Modified FDNY High Rise Load

Over the past 2 years my department has re-evaluated our high-rise setups.  In doing such we moved away from carrying 50’ of 2.5” hose, a gate-wye and 100’ of 1.75” hose to carrying 4 bundles of 2” hose.  Because we changed the hose configuration we also re-evaluated how we bundled it.

4 options

FDNY Load-Fit well in our compartments, deployed great, wanted a way to carry it over shoulder or bottle rather than on shoulder.

Denver Load-didn’t fit well in our compartments, deployed great, could carry on bottle or over shoulder.

Cleveland-didn’t fit well in our compartments, could not deploy as a dry line.  Needed to have a different load for lead length and supply lengths.

Knee Bundle-It didn’t fit well in our compartments, it matched deployment of our minute man loads, and varying lengths of knee bundles depending on who made them up was a problem.

"Necessity is the Mother of Invention". 

We decided on a Modified FDNY Load.  It’s folded the same as the FDNY load, so it’s hard to mess up.  We chose to use only 2 straps and instead of strapping all the folds together we strapped it so it could be put over the shoulder, over the SCBA or split and put over the head. The over-the-shoulder is shown with one section and two sections.

The Modified FDNY Load works well with 2” hose because the total width of side by side 2” hose is 7” whereas side by side width of 2.5” hose is 9”.  The extra 2” of width on 2.5” hose makes shouldering the load difficult and placing it over the bottle near impossible.

How To Fold It

Start by folding it in half.  The bight gets folded (no race track).  From the bight the male coupling should be on the right.  The bight end will fold on to the coupling side.  Repeat.  Flip load over and strap.  Once straps are in place, fold one more time.

Be sure to keep the straps at least 12” away from the couplings and the bight end.  This keeps the bundle clean and allows the packs to be connected without taking off the straps.  It's best practice to leave the straps on until you are just ready to make the stretch.  Doing this it allows the team to setup the bundles at the standpipe while the officer walks the floor below to assure the attack is being made from the correct stairwell.  If the officer comes back and chooses to change stairwells, the bundles can be disconnected and easily moved because the straps were still in place.