Class A Fire

Mr.Mark wrote:
How much water would those fire trucks hold?

MM.

Mr. Mark,
All our "Structural" engines, held/hold 500 gallons.
All our " Brush Engines" held/hold 750 gallons.

The structural or, in technical terms, Type 1 engine, would have a 1500 gpm pump. The Type 4, brush apparatus, would have typically a 750 gpm pump. Now, just because the pumps had the capacity for those numbers, didn't mean you pumped that much all the time. The hose size and nozzle size and settings, would dictate just what kind of flow is needed. We had a phrase, "Big fire, Big water". That meant, if you rolled up on a scene that say, was a residential fire and, it was a two story home with first and second floor involved with flames showing from lower and upper story windows, you'd grab the large, 250 gpm nozzle, hook it to a 2 1/2" hose (if it wasn't already pre-connected) and put a lot of water on that fire, from potentially multiple attack angles, to knock things down quickly.

Then, as things simmered down, the fire was basically under control, you'd back off the large nozzles and hose and enter with a smaller, more manageable hose and nozzle to hit all the hot spots and finish wetting down everything that needed it.

But, as for that situation in that video, well it's been explained. Training, experience, schooling and more, make for smart and wise fire decisions in all different situations.

99.999% of the RV fires across the country, are a total loss within minutes from the start of a fire. Very, very, very seldom can one be caught in time to actually salvage anything. From the time the fire starts, to the 911 call, to the dispatch, to the "shoot time" (time taken for the crew to gear-up, mountup and shoot out the barn ) and, distance to the incident and traffic, all add up.

The average response time for us, (all 41 stations in our city) was around 4:45. In Four minutes and 45 seconds, even the smallest RV fire could and often would, totally engulf just about any sized RV. All we could do is, knock down the massive fire ball, protect surroundings i.e. potential brush fires, protect from collateral damage, i.e. closely parked cars, buildings etc.

Sorry for the detailed operations but, in order for the average "civilian" to even somewhat understand a fireground operation, like you see in the video, some details on how things work, have to be explained. And, no two situations are alike.
Scott