Batteries

[catman]

Ok all, it is time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors and CO2 detectors. Review your evacuation plan and rehearse with your children.

Trav

P.S. Ron...have the guys change the batteries in the PASS alarms!

[DMZ-LT]

Thank you Trav. Got a wood burning stove down stairs and smoke us out at least once a winter. That smoke alarm works real good !

[39mto39g]

Our airpacks are the latest Scotts, they have three batteries in them. They get tested every day and when low they get changed. We are getting the intercom part of the air mask. We have the built in radio system with the air mask but we requested the intercom type and it was approved. It lets you talk with your team , kinda like the seal thing they have sticking out of there ear. So if Im inside and want my driver to start ventilation or charge the hose, all I have to do is say hay shit head, charge the line and only the team hears me. Very cool.

Hows class going?

Ron

[catman]

Ron...those new scotts are great. We had the chance to demo them about a two months ago and applied for them on the FEMA grants this year. Three of our area departments applied for them last year and received new packs, masks for each member with voice intercom, and cascade systems. So hopefully we will get them this year.

We applied and received a grant for a new tanker last year, 2004 Kenworth with a 3000 gallon poly tank, truck should arrive mid July. We are completely rural here and the only hydrant we have is next to the fire hall. Our pumper has a 1000 gallon tank and a 1250 gpm pump. We have an average response time of 6 minutes so the fires have a good jump on us when we get there and we need lots of water. Most of our fires are barns with hay lofts so it is not uncommon for us to use 10,000 gallons plus on a fire.

The class is coming along great. Have almost finished it. Could not have made it this far without your help. Thanks.

Be safe my friend.

Trav

[39mto39g]

I'll bet you have portable tanks to draft out of also. I was telling one of our guys about drafting out of a portable tank and he replyed "what for" KIDs?

Our hydrants are 500 feet apart and 300 feet apart in the industrial area, They all flow 3,000 + gal per min. we have hydrants in a rual area as well, 500 feet. We don't have a tanker or a portable tank. All of our trucks carry 750 gallons of water, and 1,000 feet of 5 inch.

Ron

[catman]

Yes we carry a 2000 gallon dump tank on the pumper, 2000 gallon on the tanker we have now and the new one is coming with a 3000 gallon dump tank. We use a 4 inch pvc pipe configuration that looks a little like longhorn horns to siphon from one tank to the other so we are only drafting from one tank but really drawing from all.

Our LDH is all 4 inch. We have 700 feet on the pumper. Some of the local towns we mutual aid with have hydrants. We carry storz fittings on the tankers to adapt the hydrants for filling to our 4 inch system.

we also carry about 1000 feet of 2 1/2 and 1000 of 1 3/4 on the pumper.

What do you guys do, worst case if all power is out and no water is flowing?

Trav

[39mto39g]

Power out, Never seen it happen, But if it did there are 3 elevated water towers that hold 1,000,000 gal each, water wouldn't stop. There are 8 pumping stations in Sugar Land, each is on a backup generator, and has above ground storage of 8 to 10 million gal each location, Plus we have lakes all over our town,
I keep telling these guys they don't know what a real fire department is, what we have is not the norm. But Im not complaining.

Ron