ON FIRE | by MICHAEL N. CIAMPO
When we’re in the overhauling stages of firefighting, we can face some difficult circumstances, especially when firefighters have a partial collapse of a structure and the smoldering embers are difficult to reach. Sure, we’ll be able to use a master stream to blow away roofing materials to hit the small area of a smoldering roof joist, but is that always our best tactic? Of course, it’s an option, and we hope everyone in the vicinity is aware of our plan so they can be on the lookout for flying debris! But let’s think about it, what other tactics can we deploy so we don’t blindside a firefighter yards away?
Pony Length
When we’re overhauling, we’re trying to open up an area and drench it with enough water to extinguish any smoldering materials within. We do this to extinguish the fire or “hot spots” and prevent that dreaded rekindle. Firefighters can use tools and the force of a stream to open up an area individually or in combination. Many times, performing these tactics will have to be done up close and personal. Aiming a hoseline from the ground up to the burning materials time after time may not be able to accomplish what we want to. The building’s structural integrity will tell us how we’ll accomplish this feat.
Using a pony length of hose from a few feet away from our work area may be one of the best “mop-up” solutions. Many tower and aerial ladder companies now carry a shorter piece of hose in their equipment inventory. The lengths are usually about seven to 10 feet, with a nozzle connected to the male coupling (often referred to as “pony lengths,” “shortie,” or “mop-up” lengths). Many tower ladder buckets have a small compartment or bracket to store the length of hose. The main difference with the pony length compared to a full length is that it is easy to deploy and use from the bucket, without much of it hanging off the side or down the ladder of the apparatus.
Using a full length of hose from the bucket is difficult because much of it will hang off the side of the bucket, putting pressure on the nozzle firefighter, who is trying to operate and hold onto the hose. Plus, if we were to lay it on the ladder and then extend or retract it, the hose could get pinched in between the rails or rungs, cutting off the water supply and damaging the apparatus and hose. A shorter pony length allows the firefighters in the bucket to loop most of the line in the bucket or over one side while they operate at different heights with the apparatus. It also reduces the chances of the hoseline being pinched in the ladder’s rungs or rails. Remember, it can happen when flying, and firefighters should glance backward from time to time to ensure the hoseline doesn’t get wedged.
Some advantages of using a pony length during overhaul follow:
- We can regulate the amount of water being applied to an area by using the pattern of the nozzle. In areas of minimal fire damage, we’re causing less damage to the contents of the structure.
- Using it from the tower ladder bucket allows us to “fly” over, under, or next to the area and pinpoint the accuracy of the water stream to the smoldering materials.
- It prevents structural components from becoming airborne projectiles and reduces the chances of hitting a firefighter with the stream, compared to using the master stream to hydraulically overhaul.
- It allows firefighters to continue opening up while directing a small stream of water at a burning debris pile.
Pony lengths have also been stretched onto the roof of a structure, with a length or two of hose added to them for overhaul operations. They’ve also been used to extinguish extending fire to an exposure where the master stream device wasn’t needed since the fire was minimal in size.
When the length is charged, members operating it must be aware that it isn’t meant to be the initial attack line and, if interior crews are operating, we shouldn’t direct the stream inside unless they are in a secure location. The last thing we want to do is have a narrow fog stream directed into a window from the outside, entraining air with it and pushing the by-products of fire back at the attack line.
Flying Standpipe
Since many aerial and tower ladders are equipped with prepiped waterways and outlets in their buckets or at the tip, another use for them is to become a “flying standpipe.” Many of us might frown on this idea because we’re tying up the ladder apparatus to a specific location and it can’t be used for rescue and removals. Life will always come first and foremost; when the apparatus has to be used for rescue, it will provide those means. However, in times of need, we may have to rely on using the ladder’s waterway as our primary means of extinguishment. An interior standpipe system that has a cracked pipe or frozen valve or that is being installed or dismantled may be the situation to place one in service.
Truck companies should know how to set their unit’s system up and operate off it. Many fire departments have a few lengths of hose in their buckets for the purpose of attacking a fire; many rely on this for automobile fires in outside elevated parking garages. Since the standpipe valves may be corroded from the weather, tampered with, or vandalized, many departments use their own equipment. Plus, in large parking garages, stretching closer to the incident and not around a bunch of cars or up and down ramps is easier to do off the tower or aerial ladder.
Knowing all the capabilities of your apparatus allows you to perform multiple functions on the fireground.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 36-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos.
