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Grass fire attack
In another thread, a fellow Aussie mentioned our standard method of grass fire attack. He only mentioned tha name we give it so I thought I'd elaborate a little, then throw it open for comment and description of different methods.
Running Grassfire Attack.
For this attack we have our 4WD Tankers (off-road Pumpers) attack in a line. The first truck will go along the edge of the fire with two crew on the back (the back of the truck is a working platform) one with a jet to hit the fire the second with a spray to finish the job. The second truck may have to clean up missed spots, but their main task is to take over the attack when the first truck peels off to go and get water. Any further trucks follow in the same way. When a truck has refilled with water it will come and join the line again.
We try to attack both sides of the fire, from the heel towards the head, then if possible pinch out the head, or drive behind the head on the black and get it that way.
That is a simplified explanation, but gives enough to go on with. Now, does anywhere else use this or a similar method? What differences do you have? If you fight grassfires in a totally different way, how do you do it?
This is my Brigade's Tanker:
Running Grassfire Attack.
For this attack we have our 4WD Tankers (off-road Pumpers) attack in a line. The first truck will go along the edge of the fire with two crew on the back (the back of the truck is a working platform) one with a jet to hit the fire the second with a spray to finish the job. The second truck may have to clean up missed spots, but their main task is to take over the attack when the first truck peels off to go and get water. Any further trucks follow in the same way. When a truck has refilled with water it will come and join the line again.
We try to attack both sides of the fire, from the heel towards the head, then if possible pinch out the head, or drive behind the head on the black and get it that way.
That is a simplified explanation, but gives enough to go on with. Now, does anywhere else use this or a similar method? What differences do you have? If you fight grassfires in a totally different way, how do you do it?
This is my Brigade's Tanker:
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John on
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Sounds like a good tactic, the only grass fir I was on in Iowa we used brush beaters and a regular engine attack line since it was in winter and on the side of the road.
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Permalink Reply by John Schander on
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That's the way we do it too.We have a 3000 gal pumper -tanker that has pump and roll ability,so we can put out alot of fire. We also keep Class A foam in the tank. We call SC forestry and they bring a bulldozer w/ a plow and put a break around the fire.
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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We don't carry beaters any more, but that was the very first fire fighting tool I used! They can work very well.
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Unfortunately it takes too long for our forestry people to get a dozer to most places, so we have to jump on the fires by ourselves! We also use Class A foam a lot, for grassfire usually on 0.1 to 0.3% as a wetting agent. The Tanker I pictured is a medium, only 2000 litres of water including our crew safety margin. The Heavy Tankers carry 3000 litres plus 700 for crew safety margin. None of our firefighting vehicles carry the amount of water you do!
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Permalink Reply by Paul Acosta on
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In Colorado, we do the tandem attack as well. We're blessed with our farmers because they bring in the disks and cut where we just knocked down and as we lay a wet perimeter the disks continue to cut about 3 rows. If not we have to put a hand crew together and turn it up and over. It can take time but as dry as it is we can't afford a rekindle. Mutual aid is such a benefit also, the more trucks in the tandem, the better. Hope that helps.
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Excellent way of direct attack, we sometime modify it a bit for fires which are moving a little faster. The front engine starts wetting the fire and fuels directly ahead. The first truck just tries to slow the progress and cool the fuel, not necessarily for complete extinguishment. The second truck is there to more thoroughly extinguish the remaining fire. A third truck can be employed to mop up. Should the first truck have to pull out to refill, the second truck will revert to the rapid attack and the third would take over the second, etc. Naturally this won't work on all fires, but when we can use it, it certainly saves a lot of time and physical labor. Of course our attack engines (in my area) are a lot smaller and lighter 4x4s with 300 gal H2O and class A foam. Because of the way our area is building, it's almost all urban interface so we have to get on a fire quick, and the smaller trucks are faster and more maneuverable.
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Permalink Reply by John Rulli Jr. on
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Thats about how we do it. We also have ppl on foot with indian tanks.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Stewart on
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Just to add Tony if theres a spot fire or finger of flame trying to take off into a neighbouring paddock or scrub land close to the fire ground we also spray a jet of water ahead of the truck to take down the spot fire/finger of flame so it doesnt impede the whole operation
Running grass fire attack can be undertaken by any number of rural appliances or by using a combination of 1 rural appliance, 1 x forestry appliance and a private farm unit
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We too use that modification - the line between that and the basic method often gets a bit blurred! Getting sufficient Tankers on scene quickly and into the attack is always the answer.
Your 300 gal vehicles sit between the two smaller of our sizes. Give or take a little, we seem to have four main sizes around Oz:
3000 litre - Heavy
2000 litre - Medium
1500 litre - Light
600 litre - Ultra Light
The Light Tankers are a great vehicle, usually a small Mitsubishi or Isuzu 4WD light tray truck. They are quick, handy in tight country and carry enough water to make a difference with a small fire - and let's face it, all fires start off small! The Ultra Light's (or 'slip-ons' as we unfortunately call them in Victoria) are commonly Toyota, Nissan or Landrover small 4WD tray vehicles. Having so little water makes these of limited use in direct fire attack, unless they can get on scene really quickly. But they are great in tight country.
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