Hello all,

Due to scheduling conflicts of several recurring monthly meetings, it has become necessary to reschedule monthly In-Service Trainings.  Effective July 1, 2013, daytime In-Service trainings sessions will be held on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Tuesday of each month at 09:00 hours.  This new schedule will replace the current schedule of the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Thursday.  The night In-Service Training session will remain on its current schedule (Third Tuesday of the month at 18:30).  The new schedule will be used until further notice.  Please plan accordingly.

There have been several fires recently where tenders have been “daisy-chained” together as a means of water supply.  This practice involves the attack engine nursing off of the first-in tender via 3” supply line.  The second-in tender then supplies a 3” supply line from its 2.5” discharge to one of the 2.5” quick-fills on the back of the first-in tender.  This practice needs to stop.  A supply line that is connected to a tank fill connection in lieu of an intake does not allow for control of the supply by the apparatus operator receiving the water.  That is why it is essential to connect supply lines to intake connections on engines instead of tank fill connections.  Moreover, the practice described above freezes an empty tender at the scene.  When the first-in tender becomes empty, it cannot depart the scene to refill as it now has a full tender supplying water to it.  Instead, tenders should supply water directly to the attack engine.  In that manner, the empty tender can depart the scene, refill, and return to the scene as quickly as possible.  Remember that water supply needs are based on the size of the building and NOT the size of the fire.  Nursing operations should be limited to small buildings.  As a general rule, if the building is larger than a double-wide mobile home, a drop tank will be needed for water supply.  A 3” supply nursing line from a tender to an engine is incapable of supporting sustained operations involving more than about two 1.75” lines. 

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