Stretching lines up stairs

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Todd Trudeau on March 22, 2010 at 4:54pm

Hey Jeff, how you been? Doing well here but facing cuts like everybody. I read this article awhile back & tried it at training and found it to work well. Thanks to Lt. Jim Mason - Chicago Fire. Some of the photos seem to be from another article but it gets the point across.

Take care and stay safe!!
Todd

http://www.fireengineering.com/index/articles/display/331550/articl...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on March 22, 2010 at 9:06pm

Todd, I've been good. Thanks for the article Bro! I'm collecting as much as I can, then mold it to fit our needs here in my little piece of the country. Hope to see you at FDIC! Let me know, we'll grab a soft drink!

Be Safe
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony Tricarico on March 24, 2010 at 10:08am

Hey Jeff;

The trick here is manpower. If your trying to stretch a hand line with one or twi firefighters it's going to take forever. Even with a well h***. In an MD you should have four people doing this. One estimates the stretch and chases the kinks after assisting the chauffeur with hooking up the line to the engine, one will be at the bottom of the stair well helping to assure the line or butts does not get caught up, the back up man will go up the stairs half way and continue flaking out the line and the nozzle man will go to the fire floor and flake out his part of the line in preparation to get water.
This is just a short summary of how we do it, if you need a more in-depth explanation just write back. I hope it helps.
Tony

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on March 24, 2010 at 3:26pm

Thanks Tony, it helps but manpower is our issue. 3-4 man engines, normally 3 with the officer. What you said about estimating the stretch is great. I'm going to start measuring areas next week, when we start cranking hydrants. I want to know the strech in advance and maybe get the stretch listed on our dispatch information. One location a day, Garden apartments one day, our 5 story hi-rise another, you get the picture Bro. I will discuss this more with you in Indy, if you have time Bro!

Be Safe!
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tony Tricarico on March 24, 2010 at 4:13pm

I always have some time to talk fire! Look me up and I will be glad to chat.
See you there
Tony

Jeff Schwering said:

Thanks Tony, it helps but manpower is our issue. 3-4 man engines, normally 3 with the officer. What you said about estimating the stretch is great. I'm going to start measuring areas next week, when we start cranking hydrants. I want to know the strech in advance and maybe get the stretch listed on our dispatch information. One location a day, Garden apartments one day, our 5 story hi-rise another, you get the picture Bro. I will discuss this more with you in Indy, if you have time Bro!

Be Safe!
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Larry Glover on March 24, 2010 at 4:18pm

Hey Brother, I teach and have been taught several different ways. They all work depending on the style of stairwell you encounter. One method, like Tony mentioned above, is the well h***. Another way we do it is to stretch dry to the floor above and then back down, using gravity to our advantage. I've also done a pike pole raise of sorts, where I leaned over the railing and hooked the nozzle bale with a hook. In one set of my gear, I carry a little hook that sort of resembles a "hay hook" (could be a different term in your location) that I can use if the hose line is within reach over the railing. Also, we teach to keep the line to the outside of the stairs so the other companies have a clear path coming up and down the stairway. Nothing spectacular, nothing new, just hope any of this information helps. Have fun with the hydrants and thanks for the reminder for us to get out in our districts and pre-plan our hose deployments. Stay Safe!

Larry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eddie Crombie on March 24, 2010 at 4:26pm

Hey Jeff

Good question because this is a common problem with a couple of simple, yet effective solutions.

The first method that is used in my neck of the woods works very well for stretching up a single flight of stairs.
With a charged line bury the nozzle between your legs at the base of the stairs. While you have control of the nozzle, feed hose up the stairway creating a "U" shape. Once you have fed enough line to reached the top of the stairs, take you nozzle and advance to the second story. This accomplishes a few things:
1. You maintain nozzle control the entire time
2. You have a few feet of hose already on top of the stairs to work with
3. If the stairs were you be compromised, you would have the nozzle in your hands
The major drawback to this method is it only works well with 1 3/4" line. 2 1/2" line is difficult to maneuver in this way. This does lead into a second method though.

If you goal is to scale multiple flights you can make a loop in the line and roll it up the stairs. Again the line must be charged. This is extremely effective with 2 1/2" hose in a high rise situation. It can be labor intensive with multiple stories, but it works very well.

If you need more information feel free to e-mail me. I may have some training material on the subject.

smoke_eater@sbcglobal.net

Hope this helps and stay safe
Eddie

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on March 25, 2010 at 6:32pm

Larry and Eddie, thanks for chiming in. Larry the hay hook or pike pole sounds good for a couple areas in town. A dry stretch may be needed in the apartments, that's why I'll be measuring distance while we are doing plugs. Eddie I'm interested in the method you talked about, sounds good. I'll be getting a hold of you for training material Bro! Any and all is appreciated. Best part about this is the guys are all buying in, I brought this up after my training class last day on and the guys jumped on the bandwagon. Makes my life easier, but it was going to get done. Be my luck to catch a job in the apts and not be able to reach someone trapped.

Be Safe, Thanks guys!
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Barry Harpur on March 30, 2010 at 12:57pm

Depends on layout of stairs. If you have a well, great. Pull up enough line to floor below and use a hose strap to secure it. No well, then humping it up stairs. The more manpower the better. The butts love to get stuck on the newel posts so usually someone is running up and down the stairs keeping the line free from getting hung up. Stretch to fire apt. door. if hall way is large then flake out in hallway. If small, then you can either flake out into another apt. on the fire floor or the option of stretching a length up the stairs. If the fire apt. door is open and the hallway is part of the fire area then your gonna have to do all this on the floor below.
Before committing to the stretch make sure you know the best stairwell to use. Could be wing stairs where the different wings of the building are not connected. You go up the wrong stairs and your screwed. Make sure you communicate w/ your members stretching the line so they know where to go. You could also have a wrap-around stairway(stairs wrap around an elevator). This usually requires a length and a half per floor. Its a very difficult stretch if going to an upper floor. See if it would be possible for a rope stretch in these type of buildings w/ wrap-around stairs. Make sure your members take their time stretching the line. Not rushing it will possibly eliminate stupid mistakes like going up the wrong set of stairs or short-stretching. Drills on stretching lines should be done regularly if you don't actually see a lot of work. Even if you do see work, its a good idea to keep at it.

Barry

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jeff Schwering on March 30, 2010 at 6:46pm

Barry, Thanks Bro! I'm working with my company to work alot of this out through Brothers ideas, different techniques learned over the years, etc. We are going to start measuring things on Thursday.Thanks for the information. We run 3 man engines, including me, the majority of the time, so it is a bit tricky. I working to take the guess work out of it, so the entire department benefits.

Stay Safe!
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Barry Harpur on March 30, 2010 at 9:00pm

manpower is a big issue. Ive stretched a couple of times with 3 guys. Its tough. One guy has to literally run up and down the stairs continuously. Hose was going under a door, butts stuck at newel posts. It was a nightmare, but I guess you gotta make do w/ wat you got.

Jeff Schwering said:

Barry, Thanks Bro! I'm working with my company to work alot of this out through Brothers ideas, different techniques learned over the years, etc. We are going to start measuring things on Thursday.Thanks for the information. We run 3 man engines, including me, the majority of the time, so it is a bit tricky. I working to take the guess work out of it, so the entire department benefits.

Stay Safe!
Jeff

• ▶ Reply

▶ Reply to Discussion