By Chris Mc Loone

Extinguishing industrial fires, such as those occurring at refineries, requires massive amounts of water and foam or both. These types of incidents require a tremendous degree of coordination to establish the water supplies necessary for the required flows.

For many years, Union County, New Jersey, has deployed the Union County Neptune Task Force for these types of fires. The task force maintains a variety of equipment, including 12-inch hose, Kidde’s Neptune system, and an Iron Man nozzle. Deputy Chief Carl Heitmeyer, of the Elizabeth (NJ) Fire Department, coordinates an annual drill where task force members go through an evolution to achieve a target flow, usually between 5,000 and 8,000 gallons per minute (gpm). Besides putting the system in service for large fires, it also helped dewater tunnels after Hurricane Sandy.

Bob Gliem, industrial products specialist for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, was in New Jersey for a fire expo in 2016 when Heitmeyer conducted the task force’s annual drill. The two have known each other for 10 years because they both have taught at the flammable liquid school at Texas A&M. Gliem contacted Heitmeyer because Ferrara had a truck in the state and asked if he could bring the truck to the drill to demonstrate it. This year, Heitmeyer invited Gliem back to New Jersey to participate in a pump school for Philips 66 that Heitmeyer was helping to coordinate. Gliem accepted the invitation and arranged for Ferrara and US Fire Pump to participate.

1 One rig at the evolution was a Ferrara Fire Apparatus pumper slated for delivery to the Philips 66 facility in Borger, Texas. (Photos by author.)

“We’d been looking for an opportunity to do something like this for a year, and this was a perfect location,” says Gliem. “The layout of the pier—it was good geographically, logistically, and everything worked to get this equipment deployed.” Planning for the event took six months. Organizers ran it as an actual incident, bringing in mutual aid, using unified command, and bringing in additional resources. Target flows for the event were in the 40,000- to 51,000-gpm range. The Neptune Task Force also participated and faced an added level of complexity with the extra equipment Ferrara brought to the evolution.

2 The Ferrara Inundator Super Pumper is a world record holder and can pump 5,500 gpm from draft. Ferrara supplied this rig for the evolution featuring a US Fire Pump. It flowed 8,000 gpm through a TFT Tsunami monitor and two TFT Monsoon monitors each rated for 2,000 gpm.

According to Gliem, the entire evolution required close to two days to set up. “We took our time as well,” he says. “We didn’t rush. There was no urgency. We wanted to make sure we were doing things correctly. It was the first time a lot of these people had s

By Chris Mc Loone

Extinguishing industrial fires, such as those occurring at refineries, requires massive amounts of water and foam or both. These types of incidents require a tremendous degree of coordination to establish the water supplies necessary for the required flows.

For many years, Union County, New Jersey, has deployed the Union County Neptune Task Force for these types of fires. The task force maintains a variety of equipment, including 12-inch hose, Kidde’s Neptune system, and an Iron Man nozzle. Deputy Chief Carl Heitmeyer, of the Elizabeth (NJ) Fire Department, coordinates an annual drill where task force members go through an evolution to achieve a target flow, usually between 5,000 and 8,000 gallons per minute (gpm). Besides putting the system in service for large fires, it also helped dewater tunnels after Hurricane Sandy.

Bob Gliem, industrial products specialist for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, was in New Jersey for a fire expo in 2016 when Heitmeyer conducted the task force’s annual drill. The two have known each other for 10 years because they both have taught at the flammable liquid school at Texas A&M. Gliem contacted Heitmeyer because Ferrara had a truck in the state and asked if he could bring the truck to the drill to demonstrate it. This year, Heitmeyer invited Gliem back to New Jersey to participate in a pump school for Philips 66 that Heitmeyer was helping to coordinate. Gliem accepted the invitation and arranged for Ferrara and US Fire Pump to participate.

1 One rig at the evolution was a Ferrara Fire Apparatus pumper slated for delivery to the Philips 66 facility in Borger, Texas. (Photos by author.)

“We’d been looking for an opportunity to do something like this for a year, and this was a perfect location,” says Gliem. “The layout of the pier—it was good geographically, logistically, and everything worked to get this equipment deployed.” Planning for the event took six months. Organizers ran it as an actual incident, bringing in mutual aid, using unified command, and bringing in additional resources. Target flows for the event were in the 40,000- to 51,000-gpm range. The Neptune Task Force also participated and faced an added level of complexity with the extra equipment Ferrara brought to the evolution.

2 The Ferrara Inundator Super Pumper is a world record holder and can pump 5,500 gpm from draft. Ferrara supplied this rig for the evolution featuring a US Fire Pump. It flowed 8,000 gpm through a TFT Tsunami monitor and two TFT Monsoon monitors each rated for 2,000 gpm.

According to Gliem, the entire evolution required close to two days to set up. “We took our time as well,” he says. “We didn’t rush. There was no urgency. We wanted to make sure we were doing things correctly. It was the first time a lot of these people had s

By Chris Mc Loone

Extinguishing industrial fires, such as those occurring at refineries, requires massive amounts of water and foam or both. These types of incidents require a tremendous degree of coordination to establish the water supplies necessary for the required flows.

For many years, Union County, New Jersey, has deployed the Union County Neptune Task Force for these types of fires. The task force maintains a variety of equipment, including 12-inch hose, Kidde’s Neptune system, and an Iron Man nozzle. Deputy Chief Carl Heitmeyer, of the Elizabeth (NJ) Fire Department, coordinates an annual drill where task force members go through an evolution to achieve a target flow, usually between 5,000 and 8,000 gallons per minute (gpm). Besides putting the system in service for large fires, it also helped dewater tunnels after Hurricane Sandy.

Bob Gliem, industrial products specialist for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, was in New Jersey for a fire expo in 2016 when Heitmeyer conducted the task force’s annual drill. The two have known each other for 10 years because they both have taught at the flammable liquid school at Texas A&M. Gliem contacted Heitmeyer because Ferrara had a truck in the state and asked if he could bring the truck to the drill to demonstrate it. This year, Heitmeyer invited Gliem back to New Jersey to participate in a pump school for Philips 66 that Heitmeyer was helping to coordinate. Gliem accepted the invitation and arranged for Ferrara and US Fire Pump to participate.

1 One rig at the evolution was a Ferrara Fire Apparatus pumper slated for delivery to the Philips 66 facility in Borger, Texas. (Photos by author.)

“We’d been looking for an opportunity to do something like this for a year, and this was a perfect location,” says Gliem. “The layout of the pier—it was good geographically, logistically, and everything worked to get this equipment deployed.” Planning for the event took six months. Organizers ran it as an actual incident, bringing in mutual aid, using unified command, and bringing in additional resources. Target flows for the event were in the 40,000- to 51,000-gpm range. The Neptune Task Force also participated and faced an added level of complexity with the extra equipment Ferrara brought to the evolution.

2 The Ferrara Inundator Super Pumper is a world record holder and can pump 5,500 gpm from draft. Ferrara supplied this rig for the evolution featuring a US Fire Pump. It flowed 8,000 gpm through a TFT Tsunami monitor and two TFT Monsoon monitors each rated for 2,000 gpm.

According to Gliem, the entire evolution required close to two days to set up. “We took our time as well,” he says. “We didn’t rush. There was no urgency. We wanted to make sure we were doing things correctly. It was the first time a lot of these people had s

CLICK ABOVE FOR A CLOSER LOOK AT POLK COUNTY'S NEW EXTRICATION TOOLS >>

BARTOW, FL—Polk County (FL) Fire Rescue is now able to extricate patients faster after more than a half a million dollars was spent on new extrication equipment. The new gear is issued to units throughout the county.

“When someone is trapped inside a vehicle, they are usually injured and in need of advanced life support. In emergency medicine, every second counts,” said Medical Director Dr. Paul Banerjee.

The fire rescue division purchased 25 sets of Holmatro extrication gear, which include battery operated cutters, spreaders, rams, lights, and other accessories. Unlike some of the older extrication gear, the new Holmatro gear doesn’t need to be plugged in to operate, is lighter to carry, and is able to cut through stronger metals being used in newer vehicles.

“Our mission is to save lives, and this equipment will save many lives,” said Deputy County Manager of Public Safety Joe Hamlan Jr. “The investment in extrication equipment is just one of many steps we are taking to provide and maintain exceptional fire and emergency medical services.”

From January to November 2017, Polk County Fire Rescue carried out more than 100 vehicle extrications. In 2016, there were 91 and in 2015 there were 109.

For more information, visit https://www.polk-county.net/fire-rescue.