QUICK DRILLS

Move to the Rear
Common mistakes & effective strategies for deploying hose from the rear hosebed

Story & Photos by Homer Robertson

If you look at the way our fire apparatus have evolved over the last 30 or so years, it’s amazing how many changes and improvements have been made. This is especially evident when you look at how hose is stored and loaded on new fire apparatus.

Not that many years ago, most, if not all, attack and supply hose was deployed off the rear hosebed of the apparatus. With the introduction of transverse crosslays, most apparatus today have at least two crosslays from which pre-connected handlines can be deployed.

Crosslays allow for rapid deployment and are beneficial due to the fact that they unfold directly toward the fire building in many cases. But they can also limit our ability to deploy longer lines because of their set length.

If your crew has become dependent on preconnects, they likely lack skills in deploying hose off the rear hosebed, where larger, less-often-used hose is often kept. This month’s Quick Drill focuses on common mistakes in deploying from the rear hosebed.

Rear Hosebed Loads
Today’s rear hosebeds are about as diverse as the American fire service itself. You can see just about any configuration of lengths and sizes of hose from one department to another.

Most fire departments tend to load the smaller handline hose in their crosslays, which they use most often, and use their rear hosebeds to carry their larger hose, from 2 ½" to LDH supply line. This in itself can become a handicap because we quickly develop a dependency on crosslays and forget about the options in the rear hosebed, such as high-volume handlines.

The rear hosebed may also be used to carry special hoseloads for deployment down long driveways, into apartment courtyards or into shopping malls, which can’t be reached with standard pre-connected handlines. These special hoseloads aren’t used on routine fires and are easily forgotten about. Review their use and practice on them often.

Rear hosebed areas have also become home to the popular one-inlet personal monitor designed for high-flow blitz attacks. Theses monitors, which flow around 500 gpm, are usually mounted on the rear step for easy deployment.



Deployment Mistakes
Normally the rear hosebed will have a larger capacity due to size and length from front to rear. Due to the size and the amount of hose stored in the hosebed, deployment from the rear can sometimes be difficult.

There are as many ways to deploy hose from the rear as there are hose loads, but there are a few common mistakes:

• While pulling a pre-connected hoseline from the rear, the crew doesn’t clear all the hose from the bed before it’s charged with water. This happens often and can cause real problems because you can’t use all the available hose; with the hose charged in the bed it can be very difficult to correct. It also presents problems with hose kinks that can reduce much-needed fire flow.

• The crew starts around the truck before clearing all the hose from the bed. Unlike crosslays, hose must be stretched straight off the rear of the truck before starting to move toward the fire building. Good apparatus placement will help the problem. If you know that hose will be deployed form the rear bed, pull past the front of the fire building if possible.

• The nozzleperson takes only the nozzle and moves toward the fire building while another firefighter stands at the tailboard and piles hose behind the apparatus on the ground. This large pile of hose can quickly turn into a mess. If the line is charged before it’s laid out, it will become difficult to advance.

A pile of hose can also develop when you forward lay your supply line into a fire from the hydrant. To make the suction side connection to the pump of your apparatus, extra hose will have to be removed from the hosebed. If you stand on the tailboard and pull hose until you reach the desired coupling, you’ll wind up with a big pile of hose in the street.

If the hose isn’t laid out before charging with water, it can be pushed under the truck—often against the apparatus tires—forming a severe hose kink that is difficult to correct and could affect the fire attack.

One of the best methods to avoid this: Deploy the hose straight off the rear of the truck, pulling enough to make the connection. The length of each section of your supply line is important here. If your supply hose is in 100' lengths and the last coupling on the ground is 50 to 75 feet from the tailboard, all you need to do is pull straight back until the next coupling hits the ground. Then, break the line and make the pump connection.

If the last coupling is less than 50 feet from the tailboard, you must decide whether to pull an additional section or break the hose and add a short section if your department carries short sections in an apparatus compartment.
Each method has its drawbacks. If you pull the extra section you may have more hose in the street than you need. But using the short section requires you to add steps in the hookup process by making and breaking more connections.







Strive for Ss
The greatest advantage to deploying straight off the back and clearing the hosebed: When charged, the hose should make nice sweeping S curves that tend not to kink or pile up at the rear step.

Take some time to work with your attack and supply line from the rear hosebed. Most departments use these less due to dependence on pre-connected crosslays.

Captain Homer Robertson has been involved in the fire service since 1978, starting as a volunteer with the Granbury (Texas) Fire Department, of which he is a life member. He has served the Fort Worth Fire Department since 1985 and is currently in charge of the fire equipment division, which includes the apparatus fleet.