aerial water Gun

[Detroit Fire]

Does anybody still set up the water gun on the tip of the aerial. We have to set up the water way every time we need to use it. We are pretty fast at it but i still like the pre piped water. Just wondering if anybody still does it.

[ignition_point]

We do, and many other departments still do as well.

[Captain Gonzo]

In my Department, we have two Ladder trucks. One of them has a prepiped waterway, the other one does not.

Having a prepiped waterway is a "nice to have" option on a truck, not a "need to have". Drilling in setting up ladder pipes should be done regularly to keep our skills up. When we think that there is a possibility that we can lose the building, we should be thinking about setting up the ladder pipe and getting the stuff ready.

[This message has been edited by Captain Gonzo (edited 04-28-2001).]

[Dalmatian90]

We do, at least for a few more months till the new truck arrives

We actually keep the ladder pipe and hose connected to the aerial, and take it off if we don't need it. It works for us -- rescues, if needed, will probably be made off ground ladders from the first in Engine-Tank, and vertical vent isn't usually one of the immediate actions we take (although it's often done in a timely manner). But we have used it often as a water tower to blast 1000 or 2000gallons down on a fully or heavily involved building to stop the fire spread.

The new truck, like most new ladders, has much greater flexibility in it's stream. "...rated load capacity of 500 lb. while flowing 1,000 gpm with a 180-degree horizontal nozzle sweep, at full extension from -5 degrees to + 75 degrees"

That opens up some major tactical advantages from our current ladder pipe which is pretty much "keep it straight off the ladder, keep the ladder at 70* or so, and a maximum of 75' extension"

A good demonstration was at a mutual aid run fire I was at last fall. The third of the building on "Bravo" side was fully involved, and extending into the rest of the building. When the hose team in the attic was forced to retreat, one of the other mutual aid departments dropped their new-style aerial down, pointed the nozzle at 90* to the ladder, and opened up a 1000gpm narrow fog and blew the fire back out of the attic. When all was said and done, that single action probably accounted for the save of the final 3rd of the building.