Firefighting

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peter d

peter d

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This one is probably better in the safety area, but I thought it would get more traffic here.

Anyway, I never miss an episode of the Discovery Channel's series "Firehouse USA."

In one warehouse fire, one of the firemen thought he was having a muscle spasm, when in fact he was being shocked. :eek:

Now, they don't show every detail of the attack on the show, but it doesn't appear that they shut down the building power before they go in. It looks like onece they ventilate they go in and start spraying everything down.

Can any firemen shed some light on this?

[ October 21, 2005, 04:16 PM: Message edited by: peter d ]
 
Re: Firefighting

I'm not a fireman, but I did ask a veteran fire fighter one time about fires and live circuits.

He told me that lots of times they roll up on a fire and begin working it before the power company can get out and shut down the power. Basically he told me that they shoot the water in a fog pattern if there is a potential of live power. By using a fog pattern they usually don't have any problems with low voltage.
 
Re: Firefighting

A standard 30? fog pattern with a 100 psi at the nozzle can be safely used on energized equipment up to 33 kV from 30' away. Many times the fire is fought before the power is dumped, and that can cause problems if you are using a straight or solid stream. In the fog pattern, there is enough separation between the drops of water to prevent current flow. That is not the case with a straight or solid stream. The current fire fighting practice for many departments in the US is to use solid streams. They have greater reach into the fire, and can place more water at the seat of the fire.
Most of the firefighter shocks have been caused by the firefighter or his equipment contacting the energized equipment or conductor.
Don
 
Re: Firefighting

We've had a couple of minor fires in one of the manufacturing plants where I work. In both cases the fire dept. has requested that I go in and open the service switchboards before they do anything. Bear in mind though that neither fire was a blazing inferno.
 
Re: Firefighting

As assistant fire chief, safety officer for our department, I have to determine the potential hazards that exist in each sitaution. A typical house fire will have the meter pulled as soon as possible by a qualified individual. Sometimes that individual is me so I prefer finding the main and shutting power off there. In large complexes, there may not be immediate access to the disconnects, or the disconnects may not be propoerly labeled. In this instance the training the firefighters receive kicks in and the safety officer needs to be aware of the hazards. If electrical is an issue for the safety of the interior crews, I will pull them to a safe area an fight defensively until power companies can de-energize the system.
 
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