My Experiences as a Probationary Firefighter: Water Supply, Hose Lines and Ventilation

Sunday was a very long and educational class for us. We had a full 8 hour class and we worked the whole time. We started the day learning how to use hard suction. This is used when you don't have a hydrant available and you need to supply your truck with water. We used the Neshaminy creek and connected a hard suction supply to the truck. We learned different techniques on how to hook up the hard suction and the different tools you can use to do this. We also learned about the different types of hose lines, hose tools and connections you can use for a hose line. The truck we practiced on carried 1000 feet of 5 inch since they are from a rural area and sometimes they need a large amount of hose to connect to a hydrant. Once we were done learned about hoses we moved on to ventilation. I have to admit this looks a lot easier than it is. We used a mock roof and have to cut a square to simulate ventilation. We used a roof ladder and worked in pairs. When it was time for my partner and I to ventilate we grabbed out tools and clibed the ladder. I drew out a square using a pick head axe and my partner used a halligan bar to create a foot hold for me. Once I was in position I used the axe to begin to cut through the wood. After a few chops I was already tired. I even thought at one point that I wouldn't be able to finish the cuts. My helmet kept slipping off my head and knocking my glasses off and it was making it very difficult. Once I got adjusted I but up some motivation and went at it. I finished my section and then it was my partners turn. I helped support her on the ladder and she completed her ventilation. The guys on our class cheered us on which felt awesome. We were both shaking and exhausted when we were done. Its been about 3 days since we did this and my hand is still really sore. Its a lot of work to cut through that wood! After lunch we started work on tanker trucks. The are another water supply used in firefighting. We set up a port-a-pond and dumped water into it as a water supply. This is also used when hydrants cannot be used. We set up another hard suction to the truck and placed it in the pond. Where our station is we will probably never see a tanker truck since we have so many hydrants but its still good to know how they work. We also did a little work with hydrants and how to operate them. Then came the fun part of the day. Sprinklers! We had to shut down a sprinkler system using wood chocks and wedging them between the sprinkler to stop the water flow. Needless to say it was very very very wet. We used a ladder to climb to the sprinler head and the water was flowing out of it. With the water running I placed the wedges in and stopped the water flow. My gear was soaked. Luckily for us though it was a nice day out because the water we used was freezing. Again this is something we will probably never have to use but it was a lot of fun! It was a long day on Sunday but we learned a lot. The next few classes we will be learning more about hoses and water supply. Just a little side note, it took my gear two days to dry out and my gloves are still wet!