Editor’s Note: For many years, fire departments nationwide have chosen to go with crosslay/speedlay setups on their apparatus. Some departments have chosen to return to running attack lines - preconnected or not - off the rear of their fire apparatus. This month, Editorial Advisory Board members Bill Adams and Ricky Riley comment on fire apparatus attack line positions from their perspectives.
There is no cast-in-concrete definition of an attack line, and there probably shouldn’t be. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, sentence 3.3.139 defines a preconnected hoseline as: “A hoseline that is stored on the apparatus already connected to an outlet on a pump and that can be charged by the activation of one discharge valve.” NFPA 1901 goes on to stipulate there shall be two preconnects with minimum sized piping; valves; and storage capacity for each. Hence, a preconnect can be considered an attack line but an attack line is not necessary preconnected - i.e., a static load.
Prior to Chief Eno of Mattydale, New York, designing the first “mattydale” lay (aka crosslay) in 1947, all hose except for booster lines was pulled from the rear of the apparatus. When reels replaced the open chemical hose baskets mounted over midship pumps, the reels occasionally were mounted just above the rear tailboard. The original question posed is subjective in that it infers a “rear pull” and a crosslay/speedlay are the only two viable options for an attack line. They are not.
I proffer that there are multiple methods of storing, loading, and accessing attack hoselines regardless of being preconnected or not. One is not categorically better than another. Using a military adage, a successful fireground attack evolution depends on the “weather and terrain.” Additionally, not every fire department is a proponent of using preconnects. Some prefer and are very successful in reverse laying from the fire to the hydrant. I venture those agencies would rather not be obligated to pay for and find room on their rig for NFPA 1901 mandated preconnects and associated plumbing. Other agencies - both career and volunteer - prefer to pull the lengths of attack line hose deemed necessary for each incident from a static bed. I’m not going to pass judgment.
In my biased opinion, there are four basic methods of storing and pulling attack lines - off the rear as in the good ole days, lifting out of a trough (hose well), on a reel, and transverse - pulling from the side of the rig. Note that I used the term transverse, which includes crosslays, speedlays, and mattydales. Transverse lays can also be located on the front bumper and the rear tailboard. Hose wells can be located on the front bumper, at the rear of the bus, or on either side. I’ve seen rigs with multiple donut rolls connected in a hose well all preconnected. It works. Try it.
Regardless of where attack line is stored and irrespective of the type of hose load being used and whether or not it is preconnected, if a firefighter has to step up onto the apparatus to reach it, someone did a lousy job laying out the rig. It is an invitation to an injury. Why purposefully or inadvertently create a potential safety hazard for firefighters when there are other options?
Transverse lays at, in, or above pump houses are about 70 inches side to side. A 200-foot transverse hose load has about 34 “lays” of hose with a fold at the end of each lay. In my opinion, each fold is an invitation for a kink; they can make for a lo