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Booster Lines, including High Pressure
Because of another topic I thought I would start a new topic on booster lines, including high pressure and the new ultra-high pressure ones.
High pressure has some what of a jaded past here in the US having been tried by the military in WWII for aircraft firefighting and then used in structural firefighting in the 40's through the 70's. In the late 70's and more into the early 80's booster lines of all types seemed to lose favor and more and more rigs were ordered without them. The simple fact was FDs removed them so they would not be used for structural or vehicle fires because many times the flow wasn't close to being enough to handle the volume of fire crews were experiencing.
I am not intimating that booster lines or high pressure for that matter disappeared, Some FDs still ordered apparatus with booster lines, some low pressure, some high pressure. But they were not common by any stretch. I can see the value of a low pressure booster line for brush and rubbish fires, easy to deploy and even easier to pick up after words. Now, mostly because of a European based apparatus manufacturer, the US is seeing high pressure booster reels re-appear on a limited number of apparatus. I see this as a dangerous trend especially when these lines are being used for interior attack. If this tactic was such a dismal failure with legacy style furnishings what makes people believe they will work better with furnishings that are little more than solidified gasoline (plastic)? Add to that the NFPA calls for a minimum of 100gpm for interior structural fire attack lines. No booster reel, low or high pressure that I am aware of will come close to that flow. Even if you are not an NFPA state don't kid yourself into believing NFPA won't be used against you an ignorance of the standard is not a defense.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Aussie Fire on
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I'm not with Melbourne so I don't know off hand the hose size and nozzle, but I would expect the nozzle to be either Akron or TFT as that is what they normally use. I will try to find out though from some guys I know there.
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Permalink Reply by Zachary Wolf on
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We ran over 100 on our High Pressure booster reels on our WUI attack truck cant remember the type of nozzle ill try to find a picture of the line to post
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Permalink Reply by Don Catenacci on
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No one else has any comments on this? Like how they are getting 100 plus gpm out of booster hose? What size hose? What pump and nozzle pressure?
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Kyle if you look at the picture i posted above the reels for washdown are right next to the cab so after you reload hose and put everything away you can do a quick washdown before you get back in the cab that way any contaminants that are on your gear from the hose line are off before you get in the cab. as for overhaul its very rarely used more for wildland purposes and that truck i have only had those lines up to 130 psi once during a wildland fire just hitting stump holes and pockets. other then that its usually no more then 60 psi even though the nozzels on that truck are build for more.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Chambers on
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Our last Engine to have a booster reel was a 1981. Pretty much the only time it got used was for grass/brush fires. We have it in our SOP's that Structure, Vehicle/Machinery, and Dumpster fires get 1 1/2"-1 3/4" handline as a minimum.
I do think they still have a place though. We have 1" booster reels with red line and 10-100gpm nozzles on both of our brush rigs. I find them pretty handy in grass/brush fire situations.
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This truck that is above is a WUI truck was was specced to handle both structural protection and wildland inital attack It is the 4th out truck for that department to structure fires not on inital assignment unless there is a crew out training on it when the call comes out. This truck was specced for State Mobes in washington for wildland use since the state mobes have basically paid for the truck as it earns about 30k on a 14 day mobilization for wildland. our structure engines and pumper ladder do not have booster reels. also with our closeness to two seperate airfeilds the booster lines and bumper turret are useful as they are both plumbed for foam use to lay down safety lines without any personell getting out of the truck
Kyle Dunn said:I suppose I can understand the decontamination use, Ourselves we have a 25' piece of 1" hose and an adaptor to 1-1/2" that we use. I couldn't justify putting in several thousands of dollars into a truck spec just for wash down and wildland firefighting when, A we have a quick attack unit for wildland fires. B, Money could be better spent on other appliances or tools that we would need on a more frequent basis. Obviously this is my own opinion. I won't build a firetruck with a whole bunch of toys or Wants. I would much rather build for functionality and user friendliness.
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Wildland Urban Interface basicaly what CalFire is known for interesting topic to read up on if you are working wildland and have the possibility of dealing with a community in the path of the wildland fire like most of them in southern cali that happen every year
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Permalink Reply by Derek J Sinesi on
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I'm with Don on this one. I'd love to hear how anyone is getting 100 gpm off booster line. Better yet i'd be willing to travel to see this done.
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I am actually quite shocked by the lack of Stephen Duffy commenting on this topic and the lack of detail from some posters on the specifics of nozzle type and hose size. I had thought there would be a lively discussion of US versus European use, or lack thereof, of booster lines.
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Me to. I could of swore i read several times; if the booster line was in its own thread you'd get your answers.
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Things that make you go Hm...
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