Michael Lopez
Firefighter
Clinton Township (MI) Fire Department
Like most issues in the fire service, the issue of nozzles is not as simple as it may seem. Congratulations to the panel for identifying the many aspects of this topic. Here is a personal example of what I mean. My department switched from 112- to 134-inch hose. The rationale was simple: more water.
But it is not that simple. First of all, 134-inch hose is a lot heavier and more difficult to maneuver through a structure. Our department staffing is three to an engine. That means two of us are advancing the first attack line. History tells me that most of my department`s fires are residential and can be extinguished with the first line–that is, if the first line can reach the fire in a timely manner. When we switched to the larger hose, we did not update our nozzles. We continued to use the same combination nozzles. Through some company training with a flowmeter and an abandoned house, we discovered that after making two 907 turns in the house, we needed to get another person on the line to help push hose.
Furthermore, the flowmeter taught us that with our current nozzles, we would have to operate the line at a pretty high pressure before we could recognize the benefits of this larger hose. In fact, the normal pressure at which we operate affords us no benefit from the 134-inch hose, but it is taking us longer to reach the fire. All we did was increase our workload and risk for injury because of the added strain and exertion by going to a larger hose without changing to a nozzle that would support our hose choice and staffing level.
I guess the moral here is that nothing is as simple as it may appear. It again comes down to knowledge and training to see and understand the big picture. (Note: I did not include specific numbers of pressure, and so on, because I don`t consider my research to be formal–just an engine company experimenting.)
Another example of what I am talking about involves thermal imaging cameras. My department is considered very progressive. Other departments cannot believe that we have a camera on every engine company. To see the problem here, though, just reread the above paragraph. With staffing of three, I have my hands full just getting the first line in operation. I simply cannot use the camera and pull hose at the same time. Our truck companies are assigned primary search, yet the cameras are on the engines. To make a long story short, they just don`t get used as part of primary search. Usually, a truck guy will grab it off an engine company for the secondary search or to check for hot spots during overhaul. On the surface, we`re progressive as hell. In reality, all the variables were not considered and the implementation was flawed. What`s my point? Keep the Roundtable going and enlighten the masses! These are complicated issues that need to be well thought out.
