Stretching Additional Hoselines

Many structural fires require more than one hoseline be deployed to successfully implement tactics dictated by the strategic goals of the fireground.  Generally, additional Engine Companies will be responsible for stretching, and operating, the additional hoselines.  At the minimum, we should strive to have two hoselines stretched at all working fires.   The focus of this post will revolve around the hoseline the second due Engine Company deploys and the source of additional hoselines on the fireground. Folks often use the terms “back-up line” and “second line” interchangeably to describe the use of the second due Engine Company’s hoseline.  In reality, the terms “back-up line” and “second line” describe two different actions.

A back-up line is used to support an already stretched, and operating, hoseline.  That said, the back-up line is stretched to the same location as the initial line.  The back- up line may work alongside the initial line to extinguish fire or simply be kept as a “back up” in the event the initial line fails.  The back-up line may be redirected to another location by the IC or first due Engine OIC.  However, once this occurs, it is no longer a back-up line.  Keeping this in mind, it may behoove the second due Engine Company to stretch, and properly manage, a line of sufficient length to cover other areas.

A second line is used to supplement extinguishment, or confinement, efforts.  The second line may be stretched to the floor above the fire, the rear of an occupancy, an exterior subfloor entrance, an overhead garage door, or to cover exposures.  The second line may be utilized to extinguish the main body of fire while the initial line is used for confinement, to protect egress and search efforts, or to extinguish exterior fire.  The second line may also be used for confinement or to protect egress and search efforts if the first line does not.  The use of the second line, coupled with the volume of fire, may dictate that the second line be capable of flowing more GPM’s than the initial line.

With the differences in the back-up line and second line identified, I’d like to share some thoughts about where additional hoselines are deployed from.  In many jurisdictions, every hoseline stretched on the fireground comes off of the first due Engine Company. Some factors that may lead to this practice are tradition (that’s the way we’ve always done it), available resources (people, pumpers, and water), or access.  One major concern with this practice is the lack of redundancy.  If one mishap occurs with the first due Engine Company’s pump, or the primary water supply, extinguishment efforts will cease.

As stated above, available resources are a major determining factor in whether or not hoselines are able to be deployed from multiple Engine Companies.  I realize resources are plentiful in my geographic region compared to much of the country and many jurisdictions may not have many options in regards to which Engine Company hoselines are deployed from.  However, if the resources are available, consider having a secondary water supply and using additional (doesn’t have to be second line, could be the third or fourth) hoselines off of the Engine supplied from secondary water supply.

 

The DCFD, as I will always refer to it, has very unique, yet very effective, Engine Company operations.  A first alarm assignment in DC gets 5 Engine Companies, with 3 water supplies utilized and 5 hoselines stretched off of 5 different Engine Companies.  They execute this on every box alarm and execute it flawlessly.  There is much redundancy within their system and failure of a pump or water supply will not cease their extinguishment efforts.

Both fire departments I am affiliated with utilize the NOVA Manuals and get 4 Engine Companies on a box alarm.  The third due Engine Company is supposed to catch a secondary water supply and lay in to cover the rear.  Often time this does not occur within my career system and when it does, hoselines are rarely deployed from the third Engine Company.  This makes no sense to me.  If you laid the hose out from a secondary water supply, why wouldn’t you stretch a line off of your rig?  It doesn’t happen because people are used to all of the hoselines coming off of the first due Engine Company.  At my volunteer firehouse, unless told differently, we will deploy additional hoselines from our rig if the rig is within 400’ of the occupancy and we have a water supply.  We do this because we know our lines are packed correctly, familiarity with our nozzles, and it provides redundancy.  Many folks frown upon this practice simply because it’s not “how it’s always been done” and they fail to acknowledge the reasoning we have for doing it.

At the end of the day, you need to figure out what works best for your department.  The practices I have mentioned above work for some but that does not mean they will work for you.  Hopefully this article will stimulate thinking on the topic of additional hoselines, specifically their function and where they come from.