Aug 1, 2013

Florida Fire Equipment Used In The Everglades

By Lela Perkins


A bolt of lightning can instantly start a blaze where it is hard for firefighters to go and put out. These fires can build and spread with a tremendous amount of force. The best way to prevent this from happening is to get personnel, equipment and fire suppression supplies into the remote regions and extinguish the blaze as quickly as possible. Specialized apparatus has been manufactured like the Florida fire equipment used to put on fires deep in the grasslands of the Everglades. Here are some of the more common pieces of apparatus used in firefighting.

Large pieces of apparatus that cannot enter onto a rough landscape can be stationed on the roadway and used to feed water into the scene. These Type 1 structural engines hold four hundred gallons of water and are commonly used in residential neighborhoods and business districts. The hose beds are big enough to carry about twelve hundred feet of two and a half inch hose lines that can at a rate of at least one thousand gallons of water per minute. There are usually four firefighters needed to fully operate this vehicle.

Another engine that rural firefighting departments like to use are wild land engines. These are made to get off the road and travel though brush and dirt. Many models carry a lot more water than the Type One engines that have to stay on the road. However, they usually have a less hoses than a structural firefighting engine.

Another type of vehicle manufacturers make to assist firefighters in their duties is initial fire attack vehicles. These are smaller trucks that only carry about thirty gallons of fresh water. However, they have a good pump that is able to draft water out of nearby ponds and streams. Usually two people travel in these trucks as they work around the perimeter of a blaze.

Motorized carts are used by some departments. The carts are limited in their abilities, but they can be used by a couple of people to survey the movement of fires. A small water tank can supply water for a tiny blaze that can quickly be put out.

The movement of personnel and supplies to keep deep into the wild land is accomplished by using large helicopters with water tanks. These helicopters can land a crew of upward of 20 people into the fire zone where that can work to extinguish the blaze. The water in the tanks can be dropped from several hundred feet in the air to extinguish flames.

Single engine airplane tankers are also used to drop chemicals and water to dampen the blaze. These are usually single person operations and they fly the plane from their base to the fires and drop their load. The pilot then returns to base to get more materials and repeat the procedure.

Fires an beak out anywhere and at anytime. Those blazes that start out in the wilderness present special challenges to the firefighters who are employed to extinguish the flames. The Florida fire equipment the firefighters use can handle almost any situation.




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