Not related to the Dodge forum, but interesting none the less to all you firefighters out there.

We had a house fire the other nite, it was -10* outside. Any other time would have been a get in put it out, knock it down and wrap it up. But because of the cold, mutual aid was needed. The first tanker on scene began supplying water to our pumper, then blew its PTO driveshaft out the *** end d/t its freezing. The 2nd tanker (which was ours) was able to get pumping, but the pump began to freeze, so one of operators kept it going by getting under and kicking the driveshaft as it was spinning, this kept the water flowing but eventually bent the shaft, even with recircs going.

3rd pumper/tanker on scene was able to set up and began to attack only to have everything freeze up 5 minutes into the attack, eventually shearing yet another driveshaft. This was just not a good situation all the way around, no injuries, which is what its all about, and $100,000 worth of damage to home.

Just thought I would share............

 

That's a little crazy. It's beenaround 5 to -5 for awhile around where I live too, todays 35, and it feels totally warm outside. What'd you end up doing after all 3 trucks broke down?

 

Our truck/tanker was able to keep enough pressure going to fight fire, our grass truck did the fastest most reliable attack. Our tanker shimmies so bad now that we have to do a PTO rebuild.

 

I was a volly for 20 years. And if I must say, I AM the worlds greatest pump operator...lol.


We have a 75' La France that has been set up for drafting, primarily. We repsond to one of dozens of dry hydrants in neighboring districts, and set up tanker fill supply. When the temps are cold, I use as little hose as possible. Maybe 2 lenghts of 3 inch for filling. As soon as the tanker leaves, the guys wring the two lengths out with a roller, and I open up the deck gun and run the largest straight tip that I can supply.

It's inevitable that the water will freeze. We keep a propane salamander on the rig, along with an 8kw generator. It works like a charm. It's tough maitaining water in those temps 4 sure.

Stay safe.

DD

 

hmm, they dont have a heater built into the tank? seems like they would add that after seeing situations like this

 

I think alot of things will change after that night. They were very new tankers IIRC, we very rarely deal with temps -0 let alone -10 and a windchill of -25. This was an eye opener for sure.

 

Maybe this is a stupid question...
But isn't it a good deal warmer next to a burning structure? Cause originally I was wondering if you guys even had like clothes to deal with cold weather like that for a prolonged period of time (I dunno how warm fireman gear is) but then I was thinking it's probably not that bad right next to a fire...
I guess that probably doesn't help the trucks too much though

 

You have to understand the fire triangle. In order to survive a fire needs three items: heat, fuel, and oxygen. If you take away one element, the triangle collapses and the fire dies. If you've ever built a fire in extremely cold weather you know how hard it is to keep the fire going. The heat does not dissipate in cold weather as well as it does in warm weather; therefire, the heat from the fire wouldn't be enough to heat the firefighting equipment. Also take into account the amount of mass we are dealing with in relation to the water capacity of the truck and wind chill on steel (which is a lousy insulator). It would take a lot of energy to keep the water from freezing in that environment.

 

"If you've ever built a fire in extremely cold weather you know how hard it is to keep the fire going."


Would that mean thatminus the Equiptment malfunctioning,the bitter cold temperatures actually help put the fire out? or is it too big in a situation like that?

 

Bitter cold temps help extinguish a fire as well as prevent the fire from spreading. If you ever get a chance to observe a fire in hot weather versus cold weather, you'll see the different in flame height. The warmer the surrouding atmosphere, the greater the flames.