Apparatus: the shops Christian P. Koop
One night, just days before this past Christmas, I was frantically awakened by my daughters telling me of a car fire across the street in a neighbor’s driveway.
I quickly ran downstairs and into my garage, picked up a fire extinguisher, and ran out the front door, yelling to my daughters to call 911. As soon as I saw the fire, I instantly realized my fire extinguisher would be useless. The car was fully involved, with flames licking tree branches more than 25 feet above the car. I pounded on the neighbor’s door, who was home yet oblivious to the inferno in his driveway just mere feet from his garage door. A fire crew from nearby Station 14 arrived in its Rosenbauer pumper in about six or seven minutes and proceeded to put out the fire that totally destroyed the late model Lexus SUV. While the fire was being put out, we heard two loud and powerful explosions as the front tires blew up. Luckily, the fuel tank did not ignite because the fire was extinguished before it got to the fuel tank.
After the fire was put out, my neighbor asked me what I thought had caused the fire. I responded that in my experience of having seen quite a few vehicle fires, including many emergency response vehicles (ERVs), I have seen a large percentage caused by faults in the electrical circuit, and I suspected this was the culprit in this case.
Electrical Causes
Many electrical fires are started when resistance in a connection or terminal increases. As resistance increases, that connection point in the circuit gets hotter and hotter. It basically becomes a heater element, and eventually the plastic insulation material can no longer withstand the increased heat and begins to melt. At this point, many times the melting material ignites and starts a fire. Other times, the melting material can begin heating, eventually melting insulation material in other circuits, and if they are connected to power and are not circuit protected, like battery power circuits, they can short to ground and also ignite insulating material and start a fire. This is one of the reasons the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires that wiring meet specific high-temperature standards for insulating materials. This helps cut down on these types of fires but will not eliminate them.
Not only can electrical fires be caused by hot, high-resistance connections, they can also be caused by electrical modules that overheat internally and ignite. I have seen this happen to many different types of modules, and those that are hot at all times and do not go through the battery switch or ignition switch circuit are particularly vulnerable. I refer to these types of potential sources of vehicle fires as the most insidious because you can park the rig and walk away and a fire can start in minutes or even many hours later. If these fires are not discovered immediately and put out, they can grow very quickly, and the end result is a total loss of the vehicle.
Most people would think that these types of fires are not preventable, but in reality there is much that can be done. It all starts with a thorough visual inspection. Look for wiring connections that appear to be distorted or discolored. If you see a potential issue, check the temperature of the connector or module. If it is much hotter than the rest of
Read more
- 367
- Article rating: No rating
Posted: Apr 1, 2018
Apparatus: the shops Christian P. Koop
One night, just days before this past Christmas, I was frantically awakened by my daughters telling me of a car fire across the street in a neighbor’s driveway.
I quickly ran downstairs and into my garage, picked up a fire extinguisher, and ran out the front door, yelling to my daughters to call 911. As soon as I saw the fire, I instantly realized my fire extinguisher would be useless. The car was fully involved, with flames licking tree branches more than 25 feet above the car. I pounded on the neighbor’s door, who was home yet oblivious to the inferno in his driveway just mere feet from his garage door. A fire crew from nearby Station 14 arrived in its Rosenbauer pumper in about six or seven minutes and proceeded to put out the fire that totally destroyed the late model Lexus SUV. While the fire was being put out, we heard two loud and powerful explosions as the front tires blew up. Luckily, the fuel tank did not ignite because the fire was extinguished before it got to the fuel tank.
After the fire was put out, my neighbor asked me what I thought had caused the fire. I responded that in my experience of having seen quite a few vehicle fires, including many emergency response vehicles (ERVs), I have seen a large percentage caused by faults in the electrical circuit, and I suspected this was the culprit in this case.
Electrical Causes
Many electrical fires are started when resistance in a connection or terminal increases. As resistance increases, that connection point in the circuit gets hotter and hotter. It basically becomes a heater element, and eventually the plastic insulation material can no longer withstand the increased heat and begins to melt. At this point, many times the melting material ignites and starts a fire. Other times, the melting material can begin heating, eventually melting insulation material in other circuits, and if they are connected to power and are not circuit protected, like battery power circuits, they can short to ground and also ignite insulating material and start a fire. This is one of the reasons the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requires that wiring meet specific high-temperature standards for insulating materials. This helps cut down on these types of fires but will not eliminate them.
Not only can electrical fires be caused by hot, high-resistance connections, they can also be caused by electrical modules that overheat internally and ignite. I have seen this happen to many different types of modules, and those that are hot at all times and do not go through the battery switch or ignition switch circuit are particularly vulnerable. I refer to these types of potential sources of vehicle fires as the most insidious because you can park the rig and walk away and a fire can start in minutes or even many hours later. If these fires are not discovered immediately and put out, they can grow very quickly, and the end result is a total loss of the vehicle.
Most people would think that these types of fires are not preventable, but in reality there is much that can be done. It all starts with a thorough visual inspection. Look for wiring connections that appear to be distorted or discolored. If you see a potential issue, check the temperature of the connector or module. If it is much hotter than the rest of
Read more
- 323
- Article rating: No rating
Posted: Apr 1, 2018
By Michael N. Ciampo
Did you ever pull up to a scene with an immediate need to “get to work” and have to run to the rear ladder compartment to retrieve a hook so you could start performing your tactic?
1 On this engine, the department installed aftermarket brackets to both sides of the crew cab. (Photos 1-4 by Dane Policastro.)
Or, maybe you’ve pulled up on the engine with a few bags of rubbish burning right next to a parked car and you’re running to the rear of the rig to grab a hook so you can run back and pull the bags away from the auto while another firefighter is stretching the trash line. With some of the newer engines that boast large water tanks or high side compartments, we might even have to climb the “jungle gym” back step to reach the hooks mounted up out of arm’s reach. Many firefighters have run into these scenarios and realized they’ve lost precious seconds circling or climbing up on the rig trying to retrieve a hook.
2 The hook’s placement does not interfere with removal of crosslay hose stretches.
When it comes to making an apparatus firefighter-friendly, many firefighters polled answered that they’d like quick and unimpeded access to primary hooks and, in some cases, other hand tools such as the irons (ax and halligan tool) when disembarking the cab. Many times, the irons will be either secured in holding brackets in the crew cab or on the floor, but many apparatus without raised roofs can’t accommodate a six-foot hook mounted vertically in it. For busy urban areas, firefighters get off the rig on each run with a clear mindset of what their primary tool assignment is. Many times, they might be able to step out of the crew cab with a hand tool but must get a hook off the outside of the rig. Having the hooks mounted in close proximity to the crew cab helps firefighters get their tools and get to work quicker. Since many cities have chosen to outfit apparatus in this manner, we’re starting to see a spill-over to other fire departments following in this direction. For the most part, we often are using some of the “dead space” on the apparatus to mount these hooks.
3 This aftermarket bracket was made with aluminum diamond plate to match the apparatus.
Vertical Mounting
Probably one of the best
Read more
- 324
- Article rating: No rating