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New Hope Fire Department Coordinates Training Exercise
Orange County
Tue Apr 17 at 21:50 hours by NewsDesk Leave a Comment
ORANGE COUNTY – The New Hope Fire Department (Orange County) hosted a water haul training exercise on Saturday, April 14, 2012 between Whitfield Road and Turkey Farm Road just north of Chapel Hill.
While municipal fire departments have access to fire hydrants, rural fire departments must take their water to a fire. A common method of water supply is a water shuttle or relay involving tankers from mutual aid departments.
An initial step is for a fire department to pre-identify a pond or water source, reinforce the ground to hold the weight of a fire truck and install a dry hydrant.
A dry hydrant allows a fire truck to quickly hook-up to a pipe system that runs underground into the water source. The truck can then suction water from the pond to fill arriving tankers.
Fire departments from across Orange County participated in the drill.
Efland, Orange Rural, Eno, New Hope, Orange Grove, Caldwell, White Cross and Carrboro sent tankers and crews to participate.
Orange County 9-1-1 Communications issued radio channels for operations and also tracked the participating trucks until they returned to their respective fire districts.
Local fire departments have been working on improving ISO (Insurance Services Office) ratings to help reduce homeowner fire insurance rates. Designated water sources and an efficient water shuttle time are significant aspects of consideration by the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal when rating the fire suppression capabilities of a fire department.
Training together in a cooperative effort in a county-wide exercise enhances the fire suppression capabilities of each local fire department. The drills also help to improve ISO ratings to assist in reducing fire insurance costs for homeowners.
Contact: Mike Tapp, Chief – New Hope Fire Department, 919-493-1001
