South Salem - Working Fire 1/3/2011 **DISCUSSION**

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Does foam require any changes to the hardware on the engine itself? If not then it's simply about purchasing the product....given the healthy budgets many volunteer agencies in this area enjoy and the low volume of fires...whats the financial hinderance? Sorry for my relative ignorance on the topic.

Goose...being that Class A foam is a different make up and application then class B there is no real change needed in hardware. Again the Class A foam is more of a wetting agent that reduces the surface tension of the water and allows it to penetrate into class A material. You can basically do the same like many do in science class by taking a block of wood and with a medicine dropper use regular water and watch it bead up on the surface...and then take another glass of water with some dishwashing detergent in it and drop it on another section of the wood and it will soak in.

[LFD34 12]

Wouldn't it be a better idea to change teh building code to require residential sprinklers in all new construction. This particular house was only built in 1981 when sprinklers were around. Not only would this help in areas in with limited water but also would help in manpower constrained areas as well.

[PEMO3 523]

Wouldn't it be a better idea to change teh building code to require residential sprinklers in all new construction. This particular house was only built in 1981 when sprinklers were around. Not only would this help in areas in with limited water but also would help in manpower constrained areas as well.

Residential sprinklers at least in an area with known water supply issues should be a mandate for the safety of the homeowners and the responding firefighters.

[Bnechis 3,961]

Wouldn't it be a better idea to change teh building code to require residential sprinklers in all new construction. This particular house was only built in 1981 when sprinklers were around. Not only would this help in areas in with limited water but also would help in manpower constrained areas as well.

Residential sprinklers at least in an area with known water supply issues should be a mandate for the safety of the homeowners and the responding firefighters.

Its the way to go. Tell it to the elected officials, who listen to the developers and construction industry. They have more say in Albany than we do.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Engine 113 was the source pumper at the dry hydrant on Oscaleta road. E113 fed E112 and E140 that were the relay pumpers in line up to the fire scene. During the operation of the Tower Ladder 57, Tanker 2 was used to supply the master stream. I hope this clears everything thing up for the brothers that were not on the scene and are monday morning quaterbacking rural water operations...... Us up here in the North county do not always have the luxury of having those red things every 500 feet. Sometimes we need to get down and dirty and actually lay out an entire bed of hose.

Haven't had time to reply back but thank you and everyone else for the info on the relay pumping. I asked the question because no where did I see in the posts was there any indication that a relay pumping operation was set up and I commented on relay operations for those who don't know. I must have missed it in the thread and IA, it happens. But is seems like a lot of other issues being discussed were trumping that. Rural water supply is a hard thing, trust me I know, 90% of our M/A where I work has to do with drafting and trucking in water. Not at anytime was I trying to quarter back anything, I didn't know, that is why I asked, there are no stupid questions.

Also with the discussion of residential sprinklers, there are a lot of facts both on the construction side and the ownership side that are against it. Also another problem would be the water source in a rural setting if it can supply the proper GPM. Also there are a lot of other questions including the fact that water damage to a house can cost more than fire damage, at least the way some insurance adjusters / agencies look at it. It can be a double-edged sword for home-owners. In this day and age, many people don't want to pay for the added cost of maintenance, up keep and monthly / quarterly testing of sprinkler systems, check valves and pumps.

REMEMBER, SPRINKLERS ARE NOT MADE TO PUT OUT FIRES! THEY ARE MADE TO KEEP FIRES IN CHECK!

Edited January 9, 2012 by IzzyEng4

[meat441 43]

Good thing i didn't mention about the (FIT 5). That could start a firestorm?

[newsbuff 286]

Good thing i didn't mention about the (FIT 5). That could start a firestorm?

I would have to think that with the amount of fireload that was present when the first due arrived, deploying the FIT 5 would probably be equivalent to pissing in the wind. That is of course assuming that the fire had a good headstart on them.

Edited January 10, 2012 by newsbuff