By ED COLLET

Whether the person who drives the engine and operates the pump is called an engineer, operator, or chauffer, he has one of the most important jobs on the fireground.

He must get to the scene while keeping the crew and public safe. At the scene, water must quickly be delivered from the tank to the hoselines prior to a water supply being secured. Various hoselines on the engine will provide options for the water flow to match the size of the fire. The operator will be able to get the correct flow to each line by using the labels and charts with operating pressures determined after testing. All this is done while keeping an eye on the scene, watching gauges, and listening to the engine to help ensure scene safety. That is a lot to do—especially in the early morning hours after being awakened from a sound sleep. Preplanning the engine is a key element in the operator successfully completing all the required tasks on the fireground.

Getting There

Getting to the fire safely is one of the most important duties of an operator. Doing this effectively involves knowing the physical aspects of the engine (pumper). The engine must be taken to a scale and weighed with a full tank of water, all its equipment, and a full crew complement. This provides the true weight of the vehicle, not just the design estimations of the gross vehicle weight. There are many things knowing the weight does for the operator. Routes may change based on bridge weight restrictions in the response area. Height is another limiting factor in planning response routes. Low underpasses in the response district will require alternate routes. Clearance from overhead wires is a consideration when ladders and towers are positioned but needs to be considered by engine operators as well. Some streets may not be wide enough for some engines during certain times of the week. How will the width of the engine impact response and access to the scenes during these conditions? With ladders being stored in racks over the hosebed, it is critical for the operator to know how much room is needed to drop the ladder rack. The ladders will not be useful if there is a car in the way of the ladder rack or it deploys over a deep ditch. The physical characteristics of the engine impact how the operator approaches driving the vehicle and how it is positioned at the emergency scene. This is the reason knowing the physical characteristics is an important part of the engine preplan.

Pump Capacity

The operator must know the capacity of the engine’s pump. A plaque is located on the pump panel indicating the results of the pump performance test when the engine was originally certified by the