Hose Stream Prop for Suppression Tactics Training

• Published in: Firehouse Vol. 47; no. 2; pp. 24 - 26
• Main Author: Stakes, Keith
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: Fort Atkinson Endeavor Business Media 01-02-2022
• Subjects: Air entrainment; Bedrooms; Ceilings; Construction management; Cooling; Curricula; Fire protection; Fire safety; Fire services; Firefighters; Halls; Mechanics; Moisture content; Nozzles; Principles; Tactics; Training; Ventilation; Visualization; Websites
• ISSN: 0145-4064; 1948-5670

ULs Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) fire attack study that was funded by an Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG) was designed to provide both context for and substantiation of fire suppression methods, tools and tactics that have been utilized for decades. The hallway-and-room setup allows for visualization of the principles regarding successful extinguishment tactics: * Interior suppression down a hallway that can be used to show air entrainment behind an advancing suppression crew as well as utilizing alternate hits, such as deflecting the stream off of the king stud of the doorway to the bedroom (Figure 3) * Exterior suppression that utilizes streams that are angled off of the ceiling at various angles as well as utilizing alternate hits, such as deflecting the stream off of the window header (Figure 3) * A roof structure atop the bedroom allows for visualization of the principles that are needed to understand successful attic fire suppression methods, such as an eave attack, or to examine exterior suppression methods from below a simulated floor above * A small, simulated cockloft atop the hallway allows for a visualization of different specialty nozzles, such as a cellar distributor, a cockloft nozzle and voidspace nozzles FSRI is proud to freely share fully dimensioned construction plans of its hose stream prop along with instructional videos and lesson plans for fire departments to incorporate into their training curriculum. Everything that's needed to build the hose stream prop and to implement the training that goes along with it is provided in a comprehensive hands-on-training toolkit that can be obtained at the FSRI website: https:// www.fsri.org/hose-stream-mechanics. * For exterior suppression, it's critical that you ensure that you get the most amount of water into the fire compartment with the least amount of air that's entrained.