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when to charge the line
So we had a very in depth discussion about this at a drill last night.
When is the best time to charge the line?
Some people say charge it at the front door, some say outside the door to the fire room, still others say once the pump operator can't see the hose team, they should charge the line.
What's everyone else's take on this?
When is the best time to charge the line?
Some people say charge it at the front door, some say outside the door to the fire room, still others say once the pump operator can't see the hose team, they should charge the line.
What's everyone else's take on this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tracy on
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We like it charged before entry, just in case.
Not everything goes right, no matter how good DIs are.
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Permalink Reply by Rob on
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and if you are using CAFS you should charge at the door, since the hose is more light being half charged with foam and air, it is more easy to kink, so the pressure does not always "push the kinks out" and is still nice and light to drag.
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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on
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I agree with FETC, it really depends on where you are stretching to. If your stretching on an attic, then it will be hard to hump charged line up 2-3 floors. At both of my FD's, the driver/operator waits to charge the initial line upon orders from the attack team but he stretches a 2nd line to the door, charges it and sets it to the side for the 2nd due Eng Co. But, once again it comes down to training, standardization, and communication.
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Permalink Reply by FETC on
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I will add another twist to support the need to advance dry at times.
We have some really large 3 story 100' x 300' college dorms and we also have some pre-code 3 and 4 story multi family 75'x200' lightweight construction apartment buildings Some of these are sprinkled and some are NON-SPRINKLERED and have NO FDC and/or internal standpipes.
Now for all of you "I charge the line outside and mask up everytime, regardless of what and where the fire is" You would be out of air before you made the fire floor or room humping hose/tools/equipment 3 or 4 stories...
Our SOP - Fire on the upper floor: 1st due Engine Company:
Fire Officer, minimum view 3 sides / 4 is better, radio situational report; then carries TIC, officer tool, knox keys, FF#1: carry up high rise pack, FF #2 carry the irons and a 6' hook, the engine driver sets the pump, circulates water, then stretches the rear 200' 2.5" Blitz Line and follows the crew into the main door and in as far as he can advance a DRY 2.5. We need to advance our own interior standpipe hose with larger hose to reduce friction loss. You can't stretch and flow 400' of 1.5 or 1.75? People will say one guy can't stretch 200' of 2.5" by himself either.... well if you train right and understand hose loads and depolyment - YOU DEFINATELY CAN
When D.O. runs out of supply line, the crew stops, breaks off the nozzle and connects/sets-up the high rise pack while the driver goes back and charges the 2.5". When the officer calls for water, he sends it. The next due will lay a supply line in and the crew of that unit will bring up tools, equipment and another high rise pack to connect to the other open port on the gated wye that we already stretched.
Before the truckies pipe in that use the pre-piped waterway with an extra 1.5" connection at the ladder tip for elevated standpipe operation from the exterior. Great! We have it too, the difference is that it is our secondary water source as the Ladder may be delayed or committed at something else. Train one way and then what? Always think for plan B /C...
For those who say "they always charge the line outside for fires upstairs - OK but I would bet it can be done much easier on a fire on the third or fourth floor of a multi-family, non-protected building. Going back to the building construction, it will only be a matter of time before you lose the entire building due to delyed fire attack while waiting for enough manpower to get a charged line upstairs. How many people would it take to advance 400' of charged line through a large building and stairwells?
One story house - Two story house, ABSOLUTELY, charge the line, bleed it, mask up and kick its ass!
TCSS
FETC
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Permalink Reply by Firegal77 on
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sounds dangerous to me!! Maybe try positioning someone in sight of the hydrant and the pump operator...they can signal the ok...just a thought
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Permalink Reply by Mark Rine on
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charging the line all begins in you initial size up. if you show up and the structure is rockin maybe you should decide whether even an interior attack is necessary, if it is then charge it at the exterior door. if you arent seeing much there is nothing wrong with going to the source and safely bleeding the hose and charging it outside that area. just my opinion
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Permalink Reply by Todd on
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I always prefer to have the hoseline charged before entering the structure.
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Permalink Reply by Wilsy on
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I prefer having it charged when you are a floor away from the fire so second floor charge once your through the front door third floor charge it will you are midway up the stairs between 1 and 2.
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Permalink Reply by Jeremy Bolster on
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I hear charge at door and charge inside around these parts. I would like to pull an uncharged line through a house, but I feel alot safer fulling a charged line. More work, but safety is more my concern. Just never know what could happen at any given moment.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Box on
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Ok, might as well give my own take on this: I prefer pulling dry hose unless there's a decent chance I'm going to encounter fire on the first floor. Otherwise I would prefer to charge the line as soon as I reach the fire floor if not while I'm climbing the stairs to that floor.
I am just curious what everyone's SOG or personal preferences are.
Which leads us to the point of: this is why many departments have switched the term from SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to SOG (Standard Operating Guideline.) Every fire is different and as Clint Eastwood said, you've gotta Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome.
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