Idaho in extreme fire danger

[hex0rz]

Where in at at least in my locale, we are in an extreme fire danger. It's not the first time this has happened. But things are different for me now. Now I've got a home and property to try and protect. 

 

I've recently acquired an ibc tote and 2 inch trash pump that ill be using to feed my bees sugar syrup. But I've scheming up a plan for fire prevention and suppression. I'm working on creating my defensible spaces but i also need to get the suppression plan in place. While i realize there's no excuse for the big guns, strategy and tactics cone into play and can be effective also. 

 

At a local farm and feed store they sell a beginners kit that has a high pressure pump with hose line and nozzles etc. Kit is around 700 dollars. 

 

I plan on also acquiring a 2500 gallon water tank to use as a cistern for emergency water reserve. I'm probably going to see what interest there may be in the local fire department using it in am incident action plan. 

 

My train of thought is to utilize it in an emergent situation, filling my ibc tote when needed. The tote will be in my truck and the 2 inch pump will be a relay pump for the high pressure pump. I dunno if it will actually be needed to assist high pressure pump but i dunno what distances the high pressure pump can cover before losing it due to friction loss. 

 

I should be pretty mobil with my setup in my truck if needed. I've also seen class AB foam nozzles you can use to effectively increase your fire suppression capabilities. 

 

I've got another long term plan of buying a skid steer that i can use to haul the ibc tote around with to maybe get into less favorable places that the truck can't go. 

 

Anyone familiar with a fire suppression plan? What did you do?

[Mopar1973Man]

Ill respond to this in more depth when i get home. You'll be surprised how much you can do with 300 gallons and pencil line.

[hex0rz]

Remember though i may need to try and make a stand on structure too. Not to say that ill be my own hero, but the attempt will be there. Only because im not the average lay person trying to do this with a garden hose, haha. 

[Mopar1973Man]

The whole trick is keeping the fire on the ground and keep a defenseable space around your home.

[hex0rz]

spent some time yesterday filing up a free pool i got from my parents neighbor. It holds water at least. Dang thing holds allot of water! I probably have about 800 or so gallons in it in the picture. It probably holds around 1500 I'm guessing. Nice little water reservoir to have until i can officiate a permanent system. This was originally going to be for raising fish in. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Like here I've not even bothered to fire up the hydro-generator this year because of the lack of rain fall and how dry it's getting. Yard looks good but the skies up here are very smoky and visibility is low. 

 

 

Like here on my property, I've got 1" line charged to roughly 116-118 PSI. Then in between the houses, there is a 1 1/2" fire hydrant fitting. This allows me to lay out enough line for refilling fire trucks at the highway. Another thought could be manifold out 3/4" pencil line and defend the houses from ground fire. The only area that is rather risky is the area behind the house.  I've got 300 feet of 1 1/2 fire hose, I think 200 feet of 1 inch fire hose and maybe 200 feet of 3/4" pencil line. 

 

 

Edited August 6, 2017 by Mopar1973Man

[hex0rz]

Since you have the engineer background, im curious how much hand line you can use before friction loss is too great and need a booster pump or use bigger line?

 

The fire kits that are sold only have so much line with them but u dunno if that's the max they can pump or if its just a starter kit deal. 

[Mopar1973Man]

40 minutes ago, hex0rz said:

Since you have the engineer background, im curious how much hand line you can use before friction loss is too great and need a booster pump or use bigger line?

 

For every 1 foot elevation, you travel uphill you'll lose 0.5 PSI of pressure. Same is true if you travel 1 foot downhill you'll gain 0.5 PSI. So like my irrigation dam is 230 feet higher than the faucets at the bottom so if you divide 230 feet by 2 you'll get 115 PSI. So you'll need a booster pump for traveling up hill. 

 

Larger lines are always best to start will volume loss is minimal. Then you can divide out to smaller lines and everyone can work together fighting. Common to see 1 1/2" trunk lines that branch off to 1 inch lines. Then branch again to 3/4" pencil lines. The whole idea is to have you lines already laid out around the property and be able to charge the entire manifold. This way no matter which way the fire comes from a small crew of 2-3 people can handle a front of the fire.

 

 

40 minutes ago, hex0rz said:

The fire kits that are sold only have so much line with them but u dunno if that's the max they can pump or if its just a starter kit deal. 

 

Unknown... I've built mine from older hoses that the department was replacing. Keep my hose rolled up in the shop so they are ready for fire anytime. I've checked them a few times dead heading the full line pressure and then hold up just fine.

 

Edited August 7, 2017 by Mopar1973Man

[hex0rz]

 My thoughts were to get the 2 stage pressure pump, go out 150 feet 1 1/2" then Wye off into one inch lines. How much of the one inch line i can run off the Wye before i lose too much pressure, i dunno. 

 

This way in theory i could have me and the wife on each a nozzle.

 

I would be aiming for more portability myself. I don't have a mountain behind me to gain pressure from. My setup would have to be from the truck or a skid steer i hope to own soon. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Depends on the volume of water you are dumping out your nozzle. This why most of our fire operations we only use 3/4" pencil lines this reduces volume to each user. Now if the fire is getting angry then you can step up to 1" inch but remember your limited supply of water it will disappear quickly on even 1" lines. Less volume being dumped the more pressure you have in reserve. More volume you dump the lower the pressure will become. 

 

As for the truck try and make it as a bed pallet. Something that is built to just slide in with a forklift or similar.