West Mead #1 members met up with firefighters on duty at Meadville Central to train with high-rise packs for multi-story buildings with standpipe systems. Meadville Central Lieutenant Jill Staaf showed a video demonstration by the Kansas City Fire Department on preparing and deploying the high-rise packs. Personnel from the two departments then practiced deploying the high-rise packs in Holland Towers, bringing the 50′ sections of 1 3/4″ hose to the floor below the simulated fire floor, unstrapping and connecting the hoses, connecting to a gated wye on the standpipe system, and then stretching the line to the fire floor for attack. The drill also included an overview of the building’s construction and vulnerabilities, stairways and escape exits, fire department connection to the standpipe system, and nearby hydrants.
West Mead #1 thanks Meadville Central for sharing their expertise and equipment with us for the evening drill.
More Information on High-Rise Packs
The high-rise or “hotel” pack used by Meadville Central is based on the Kansas City Fire Department high-rise pack, also known as the Denver hosepack. Sections of 1 3/4″ attack hose in 50′ lengths are wrapped accordion-style and individually secured with Velcro straps, with a combination fog nozzle connected to one section.
A tool bag includes a section of 2 1/2″ hose and a gated wye, spanner wrench, and miscellaneous gate valve handles. Four 50′ sections of hose and a tool bag are stored on Tower 16-9, and two 50′ sections of hose and a tool bag are stored on each engine.
If a fire occurs in a multi-story building with a standpipe system such as Holland Towers, a firefighter on 16-9 takes two hose sections to the floor just below the fire floor. The firefighters from 16-1 or 16-2 take another hose section to the same floor, where they unstrap the hose packs, connect the three sections to each other and to the standpipe system in the stairway, then stretch the attack line to the fire floor. When all kinks are cleared and extra hose is flaked out, the attack line is charged at the standpipe connection.
The backup line crew should bring the remaining two sections from 16-9 and either pair it with the last section from 16’s engine or connect to the mid-hallway cabinet.
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