To pump LDH or not?

[Capt258]

Since nobody like my first question on how searched areas are marked in their departments, I have one more :-)
Do you pump your 4" supply lines or do you directly connect them to the hydrant? Why?
This has become a huge debate in our department recently, currently we operate with the 4" being a direct connect.

[Dalmatian90]

We pump our 5", normally reverse lay but in a few special pre-plans do a forward lay which is then pumped by a mutual aid truck.

But this is mainly due to a not-so-hot hydrant system -- we can get 1500gpm out of any one hydrant with about 10-15psi residual, but that's all the GPMm for the entire system on our side of town.

(By the way, the couple of preplans we forward lay on is because the engine laying continues on to complete a 2nd reverse lay to a static water source.)

[S. Cook]

When we had 4" we pumped it if needed. As long as you use pressure dumps on the discharge and supply end, what's the problem with pumping it?

What would the naysayers do from draft? Would they pump the 4" from draft. If not, what lines would they lay for supply from draft?

We use 5" now, but we'll still pump it if necessary.

And on the search, we used to each carry a chalk, but that didn't hold up too well in the pockets because of all the water. We use imagers for the search, if we need to mark something we'll mark or block the door.

[afd7951]

We connect directly to the hydrant but use a hydrant assest valve. This way if need to we can have 2nd in Engine Co. boost the presure from the hydrant. We have used this many times and it has worked for us. As for your question on search, I missed it........

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My opinion does not reflect on that of my career department, Michael Prescott
Capt./EMT-B

[BLACKSHEEP-1]

We use 5in and we pump it. We usually do forward lays since most of our fires are residentials and we have an excellent hydrant sustem (we are very spoiled down here at SPFD). There are some problems with getting lazy about that. The biggest is that you will never get the max capacity from your pump in a forward lay. All of our truck companies use 5in inlets, so if you pump this at 150 psi your engine is in capacity and you don't overpressure the hose, I've talked to one of our captains who was near the 5in when it let loose, it will kill you. But if you stay within the design limits and test your hose yearly it is a real fine tool for supplying ladder trucks and sprinkler/standpipe connections(if they have a storz instead of the 2-1/2). Good luck on your endeavors.

[Capt258]

Thanks for your responses, it is good to hear from others outside my department. We do forward lay most of our fires, there are a few folks that refuse to lay out going in. We have asked our bosses to look at buying a hydrant valve, so that we could direct connect and still have the line umped if needed. They say, "No." Oh well . . .
Some officers have thought about actually hooking up an engine to the plug and allowing the water to flow through and sort of making the engine a hydrant valve. This is because our department only does direct connects with our 4", but this would allow the line to be pumped if the call went downhill and we were forced to defensive measures. This would still allow for the direct connect which frees up the driver of the water supply company to go to work with his/her company, but gives the sense of security to those who do not like the direct connect. If needed then another driver could operate the engine, as we are all trained to operate each piece of equipment in our department.
Anyway, thanks to those who have responded. The search question was: How does your department mark an area that has been searched? Such as chalk, rubber bands on the door knobs. . .
Be safe!