is a compact, lightweight, multipurpose tool that will be used at some point on every fire alarm. Some of its uses include the following:
1. Hose advancement—fits six hose sizes.
2. Emergency bailout descender—two different positions.
3. RIT firefighter drag—hook and drag.
4. High-rise tool—use as a cheaterbar, standpipe wheel, spanner wrench, hose advancer, and emergency bailout descender.
5. Gas shutoff—two different options.
6. Auto extrication—windshield removal and glass ripper.
7. O2 wrench.
8. Door wedge.
9. Water shutoff.
10. Mattress hook—hook the wire frame and pull it out.
11. Forcible entry tool.
12. Spanner wrench—fits pin lugs, rockerlugs, and storz lugs.
13. Gypsum board ripper—cleanly rips through while looking for hot spots.
14. Nance drill.
15. Denver drill.
MICHAEL WALKER is a 20-year fire service veteran and a battalion chief with the Oklahoma City (OK) Fire Department. He has been a fire service instructor for 15 years.
