[SML] Fire hoses

[Lawrence E. Stahl]

Unless I am mistaken (a fairly common occurrence, by the way), the wall-mounted fire hoses in larger theatres are one of several remnants of very sensible upgrades in fire protection from back in the day when a 45-minute response time for the first water to be put on a fire by the closest fire company was considered reasonable... hitching up the horses, getting the boiler going, getting a water draft set up, and so on.   Today, I think most Fire Departments would be much more interested in having access to the water hookups in those locations than in the hoses themselves.   And yes, untrained building occupants using a hose--whether it is in good shape or not--could very easily be worse than doing nothing if an unprepared or understrength person gets knocked on their ass and injured by the water pressure straightening out the hose... think of your garden hose as Bruce Banner and a fire hose as The Incredible Hulk.   There is a reason two trained firefighters are usually on the business end of a hose in action.   When I train my student workers about them, I usually summarize by saying that if they wait until a situation is so bad they need to use the hoses, they better die in the fire or I will kill them worse than that later on.   Fire extinguishers for rookies, fire hoses for the professionals (and, yes, that term absolutely includes the well-trained volunteers in most towns like our local company, who have to meet pretty much every standard that paid firefighters do.)
Speaking of fire extinguishers, my students are taught that only small and completely visible fires (e.g. trash can) are candidates for fire extinguishers.   Check the locations of your fire extinguishers.   They should be located near exits (really large buildings may have others in key locations in addition to the exits.)   The idea is simple:  you run to get the fire extinguisher, and when you run back to put out the trash can fire you are guaranteed to have a fire exit available behind you in case the fire gets out of hand.   Do not run past the fire deeper into the building to get a fire can.  And if the fire is small but not completely visible, such as coming from a wall outlet, ceiling panel, or anything like that, there is no way to know how far it extends inside that wall, ceiling, or floor--and in that case you have neither the time nor the training to investigate.  If that is what you see, pull the nearest alarm and get everyone out, including yourself, right then and there, no foolin', then call 911.   If like me you would be reporting a working fire in a major college structure, you will be meeting many, many firefighters beginning about 5 minutes from the time you connect with 911.   Get your folks out of the building and away from the building, and let the people who know what they are doing go in and do what they know.
Well, I guess this thread pushed my button a little more than I realized.  I think I have "Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder" from worrying about stuff like this in my building before it happens.
 Larry Stahl
Technical Director
Gibson Center for the Arts
Washington College
Chestertown, MD 21620

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