Water Shuttle Effectiveness Shown in 7-Department Drill
Seven Hampshire County, Mass., fire departments participated in a drill to demonstrate the effectiveness of our water shuttle program in meeting the ISO standard for rural water supply. A flow of 610 gpm was maintained for 1 hour and 45 minutes, and we could have gone longer.
Hampshire County is a rural and suburban area located in the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts. One of the major problems we faced was to improve the delivery of water to fires in areas not served by water systems. The tanker shuttle system demonstrated in this drill was developed through the innovations of the county fire fighters to meet this need.
Objectives
The first drill objective was to test the water shuttle program against the standard of ISO. Robert Sabin was present as ISO’s observer and offered advice during the critique. We were particularly interested in our ability to set up and flow the required 250 gpm within five minutes and to determine what maximum flow could be developed within the specified 15 minutes. We were not attempting to test the town of Granby but to test the system and the equipment as recommended.
The second drill objective was to run the shuttle from a “standing “start” with the manpower that would normally respond to a fire and with apparatus arriving on the scene at time intervals experienced during a fire response. In all our other drills we always had one or more parts of the shuttle set up from the instruction and had never run from a standing start. This would also provide us with feedback on our choices of equipment and procedures which we could use to develop an effective water supply for fire operations requiring a higher (above 250 gpm) initial attack as well as to get the ISO credit.
A third intent: By proving the capability of the tanker shuttle program in this demonstration, the data collected could then be used to aid communities in planning the development of water sources and delivery for fire fighting and to identify equipment needs and planning for their acquisition.
No hydrant system
The town of Granby was selected as the host town for the drill because it was representative of the rural county towns having no hydrant system and depending on a tanker shuttle to supply water from static sources. The site of this shuttle operation was a typical New England secondary road where most of our fire load is located. The slightly hilly terrain and narrow two-lane roads with limited room for maneuvering and turning around at the unloading site are common to the participating mutual aid communities. The towns of Amherst, Belchertown, Cummington, Granby, Southampton, and South Hadley Fire Districts 1 and 2 sent apparatus and manpower to the drill, which was set up by the Hampshire County Fire School.
All the apparatus was staged at the Granby fire station. Participating apparatus was assigned positions in accordance with a recommended response of two pumpers and two tankers as an initial response team with mutual aid tankers on automatic response.
We have found that tankers of 2000 to 2500 gallons are most efficient. For this reason we assigned the larger tankers to the initial response team which consisted of two 1000-gpm pumpers, a 3500-gallon and a 2000-gallon tanker. Four 1000-gallon and one 750-gallon tankers were assigned as mutual aid vehicles. These were held in the staging area and “dispatched” to create the appropriate time interval.
Organization for efficiency
Manpower assignment was based on what level can be expected at a fire: five fighters on the pumper and two on each tanker. Arrival times at the scene from the mutual aid equipment was calculated by using the ISO formula.
An important step in successfully supplying water by tanker shuttle is the organization and control by designated water supply officers (WSO) at the loading and unloading sites. It is during these operations that an efficient water shuttle is maintained, not with speed over the road.
At the loading site, the pumper was set to draft and lines were laid 100 to 150 feet from the pumper to create several fill stations. Incoming tankers reported to the WSO and were directed to a specific fill station. The assignment was made based on the capacity of the station (2 ½, 3 or 4-inch or siamesed lines) and the fill characteristics of the tankers (gate size, piping, ground level or overthe-top fill).
At the unloading site, stations were set up to minimize congestion. Lines are laid (2 1/2-inch, 150 feet) from the portable tanker to a location where a tanker with a pump can offload, leaving the area at the portable tank for the gravity dump tankers. The WSO at the unloading site directed tankers to the station that will get the tankers in and out in the shortest time. Control by the WSO allows for giving priority to those tankers that are contributing the most water to the shuttle.
Setting up apparatus
At 10:05 a.m. the “alarm” was sounded and the initial response team was dispatched. Pumper 1 (1000 gpm and 750 gallons) responded to the fire scene with Tanker 1 (400 gpm and 2000 gallons) and Tanker 2 (3500 gallons). Pumper 1, with a five-man crew, set up to flow through a deck gun. On arrival, Tanker 1 set up a 2100-gallon folding tank from which Pumper 1 was to draft. Tanker 2, using a 6-inch gravity dump, dropped water to fill this tank. A 1500-gallon folding tank was set up and filled with the remaining water in Tanker 2.
Two 10-foot lengths of 3-inch suction hose equipped with low-profile strainers were connected to a 4 ½ x 2 ½ x 2 ½inch gated Siamese on Pumper 1 and put into the 2100 gallon tank. The pump was primed and ready to flow water on order of the foreground commander. Elapsed time: 3 minutes and 14 seconds after arrival on the scene.
A 5-inch water jet siphon, constructed by county fire fighters, was attached to one length of 5-inch suction hose and set between the folding tanks to transfer water from the 1500-gallon tank to the 2100-gallon tank. The siphon can efficiently transfer water at 500 gpm.
Within time limit
Four minutes after arrival, Chief Siffert ordered a flow of 300 gpm started, well within the five-minute time required by ISO. This flow was maintained for 10 minutes.
Before the arrival of mutual aid tankers, the unloading site was set up. The folding tanks had been positioned for gravity-dump tankers, making it easy for them to back up without obstructing the flow of traffic. For tankers that could pump at the rate of at least 400 gpm, 2 ½-inch lines were laid to stations 150 feet before and beyond the portable tanks.
As the tankers arrived, the WSO directed them to a station and gave them the route to the loading site and the prescribed turnaround pattern. As much maneuvering as possible was to be done with the tanks empty for ease of handling and safety.
It is imperative that the loading site be prepared to fill before the first tanker arrives. Failure to meet this requirement will cause the attack pumper to run out of water, interrupting the continuous 250 gpm required by ISO.
Pumper 2 (1000 gpm and 500 gallons) responded directly to the water source to establish a loading site. This pumper was equipped as recommended by the county program to provide at least two power-filling stations, one with 4-inch hose and the second with two 3-inch lines siamesed into one 3-inch line.
On arrival at the pond, Pumper 2 was positioned by the WSO. Positioning is important to allow sufficient room for tankers to turn around (while empty), drive up to the fill station and then drive out of the loading site without interfering with other vehicles.
The five-man crew (using three men to set up two 10-foot lengths of hard suction and two men to lay the 3 and 4-inch fill lines) was ready to fill in less than three minutes. We found that a 1000-gpm or larger pump is required to maintain a recorded filling at 120G gpm through 4-inch hose to a 3-inch gate directly into a tanker.
Any available portable pumps were sent to the loading site where they were set up as an auxiliary fill station to supplement Pumper 2 and as a back-up should a mechanical failure occur.
600-gpm flow
Fourteen minutes after arrival and 10 minutes after flow was started, Siffert ordered the flow increased to 600 gpm.
At this time the five mutual aid tankers had arrived on the scene, unloaded and were beginning to cycle. The 600-gpm flow probably could have been instituted earlier in the exercise. We decided to hold 300 gpm flow to the 14-minute mark to test a strategy that could be used to meet the ISO time requirement of maximum flow within 15 minutes.
Once the shuttle was running with all the tankers and the delivery rate was known, the flow was varied between 600 and 750 gpm. All the water delivered was flowed; none was held in reserve for safety as might be done for fire operations. This strategy caused the tankers and the loading site to operate at peak levels for the entire drill.
At 11:55 the shuttle was stopped. We had demonstrated to the satisfaction of Sabin that we can meet the time and volume requirements of ISO.
After the critique
On completion of the drill, the fire chiefs present and the fire school instructors met with Sabin to review the performance of the shuttle. We started out with an immediate goal to meet the ISO minimum (250 gpm) flow and maintain it continuously, expecting we could increase the flow to 400 gpm (NFPA 1410, Standard for Initial Fire Attack) for some time, if not continuously.
The unknown factor we were up against was keeping the shuttle operation going continuously even with the tankers responding with normal time delays. We were extremely pleased with the results. Sabin calculated that we averaged a flow of 610 gpm for 1 hour 45 minutes, beginning five minutes after arrival of the pumper at the “fire.”
When the data was later analyzed, it was easy to see why we were able to attain the flow. The tankers were kept moving by an efficient filling operation. The tankers were on the loading area for less than five minutes each time. This is an average time and includes some waiting to fill and delays caused by vehicles out of position, equipment problems and one tanker getting stuck.
We found that it is more efficient overall to fill tankers one at a time using the total capacity of the pumper rather than fill two tankers at a slower rate. To fill at 1000 gpm requires that the baffling and venting of the tank be properly designed to avoid damage or unnecessary stress to the tank.
The right size
Tankers must be equipped with a large (usually 6-inch) dump valve or have a pump of sufficient capacity to pump from the tank at a rate of over 500 gpm. Tankers that do not meet this requirement tend to cause congestion at the unloading site, thereby slowing down the delivery of water.
Most departments are not equipped to move water by a shuttle and have not planned and developed their water sources. Without adequate available water the delivery system cannot work. This shuttle of 1.5 miles required seven tankers to maintain the flow. Longer travel distances mean more vehicles on the road and the chance for more problems. Water supplies in these communities must be made an important element in the fire department, not only for tanker shuttle but also for relay pumping operations. Static sources should be inventoried, mapped, developed and access improved.
As departments begin to develop a water supply plan, apparatus and equipment will be important. We are now in a better position to offer advice and help to any department in the planning, specification, modification or purchase of apparatus and equipment. The information gained from this drill can be used to show departments how their stock equipment can be made more effective by low-cost changes that can be implemented by departmental members or mechanics.
