What Happened To The Hosebed?

[x635 4,066]

It seems to me that Engines today are spec'd to do everything. While I understand the concept and need for the engine to do more in these days of more diverse calls and less staffing, I feel that an engine's primary responsibity is to provide water to put the fire out.

Sometimes, I actually think that some departments are more proud that they have a combi tool on their engine then the way they pack their hose to deploy to their needs.

Maybe it's me, but hose on an engine should be one of the primary focuses. It should be easily accesible, both to deploy and repack. The hydrant bag should be readily available to grab and make a connection. Hosebed should be dividided and contain a variety of hoses, including two different ways to lay supply line.

The Engine above is a great example to illustrate my point. It's an Engine that's designed to be an urban Engine (It's destined to be Danbury Engine 21, actually). The hosebed is easily accesible. You don't have to climb up tricky steps, or comprimise that amount of hose you carry for other equipment.

The Engine cab, engine itself, pump panel, and hose, and accesories remain the most important features of an engine for me.

[STAT213 332]

The Engine cab, engine itself, pump panel, and hose, and accesories remain the most important features of an engine for me.

I agree with this, and would love to have a low hosebed like Danburys. However, our hosebeds are not terribly accessible because we need to carry as much water as possible. Half of our town is without hydrants, so bringing enough water to make an attack until help arrives is a primary concern. To that end, we have modified our hosebeds for our needs with 1000' of 4", a 2 1/2 attack line and a 600' 2 1/2 flat load for our apartment complexes. All this sits on 1000 gallons of aqua. As a side note, all of our hydrant bags are quite accessible and each engine has a combi tool too!!!

[ny10570 745]

I can't think of any engines that have sacrificed hose bed height for extrication equipment or other toys. It has always been to accommodate more water. I think thats a more appropriate question. Why do we suddenly need every engine to also be a tanker? I know Pleasantville went this route because our hose lays to our low water areas are difficult at best to accomplish, and during the day almost impossible.

[SageVigiles 1,194]

Danbury doesn't feel the need to specialize their engines (with the exception of 22 and 23 I believe, which are technically rescue-pumpers) because they enough apparatus and manpower to specialize. Danbury Truck 1 (which someone should definitely try to get a shot of) is extremely well equipped with every kind of tool you'd need, and could honestly be considered as a rescue company as well. This is going to change from what I'm hearing, as the Squad truck will be brought to E23's quarters and they will be the specialized company now, running 2 trucks with 1 crew. DFD or anyone else feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. If you ask me, Danbury Fire is getting very progressive lately and is doing things right.

[grumpyff 1,159]

A quick 'roadshot' of Danbury Tower 1 (or is it Truck 1) I got this summer. Hose beds should be accessible, however the need to carry more water is a necessity for some of us, especially in areas that rely on tanker operations. The only problems I have encountered with the higher beds is repacking the hose, which is not one one of my favorite things to do anyway.