Advancing Hose Lines

Ok. So I have been a little behind on my updating so I have some catching up to do. The last few classes have been all about advancing hose lines. We started out last Thursday night by hooking up hose lines to the engine and charging them which basically means just turning on the water. We used fog nozzles and sprayed the water into the creek just to get used to handling the hoses with our teams. Then we practiced walking with charged hose lines which can be difficult because gets really heavy. On Sunday we did more work with charged hose lines. We practiced moving the hose lines through a building and up and down stairs. Moving down a hallway is easy since it is a straight shot but moving up and down the stairs requires a lot of energy. Dragging 100 plus feet of hose into a building is hard work but climbing a ladder with full gear and a hose line is even harder. We practiced two methods. We did indirect firefighter which means we climb to the top of the ladder and rather than going into the building we stay at the top of the ladder and fight the fire from the outside. We learned different ways to control the hose on a ladder so that we don't injure ourselves. After doing this a few times we practiced direct firefighting. This is when you climb the ladder and actually climb through the window and fight the fire from the inside of the building. This requires a lot of strength to do. Now our class is fully trained with hose lines. 

                                                    Advancing hose lines in the dark

                                                          Hose lines on a ladder

                                                         Hose lines inside a structure