sprinkler/hydrant booster systems

[rescue5271]

Recently I have had a few calls from brigade's that have a booster system in there area that I service the fire alarm asking if I could show them how it works and what they should to use it. I am more than willing to help out but I have to ask the question how many people would like to see CFS have some sort of training that can be sent to brigade's.

Boosters are poping up all over the place not only in urban area's but in rural area's,they have been put in for a number of reasons and the most common at the moment is that they insurance comapny wants it. Mind you when the site put its plan into council they did not have to have a fire booster. So we have two problems that really need to be looked into.

1) insurance companys saying put them in,but the council and fire service say they are not needed.

2) Brigade's are not getting any training on how the work and if there appliances will do the job.

What do other people think about this,should there be training and if so how should it be done and who should provide the training?

[PF_]

Level 2 or 3

Maybe CFS could develop an urban training course where you learn about FIP's, boosters, alarms etc. 

Do MFS have it, who trains them?

[F.B.R.T]

We do have training on booster systems and FIP,s but it is generally done in house by our own staff.

Regards, Mat

[CFS_Firey]

We have also been trained in how to use them, just  in the regular weekly training sessions. Its really not that hard to pick up, but its also something that should really be trained on the booster systems that you will be using, as they aren't all the same... For example in our area we have one which isn't pressurized - you have to use  hard suction hoses rather than canvas, as well as the normal pressurized ones...

[Toast]

Go go gadget 4inch Hard Suction

[mengcfs]

Having a training session tonight - will let you all know how it goes.

[probie_boy]

pardon the insolence, but what are boosters? I'm sure I know, i'm just having a mental blank

[Mike]

The joys of boosters..... only 2 ways to set it up incorrectly
Easy to explain to people though...

Boosters are used to increase the pressure in a hydrant system. generally found in major industry, hospitals and schools.

tipically they live in a cabinate that contains 2 64mm mains outlets and 2 64mm "boosted" inlets.
The boosted side is always at mains pressure until you add a pump to the system. The  boosted side and mains side are separated by a non return valve so we dont overpressurise the mains system.

[probie_boy]

okay, thanks bro.

[backburn]

We have 2 in our area but can not get enough water from the line to use them properly. 1 is at a major high school the other at the large winery. Had them tested but they do not work properly they failed the test but that was 3 years ago nothing has changed. Hope we dont get any fires.

[mengcfs]

Had our training on the Booster at the old folks home last night (thanks Bill). Very very easy to use. We may have the same problem tho - mains may not keep up.

[Alan (Big Al)]

The 3 boosters in our town all run off of 360mm or 400mm mains so definitely no shortage of water!!! just half a turn on one of those hydrants and you've got 1800kpa just like that

[Del]

Just a thought.... bit out of the square.  Why should the SACFS or MFS  be responsible for supplying pumps to boost a sprinkler system. Why not have owners of such buildings install at time of construction on site stand alone booster pumps?

[rescue5271]

Now that would be great but,then what role would the fire service play??..

[rescue5271]

No problems Adam, I have had a couple of your members call me today to say thank you and I am sure that after last nights training that you guys now know what to do.. As I keep saying it gets back to PRE PLANNING know what site's are in your area and have a plan of attack.. There is more to it than just connect a hose and off you go,there is water pressure and flow rates to work out and above all man power....

[Robert-Robert34]

A few years ago when the timber storage shed at CHH Nangwarry went up in flames every brigade had their hoses linked from truck to truck with Kalangadoo 34 being hooked up to the booster hydrants inside the shed next to where we were stationed using pump relay so all trucks had continuous flow of water

I know this maybe abit off topic but last weekend i was watching a document on Austar called Delhi In Flames which aired how fires are combatted in India where there arent many fill up points nor booster/hydrants at all

It may sound suprising but the Delhi fire service use relay pumping as well where access to water is very limited during a fire

[Firey9119]

Just a thought.... bit out of the square.  Why should the SACFS or MFS  be responsible for supplying pumps to boost a sprinkler system. Why not have owners of such buildings install at time of construction on site stand alone booster pumps?

some buildings in town do have there own pumps eg state lib building and all buildings along that side of north tce, (this is fact as i worked there in the past) the pumps kick in as soon as the pressure drops in the system and drops the bells there and at SAMFS HQ

[Mike]

Think about those who have to fight fires in antarctica.... the water is kept in a liquid state by also being used to cool the power plants.... only problem is the power plants are the most common thing to catch on fire.... makes for an interesting hydrant system

[Robert-Robert34]

I definately aggre with you Mike think about how much of a pain in the rear it would be if they tried to access water from a hydrant and it forze up after coming out of the nozzle 

Every country has their own methods of combatting fires i know for a fact that in Sweden during winter time they have to keep the water in liquid state when it comes to combatting a structual fire cause water deos freeze at a cold temperature

[rescue5271]

Some sites have a jacking pump so as to booste the site to a working pressure,some have a large back up diesel that cuts in when more than 6 heads go off..But in some areas region 3 is a good one there are no pumps at site.......Local brigade only has a old 24/34 and they are having town mains problems.

[medevac]

really how well are brigades going to be able to boost these system s without a proper pumper anyway?

[rescue5271]

One of the problems is that when the site does have a bosster installed the local brigade only finds out after it is installed and they have no idea how it works. Mind you someone up the food chain in CFS must know that these are being installed and not passing the information onto the brigade... Parilla brigade have 3 large shed's in their area that is fully sprinklered and I am sure they have had no training on how the system works.

So do people think that CFS should have some sort of training in sprinkler systems?? if so how would this be done and where.

[Mike]

i dont think it requires its own training course.... maybe in the another BFF course when its developed. It wouldnt have to be a big module.

[Firefrog]

Sprinkler systems are not that complicated. It comes down to familiarity with the risks in your area. If you have fire suppression installations in your area it is up to you to arrange a site training session. In my experience the fire companies engaged to test and maintain the installations are also willing to provide some on site training to the CFS.

[rescue5271]

This is true firefrog,but people have to be first informed that they have been installed in their area rather than rock up and find there is one on site.. Yes it gets back to preplanning and knowing what is in you area....