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Tanker Safety
So let me start by saying that when I say "tanker," I mean a truck. Not a helicopter, not a plane, a truck!!! LOL I know that the word "tender" is now the proper term for what I am referring to however I have decided that until county dispatch changes our "tanker box alarms" to "tender box alarms" that I will keep calling them tankers. I am only claryifying because I know that if I didnt, people on this site (cough Lutan1 cough) lol would be sure to point out that I am wrong in calling it a tanker. Yes I know I am wrong and I dont care. LOL
Okay... now that we got that out of the way... I have been thinking alot about these trucks lately. I've been training on our 4500 gallon tanker (which is a real pain to drive), my dept. is considering writing a grant for a new pumper/tanker to replace an older engine and the 4500 gallon beast, and my discussion post "your biggest tanker" is growing in popularity.
As I said, my dept. is considering writing a grant for a new truck to replace two older ones. Reason being... our 2nd due engine is fairly old and certainly not getting any younger; and our larger tanker, the one mentioned above, is also almost thirty years old now and really isnt very safe to drive. Sure, there are a few members of the dept. that are very good at driving the tanker however; that does not mean its safe. The truck was not specifically built for firefighting, (it was an old milk hauler) so it has a very high center of gravity, like I said it holds 4500 gallons of water and has no baffels, and just the large size of it makes it very easy to tip over.
Thinking about all this got me looking into some "tanker safety." While doing some research, I've realized that there aren't too many things you can do to make these trucks safer other then making them smaller and just using common sense while driving them. Some things I came up with are----
Dont run lights and sirens- Lets think about this one... say you catch a structure fire, your engine goes first and has a decent amount of water on it (or at least I hope it does), the amount of water you have on the engine should give you enough time to set up a tanker shuttle if need be and get your own tanker to the scene without speeding there. I know there are circumstances where some of your "very rural" districts dont have a choice... They cover so much area that they have to get as many tankers to the the scene as quickly as possible. But what I am saying that if you have the luxury of ample water and time, just take it slow and steady and the tanker and get there when you get there. Some dept's in my area have made SOP's stating that all tankers will respond pri. 4 no matter what the call, other dept's have gone even farther and taken all red lights and sirens off their tankers and replaced them with yellow "service" lights.
Drive it full or drive it empty- Tankers should obviously always be kept completly full while on station, however; when you go to the scene and dump your water, make sure you dump all of it. The "slosshing" effect in a half filled tanker greatly increases the possibility of a rollover. Also, if you are running a tanker shuttle, dont half fill your tanker in effort to get back to the scene quickly, like I said; drive it full or drive it empty.
Give yourself plenty of time to stop- Yeah this is a basic one, but as I said earlier; I've recently started training on our larger tanker and I am learning the full meaning of the phrase "allow plenty of stopping time" WOW, it takes alot to stop 4500 gallons of water and if you have never driven a tanker before, keep that one in mind. This rule really goes for any fire apparatus
Wear your seatbelt- Yes, another basic one but with the possibility for rollover the greatest in a tanker, make sure you buckle up when in a tanker
Only allow certified operators drive your tanker- Unfortunatly, my dept's only real qualification for driving any apparatus it that you have to be 21, other then that; it's pretty much fair game on who drives. While looking at some pix of tankers that others have, I've seen alot of tractor trailers that carry up to 9000 gallons of water. Some of these trucks require a CDL license to drive. If the members on your dept. want to drive these beasts, make em get the proper qualifications (hmmm... now if only I can get my dept. to do this lol)
Always use a spotter- Another real difficulty about driving tankers is backing them up. Blind spots are a huge concern and unless you have side dumps (neither of our tankers do) you have to back them up to the porta-tank to drop the water. Its easy to run over a porta-tank when you dont have someone back there telling you where to go.
Okay.... so thats about all I can think of for now but those are just a few ideas about tanker safety. Yeah i know that alot of them are pretty basic but for newer guys like myself, these things arent that basic. I know that when the tones drop for a structure fire, adreniline still takes me over and I really have to focus and calm myself down on the ride to the scene. So yeah... even though these things seem basic, we have to remember the basics because they are what we generally forget when were all excited heading to another fire.
Okay... now that we got that out of the way... I have been thinking alot about these trucks lately. I've been training on our 4500 gallon tanker (which is a real pain to drive), my dept. is considering writing a grant for a new pumper/tanker to replace an older engine and the 4500 gallon beast, and my discussion post "your biggest tanker" is growing in popularity.
As I said, my dept. is considering writing a grant for a new truck to replace two older ones. Reason being... our 2nd due engine is fairly old and certainly not getting any younger; and our larger tanker, the one mentioned above, is also almost thirty years old now and really isnt very safe to drive. Sure, there are a few members of the dept. that are very good at driving the tanker however; that does not mean its safe. The truck was not specifically built for firefighting, (it was an old milk hauler) so it has a very high center of gravity, like I said it holds 4500 gallons of water and has no baffels, and just the large size of it makes it very easy to tip over.
Thinking about all this got me looking into some "tanker safety." While doing some research, I've realized that there aren't too many things you can do to make these trucks safer other then making them smaller and just using common sense while driving them. Some things I came up with are----
Dont run lights and sirens- Lets think about this one... say you catch a structure fire, your engine goes first and has a decent amount of water on it (or at least I hope it does), the amount of water you have on the engine should give you enough time to set up a tanker shuttle if need be and get your own tanker to the scene without speeding there. I know there are circumstances where some of your "very rural" districts dont have a choice... They cover so much area that they have to get as many tankers to the the scene as quickly as possible. But what I am saying that if you have the luxury of ample water and time, just take it slow and steady and the tanker and get there when you get there. Some dept's in my area have made SOP's stating that all tankers will respond pri. 4 no matter what the call, other dept's have gone even farther and taken all red lights and sirens off their tankers and replaced them with yellow "service" lights.
Drive it full or drive it empty- Tankers should obviously always be kept completly full while on station, however; when you go to the scene and dump your water, make sure you dump all of it. The "slosshing" effect in a half filled tanker greatly increases the possibility of a rollover. Also, if you are running a tanker shuttle, dont half fill your tanker in effort to get back to the scene quickly, like I said; drive it full or drive it empty.
Give yourself plenty of time to stop- Yeah this is a basic one, but as I said earlier; I've recently started training on our larger tanker and I am learning the full meaning of the phrase "allow plenty of stopping time" WOW, it takes alot to stop 4500 gallons of water and if you have never driven a tanker before, keep that one in mind. This rule really goes for any fire apparatus
Wear your seatbelt- Yes, another basic one but with the possibility for rollover the greatest in a tanker, make sure you buckle up when in a tanker
Only allow certified operators drive your tanker- Unfortunatly, my dept's only real qualification for driving any apparatus it that you have to be 21, other then that; it's pretty much fair game on who drives. While looking at some pix of tankers that others have, I've seen alot of tractor trailers that carry up to 9000 gallons of water. Some of these trucks require a CDL license to drive. If the members on your dept. want to drive these beasts, make em get the proper qualifications (hmmm... now if only I can get my dept. to do this lol)
Always use a spotter- Another real difficulty about driving tankers is backing them up. Blind spots are a huge concern and unless you have side dumps (neither of our tankers do) you have to back them up to the porta-tank to drop the water. Its easy to run over a porta-tank when you dont have someone back there telling you where to go.
Okay.... so thats about all I can think of for now but those are just a few ideas about tanker safety. Yeah i know that alot of them are pretty basic but for newer guys like myself, these things arent that basic. I know that when the tones drop for a structure fire, adreniline still takes me over and I really have to focus and calm myself down on the ride to the scene. So yeah... even though these things seem basic, we have to remember the basics because they are what we generally forget when were all excited heading to another fire.
Add a Comment
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Comment by FETC on February 23, 2009 at 5:14pm
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Newly constructed tankers of the same size would be far safer than yours. Lower center of gravity, baffled tanks, suspension that is designed for the weight, the braking systems and everything that goes with it are superior to an older beast with just a monster open tank.
With that said, the problem with tankers is human error. Whether new or old, the vehicle that rolls over is always driven beyond the given road conditions, the vehicle's capabilities or the driver's education and experience level for the specific incident.
Therefore in my opinion, everyone on your department that drives anything bigger than a POV or small rescue, should have EVOC and a CDL period.
If you have neither of the two training certifications; your drivers are not afforded with the "what if's" should the need arise to emergency stop, steer or perform an evasive manuever... period.
Everything else you mentioned is great but should be policy anyways... like seatbelt use.
Wanna know why tankers rollover more than engines.... the drivers are usually FAR LESS FAMILIAR AND HAVE LITTLE TO NO ACTUAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE EXPERIENCE because they are only drivem to fires. We do a fairly good job operating an engine but we run them alot and have been better equipped to handle situations from a higher experience level.
If you can't put out a decent fire with a 1000 gallon engine and a second due 2500 gallon pumper tanker that arrives quickly, then you are going defensive anyways. Besides, while you are awaiting the arrival of the monster, if it even can get to the scene because of it's size or lack of drivers, then you are screwed.
I vote for a 2500 gallon pumper tanker like I showed you in your other post.
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Comment by Paul Kerp on February 21, 2009 at 5:11am
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We live in a very rural area so we depend on large tankers, not as big as yours though, we have a 2,750 gallon tanker/ pumper on a frieghtliner chassis, It handles very well, corners well and navagates our narrow twisty country roads, it has a plastic lined Elliptical Stainless Steel tank. We have found that instead of having a couple giant tankers that are tippy and awkward to drive and impossible to get down most driveways, we have several smaller ones, that can access back yards and travel at a faster pace. Our tanker handles better than our Engine.
Be Safe!
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Comment by Joe Stoltz on February 20, 2009 at 4:39pm
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You might want to print this out and distribute it freely: http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/fire/documents/fmred121405.pdf
You make a lot of good points. I have seen plastic baffles that can be inserted into the top hatch of a tank vehicle. I don't know how well they work, but they could be a lot better than no baffles at all.
http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/pubs/html/00511302/00511302.html
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