Defending Your Property Against Bushfire: Portable Fire Pumps

Whether your property is a survival retreat, a rural farming property, or your property is located on the urban / surburban - forest interface, a means of fire fighting self help if first response fire fighters are unavailable, or deployed to a different sector of the fire threat. A portable fire pump is a handy piece of equipment to have as part of one's fire fighting preps. Sure a portable fire pump requires an investment in FRN$, but it may also save your life, and the lives of those sheltering with you, and save your dwelling and outbuildings from destruction.

I have been an active member of the Rural Fire Service(New South Wales) and the Country Fire Service (South Australia), and have used portable fire pumps during bushfire emergencies, and during hazard reduction burns. Their usefulness cannot be under estimated.

A portable fire pump is a versatile piece of equipment that can be effectively used for a number of purposes beyond fire fighting. I hope that you will find the content in this thread more than just interesting, but that it will give you useful guidance for the defence of your own, and your neighbour's properties.

The following You Tube clip describes how one fellow converted a trash pump

for double use as an emergency fire pump...note the the plastic container that houses all the necessary tools and equipment for the pump's fire fighting role in one place in a convenient go box.

 

I’ve got a Honda firefighting pump and a length of fire hose at my retreat. I use it when conducting pile burns.

 

The (NSW Bushfire Service / SA Country Fire Service fire fighting appliances I worked on had at least one portable fire pump to provide flexibility:

In providing the tankers with water replenishment beyond the reach of tanker suction hoses,

Providing Close protection of the tanker in the event of a main pump failure,

As a hose line pressure booster for long hose lays or for fire teams working in elevated locations relative to the tanker,

As a backup to continue the mission should the tanker's main pump malfunction.

The portable pumps I worked with usually had a 3" (107mm) inlet for drafting, with one 1.5" (38mm) and two 1" (25mm) outlets for water delivery. a short length of 1" hose was usually connected to the pump for the close protection of the pump operator, and to help cover the withdrawal of the hose line teams the pump provided water delivery to, in the event that a forward position was not sustainable. The portable pumps had a tubular metal frame to assist in man packing the pump moderate distances, and provide a stable platform on uneven ground. If for whatever reason the water pressure drops from a supply source, adequate pressure to the hose line team may be maintained by switching from a 1.5" to a 1" hose line.

In purchasing hose for your portable pump, go for percolating hose (except for the drafting hose). Percolating hose is more fire resistant than non percolating hose.

Training:
Having a portable pump for home protection against fire threat, is a bit like having a fire arm for personal protection against home intruders...the pump's usefulness as a tool is limited by the level of the owner's competence of using it WHEN UNDER PRESSURE. User training, not only by the owner, but also others who are likely to be using it in a fire threat situation is essential...learning on the job when the emergency arises can lead to error and potential damage to the equipment concerned, but more importantly, it may result in a failure to protect the life and property that the equipment was intended to protect.
Intensive initial training in the location likely to be protected is essential; followed by regular realistic familiarisation training on an ongoing basis, where anticipated property protection operations can be rehearsed, with both crew and equipment performance being evaluated.

Maintenance:
Regular inspection and maintenance of the equipment is also an essential requirement for an effective fire defence. Become familiar with, plan for, and implement the equipment's recommended maintenance schedule and tasks. These checks can be done in conjunction with user training with the equipment. All members of the fire fighting crew should know and be competent in doing these inspections and should be competent in checking fuel and oil levels, replacing lubricant oil when necessary and checking fittings and hoses for wear and damage.

Keep a stock of essential spare parts that are mission critical, that can be used to keep the pump working in a fire emergency.

Keep a stock of tools and consumables dedicated solely to keeping the fire pump maintained, and operational in the fire zone. Have the discipline and commitment to not using dedicated tools and consumables for non fire fighting purposes. It would be tragic if the pump fails, because the spanner that is part of the pump's IA kit was not immediately available, because it was used for a fencing job somewhere else on the property property months prior, and not returned to the pump's inventory.

Personal Protective Equipment:
Firefighting is a hazardous activity, the risks being exposed to radiant heat, ember attack, falling objects, slips trips and falls et al. Dress protectively to minimise the risks facing you...

Avoid synthetic fabrics, and use clothing that are of natural fibres such wool, cotton, or canvas...preferably treated with a fire retardant This also applies to under garments, gloves, socks, helmet capes, caps, and face / neck masks.

The insulative value of external PPE clothing is degraded if worn tightly, so wear it loose enough to enable a full range upper and lower body movement, but not so loose that it gets caught in equipment or becomes a tripping hazard etc. Heat build up trapped in clothing due to exertion is a significant contributor to heat stress, and should be vented by trouser and jacket cuffs not being tucked into socks, boots, or gloves. In the event of an overrun, if one has time, those exposures can be covered.

The insulative value of protective clothing is also degraded by getting it wet...KEEP IT DRY! Don't be tempted to soak your PPE clothing in water; whatever immediate and temporary cooling effect that might be achieved by doing so, is likely to be offset by you becoming steamed alive as that water becomes affected by heat radiated from the fire front, and nearby burning objects. An exception to this prescription would be if one has to use the sea, or a river, or a creek as a refuge (just be aware of critters which may want to eat you! )

to be continued...

 

Good idea! I've got a farm pond stocked with fish about 50' from my house and within 100' of my sister's houses and my barn. All I need is a good pump, hoses and nozzles. This area doesn't get many wildfires, but the pump could be used for other things besides fighting fires. The local volunteer fire depts. have similar set-ups to refill their trucks from ponds.

 

Up here, we tend to get winds around 4 in the afternoon, so we all have some form of mobile pump/tank combo. Usually one of those wire framed plastic containers hooked to a Honda Fire-Boss pump combo, these are specific to fire fighting, not your standard Honda, made to run hard right from the start! Most folks use them as a wedge down system around the perimeter of their property, usually towed behind a quad, SideXSide, or Jeep on its own dedicated trailer!
You can Buy the Fire-Boss rig as a complete unit, several folks here have them, but some find the need for capacity greater then the current offerings they have!

Mine is a three part system, the first is a custom 300 gallon tank with the Fire-Boss Pump, ran off a 15 horse Kubota Diesel, towed behind the Trackster, we keep it full and hooked up with its hose and ready to go year round, winter time it's parked in the heated shop to keep from freezing. The second tier unit is the Cat 545 Forwarder with a 3500 gallon tank that quick mounts on the bunks, takes 3 min to hook up and get ready, it's driven by the Forwarders Hydros, so it has plenty of power, this rig is for suppression, it's pretty fast for what it is, and can cover a lot of ground quick, it's also fitted with a bull blade so I can break up the ground and turn any dry grass quickly building a fire break, it has multiple wet down sprayer options, as well as a small water canon on the nose, so I can spray spots as they pop up! The last tier is the Pacific Truck with 34 foot end dump trailer carrying three 5000 gallon bladders, it has a self powered by a 475 horse Cummins KT 8.3 and is for serious suppression, or air attack support, I also have dipping pools that I can set up and keep full, and I also have a high pressure/volume fire canon on the roof that can reach out to around 450 feet! We take forest fire VERY seriously up here, seem to have at least one every year, that's not good, and only getting worse as things dry out more! Which Is why I have the setups I have! All my stuff is custom built as No one builds what I need in a capacity I need! Our biggest risk isn't so much the forest fires it's self, it's the grass fires that allow these fires to move with great speed, like what happened in Los Angeles, THIS is why a good wet down system is so important to have, don't try and fight a fire, you will never have enough water, but if you can get in front of it and set a line of wet, you can anchor off of that and build your lines to stop it using just the wet down system and being quick on the action!

 

I'm surrounded by farmland, roads and acres of lawn, a garden hose would work for me!

 

I was an Leo by trade but spent 19 years as a volunteer fire fighter where I lived. a couple things I planned to defend my house I used at a buddy's in Northern Ca a couple years ago. Large irrigation sprinkler Set up on a tripod. Pre soaked the area while we cleared to dirt.

One pump in not enough. We had to stage pumps due to lift. We had to pull water up hill and a pump will only push so much weight before it stalls out. We were in the Emerald triangle so we had water tanks and put 3000 gallons on the ground for the Cal fire guys, made them like the yard a lot.