Making The Stretch: Why "Rip and Run" Doesn't Work

Grabbing the pipe, a fold and running like a bat out of hell will almost guarantee that the second due will have your fire.

The following video is from Delta, British Columbia, Canada. Let me preface this by stating this is not a condemnation of the members depicted or the department as a whole. No fire department or fireground operation is perfect. We can all learn from each other.

I'm not certain, but it looks like there are three lines coming off this engine at one time, by one firefighter. Maybe they have a certain hoseload that is unique to their response area. If you're from Delta Fire, give us a shout; we'd like to hear about it and learn from you. One thing is certain though, there's a mess in the middle, and it required the nozzleman to leave the nozzle and fix the problem.

When we pull our attack lines, one of the main reasons why we might have a problem is because we rush. A second reason is because the hose was repacked wrong and/or sloppy. No matter if you use a flat load or the minuteman, grabbing the hose wrong will cause it to come off wrong, or flake out wrong. What you end up with is spaghetti somewhere between the wagon and the fire building.

By the time you get it straightened out, the second due will thank you.

Check your beds.

Photo courtesy of author.

Read more of Backstep Firefighter and others at FireEMSBlogs.com.

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Permalink Reply by capcityff on December 23, 2010 at 8:45pm

We don't go out of service for that. Most things are company decisions. We aren't stupid and we know how our department functions. We can manage to do these things efficiently. It's not like we are swapping out the doors or the rig or anything. None of this affects driving where there needs to be extra training.

As far as reracking lines, most of the top companies do that every morning. This isn't because we are switching the length but because we just want it freshly racked since it moves around when driving. Do we go out of service for this? No. It doesn't take long to re-rack the line. We also do it during the slower time of the day. It's why we show up so early. The tour begins at 7am. Many at the better companies arrive between 4-5am to get things done early.

There really isn't a way you can say I'm wrong about this. You don't work for the DCFD and you have no idea how we operate. This department has been operating for a long time and I think we can handle ourselves. Us larger east coast departments(DC, NY, Boston, Philly, Baltimore) are different than the midwestern ones which are different than the west coast ones and so on. We do what we do because it works.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on December 23, 2010 at 10:26pm

capcity,

You're putting a lot of words in my mouth there, dude.

I haven't said that you're wrong, just that I disagree with your take on customization vs. standardization.

Ditto for your discussions of re-racking lines every shift and some of your other comments that respond to things that I didn't say.

You sound inconsistent in some of your claims, too. In one place you claim that I don't understand because I don't currently work for a big city FD and that "every big city is like that". Then you tell me that NE cities are different from midwest cities are different from west coast cities. Which is it?

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on December 23, 2010 at 10:31pm

Hey Ben, would this be construed as "airing of grievances"?

I'm watching ya man.

:-)

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on December 24, 2010 at 9:08am

John, no grievance - that would imply that someone did something to me that I was unhappy or upset with.

I'm happy and content - just having a discussion.