Smoke Barrel Use

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Drew Smith on May 16, 2008 at 1:23am

I have used a burn barrel in an area other than the fire room to create some heat and smoke. The key is control. When we use the barrel we do a couple of things. One is put wet hay on top to creat the smoke. ANother thing is to have a lid. I have used two barrel types. One is a metal drum with metal lid. We can choke the fire by covering the barrel. The other barrel is a drum cut in half lengthwise with a hinge making two halfs and a metal bar to adjust the lid height. The barrel is on legs-very nice. Whoever is stoking needs to understand why the barrel is used. 1403 says one fire at a time and we keep that intent. In many towers it is hard to get smoke to build up without such a barrel.

Permalink Reply by Chad Cox on May 17, 2008 at 11:53am

Thanks for the input. We did some live burns in our burn tower the other day, and I worked on the smoke barrel again. Across the board all the crews out that day complimented on how good the smoke conditions were throughout the building. Took a TIC with me and monitiored the heat conditions that way down the road if someone wants to argue that it is putting out heat. The entire time, the temperature readings at the ceiling level were 79-80 degrees. Thanks for the advice, and look forward to hearing more.

Permalink Reply by Tony Piontek on June 22, 2008 at 7:53pm

I have plans for a propane fired hay burner, I can send it to you if you wish. Produces great smoke and heat, actually will create a heat signature that a tic can view fairly well. It's easier to stoke and keep producing heat, but MUST be manned at all times for obvious reasons, as well as placed properly within the building.

Permalink Reply by Drew Smith on June 22, 2008 at 8:09pm

Tony, I'd like the plans if you can send them to me at dsmith@prospectheightsfire.com. Thanks

Permalink Reply by Chad Cox on July 1, 2008 at 5:32pm

Tony,

Can you please send me the plans for the propane fired hay burner? Thanks,
Chad Cox
chadsworthks@yahoo.com

Permalink Reply by Doug Price on August 28, 2008 at 3:25pm

Tony, My name is doug price. Im a new Live Burn Instructor, an the Community College is building a ESTC for the local depts. The propane hay burner sounds great I would love to have a copy of the plans if possible. Thanx doug. dprice6307@yahoo.com

Permalink Reply by Tony Piontek on September 13, 2008 at 6:36pm

I'll get those pics of the burner to you all next week.

Permalink Reply by Tony Piontek on September 17, 2008 at 12:11pm

Permalink Reply by Tony Piontek on September 17, 2008 at 12:13pm

A piece of chain link fence is put over the top of the burner to keep the straw off the burner, someone needs to feed and man a hose line during the evolutions, as well as periodically empty the ash, usually good for about three bails before that is needed.

Questions, shoot em my way.
Tony

Permalink Reply by Doug Price on September 17, 2008 at 2:23pm

Thanx Tony, I look foreward to making one an using it.

Permalink Reply by Joe Dombrowski on November 12, 2008 at 2:26pm

I am in the process of making and experimenting with propane smoke barrels for our department. Actually picked up the idea from the Georgia smoke diver instructors at the FDIC. The guys were great and were willing to hand out their smoke barrel plans for anyone to design. We just did a test run on our first barrel based on the GSD plans and it was excellent. Not only do you use less hay then conventional smoke barrels startup time is very quick and effortless. We did our first test run on a 50 x 30 2.5 story residential style drill tower and we had less than 2 feet visiblility within 10 minutes of starting the barrel. (have videos if anyone is interested). Very simple design. all you need is some plumbing parts, blue flame log lighter, 55 gallon drum, and rebar. Oh yeah and someone who welds. Simple startup.. Turn on gas, light burner, add hay, and bam 15 seconds you have a column of smoke chugging out. We did two burns which last one hour each. We ended up using less than 3 bales of hay and had near zero visibility. Also you have consistant smoke throughout the day since the ashes fall through the grate and into a tub or the floor where they can be removed easily. Only drawback is the barrel does not raise the room temp more than 30 degrees if controlled properly. Still creates good thermal layering and contrast for TIC training though. The other concern is you must place it where the gas tank is outside of the sturcture (usually pipe through a drain h*** or just preplumb your tower). We controlled the flare ups by either adding more hay or covering with a thick piece of plywood or metal cover. you can sort of predict flareups by looking for cherry spots on the side of the drum, which indicates there is a void in the load of hay allowing free burn. If you just pack more hay in that area you can prevent flare ups all together. We had a can in the room with the stoker and a booster line right outside the door. In the live fire class GSD controlled the area with a garden hose. Can be used outside of the burn room but I would read up on NFPA 1403 before I would confirm that one. Just have to maintain one fire at a time I do know that much.

But to be honest try contacting one of the instructors at georgia smoke divers www.georgiasmokediver.com . They were the guys that I learned the design from and hence I must give credit to them on this one. Excellent piece of training equipment for realistic smoke conditions.

Joe Dombrowski
Stamford Fire Rescue
Engine 5 Rescue 1
Stamford, CT

Permalink Reply by Joe Dombrowski on November 12, 2008 at 2:32pm

Oh yeah here are some pics...

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