When It’s Time For The Big Guns

How much time and research does your apparatus committee commit to the specking of master stream devices? Chances are very little; because of one very good reason we rarely use them. However, when the time arises, do you really want to have a wrestling match with an awkward master stream device?

Why wouldn’t you want to be as aggressive with your ‘big guns’ as you are with your interior attack line? Have you ever had the aggravation of trying to wagon pipe a job
only to have wasted a couple of hundred gallons of water just trying to get the gun into position? Even piping from window to window can be a real hassle while trying to manipulate those awkward hand wheels on a master stream device.

The answer is to spec a manually operated gun. For years our wagon pipes have been of the hand wheel type. We recently specked a manually operated wagon pipe on our newest wagon. The manual gun makes for a much easier, more aggressive use of the large caliber stream.

We’ve have also begun specking a control valve located next to the wagon pipe. This allows the operator to charge the gun when the device is aimed and ready. Some departments will place a gate valve on their wagon pipes

between the device and the nozzle or stack tips. This is a great idea but use caution...makes sure you use a quality valve that will not get stuck when charged under water pressure.

The decades old battle over smooth bore vs. fog nozzle will no doubt wage on for decades to come. From our experience, the smooth bore, stack tips win every time. When it comes to reach and penetration, the stack tips will outperform the fog nozzle.

Another factor to consider when choosing a master stream

tip is friction loss. Some aerial devices have substantial

friction loss due to their piping design. Flow test your aerial

master stream, you may be amazed to find out the pump pressures that are required to achieve a quality stream.

We often use our guns for a quick knock down of heavy fire conditions before allowing the troops in to finish up. A stream of 500 gpm from a wagon pipe or tower ladder pipe will knock down a ton of fire quickly.

On jobs that you know are lost and you’re about to make a ‘parking lot’, don’t limit yourself to a 500 gpm stream. If water is available, shut down and change tips. There’s a reason for ‘stacking tips’ on a master stream.

Another tool for ‘big water’ is the pre-connected step gun. The HBF has been using these for years. We’ve been using light weight, 2 inlet guns mounted on the tailboard and pre-connected to a 3 inch supply line, packed in the minuteman configuration.

This allows for a 1 person deployment. While we (HBF) have a couple of the single inlet guns, I believe the 2 inlet guns are by far more versatile.

With a single 3 inch line and the 1 3/8 stack tip, we have a target flow of around 500 gpm. If conditions warrant,

we can add an additional 3inch line and change tip sizes giving us active flows up to 1000 gpm’s.

The single inlet guns limit yourself to around 500 gpm’s. We’ve had great success using step guns for both large commercial building fires and for exposure protection.

Next time your department is specking a new rig, take the time to research and spec a good quality, manually operated master stream for your new pumper or tower ladder. Management will like it too as they are often far less expensive. Lot’s of water for the fire, and a cheap price for the boss, everyone wins.