Members Train to Understand Target Flow
May 8th was a beautiful night to flow some water. For weekly training, members worked on flow testing some hose lines and master stream operations on Engine 1.
There is more to fire suppression than simply squirting water at a fire. Fire engine hose packages should be set up to achieve a target flow rate based factors such as how much water flow is required for the typical building stock in the community, and department capability to set up and advance hose lines. Flow testing involved using a flow meter and various pressure test gauges to see the relationship between our chosen target flow rate for hoselines and pump discharge pressure. This training was part of a larger project to understand flows and pressures across our fleet.
The second part of the training (pictured above) involved evolutions in putting Engine 1’s “deck gun” into operation. The deck gun provides a large caliber stream that gives better knock down capability for larger fires. Members learned about making best use of available water supply by getting a feel for set proper set up of the deck gun to achieve best placement of the stream.