QUICK DRILLS
Plug Away: Drills for improving communication & success on a forward lay
By Homer Robertson

What’s the one fireground task that the least-experienced member of your company is often assigned to perform, without help? As a new firefighter, I remember going out to the apparatus bay with the company officer or the apparatus operator first thing in the morning, and they would tell me, “If we get anything today, you’re plugging.” They just meant that if we had a fire that day and forward layed a supply line, I would be the hydrant man.

If you go down the list of fireground jobs that need to get done for a successful operation, a continuous water supply should be somewhere close to the top. Failure to provide that water supply is often to blame for fireground debacles.

But there are a lot of things that can go wrong at the hydrant when you’re betting the success of the firefight on that water supply: a frozen hydrant, stuck caps or the wrong fittings.

Take some time to sit down with your crew and talk about all the things that can go wrong with water supply. This is a great time for the senior members of your company to share events that have happened to them while at the hydrant and provide the less-experienced members with tips on how to troubleshoot similar problems. It’s the old story: “If it’s predictable, it’s preventable.”

In this month’s column, I’ll discuss some common water-supply issues and provide two drills you can use to build your crew’s skills on guaranteeing a reliable fire flow.


Fittings & Adapters
More and more fire departments are working with their neighboring departments on a daily basis. The second-arriving engine may be a neighboring department that doesn’t carry the correct adapters to make the connection to your large diameter hose (LDH) or connect to your hydrant. I know, it’s 2010, and with all the standards the fire service must meet, we should all be carrying the same size stuff, but we aren’t. So get the correct fittings on the truck and make it work when the time comes.

Examples: Variations, such as 4" or 5" Storz or threaded hose couplings in different sizes or threads like National Standard, pipe thread or Pacific Coast, can lead to a meltdown at the hydrant if the mutual-aid engine doesn’t have the same size hose fittings or uses a different thread pattern on their hydrants.

Teaching point: Make sure you have all the right size and type of fittings and adapters to make hook-ups with the departments you work with. And make sure they have yours; don’t assume they do. You may be the one depending on that delayed supply line.

Also, go out and check each newly installed hydrant in your response area to get the correct size and thread of each discharge opening.

Stuck Hydrant Caps
Stuck caps are a very common situation that can slow your hydrant operation down or dangerously reduce your fire flow.

If your department relies on a water supply system in which hydrants aren’t routinely maintained, these kinds of problems will be very common. Ensure your crew has the equipment and the knowledge to address this kind of problem. Tip: Carry a small section of “cheater pipe” on the end of your hydrant wrench; this can help break those hard-to-open caps.

Teaching point: The hydrant firefighter should check the inventory of the hydrant bag to make sure they have all the tools needed to tackle whatever problem they may face.

Good Communications
Nothing improves the fireground like sound planning and good communications. The planning for a hydrant operation starts long before the fire. It starts with determining who will have the hydrant responsibility and ensuring that they know their job. In most forward layouts, the hydrant firefighter is by themselves, without the support of other firefighters. Make sure they can get the job done without someone having to hike back to the hydrant to get things back on track.

Portable radios have made the role of the hydrant firefighter a little easier. But you must use them! Good radio communication with the hydrant firefighter can prevent miscommunication between the rest of the crew. Without it, you might see the supply hose rising like a monster out of the apparatus hosebed or being ripped from the apparatus operator’s hands just as they’re about to make the suction connection because the hydrant firefighter charged the supply line before everything was set.

Teaching point: Ensure each member clearly understands the signals for laying and charging the supply line before the event. Discuss the communications plan for charging the supply line and which radio channel they should be on if more than one is available, so the apparatus operator and the hydrant firefighter can communicate the need to start the supply to the fireground. Ensure that the hydrant firefighter knows to communicate if there will be delays getting water or if the hydrant is inoperable.


One of the best teaching aides for working on the finer points of hydrant operations is a hydrant prop on wheels. You simply get an old hydrant from your water department and mount it on a set of casters so you can easily move it around. That way, it’s always in the right spot and can be used outside or moved into the apparatus room during bad weather.

You can even go a little farther and make it into a cut-away to show the internal workings of the hydrant valves and stem. Tip: Show the cut-away to your ISO evaluator the next time your department is rated to receive some additional points.

Drill 1: Talk It Over
1. If your department uses a bag to carry all the equipment needed to make a hydrant connect for a forward lay, review its contents.
2. Discuss the uses for each item in your hydrant bag. Talk about situations that may require you to operate outside your normal procedures.
3. Example: A steamer cap is stuck and can’t be removed. Action: Use one of the 2 ½" ports by placing a 2 ½" female to a 5" Storz. Then charge the supply and notify the fireground that the fire flow will be reduced due to a stuck hydrant cap.

Drill 2: Get Hands-On
1. Using your hydrant prop or a hydrant in a parking lot, review your department’s operational procedures for laying a forward lay supply to the fire from a hydrant.
2. Emphasize the importance of safety when dismounting the apparatus. If possible, dismount on the off-street side of the apparatus, out of traffic.
3. Discuss the proper signals and commands used by the hydrant firefighter to indicate they’ve removed the hose and needed equipment and are ready for the apparatus to proceed to the fire.
4. Have each member (in full PPE) dismount the apparatus and make a hydrant connection.
5. After each member can perform the task successfully, repeat the process, giving each member a different possible problem. These may include stuck cap, broken stem or no water, or the need to use a mutual-aid fitting.

A Final Word
Just because the hydrant responsibility is often delegated to the least-experienced member of the company doesn’t mean that it’s not one of the most important duties on the fireground. Take time to cover all the little aspects that can go wrong, so you can ensure that next time, it will go right.

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 with the Fort Worth Fire Department since 1985 and is currently in charge of the fire equipment division, which includes the apparatus fleet.

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